Low Voltage Landscape Lighting
There are homeowners who are not satisfied with the performance of their outdoor solar powered lighting fixtures. An option for them would be to turn to low voltage landscape lights. This is a very easy thing to work on, especially if you have already prepared an 110v outlet that is accessible outside your house.
Most of the more modern installations today of low voltage landscape lights make use of only 12 volts of electricity. You will need a transformer in order to convert the 110v power source to 12 volts. You can always have your electrician or people from the local hardware install an accessible outlet outside your house if you do not already have one. This is ideal, as you would also need this for the maintenance of your garden and lawn.
You can usually purchase low voltage landscape lights kits from your local retailer, and these kits would include the transformer necessary to match your fixtures. However, there are cases when you would need to piece the project together yourself. When you need to buy a separate transformer, then it is best to bring out your calculator, as the transformers that you need, will be based on the wattage capacity. Once you have determined the total wattage capacity, you can now choose a transformer that can effectively handle it.
There is a particular wire sold separately to match the low voltage landscape lights. This will be the wire that is recommended to use for this particular type. Moreover, always make sure that the wiring that you choose is specially rated to use for outdoor purposes. The usual size on the wires would be the 12 gauge. If you have already determined the layout for the lighting, simply measure the linear distances from the placement of your transformer in order to find out the wiring lengths. But just to be safe, always add a 15% extra on the wiring.
Before anything else, it is important that have a piece of paper wherein you can draw out the sketch of the wiring and the lighting placement. Writing it down will make the project and the ideas go smoothly together.
When you are starting to install the low voltage landscape lights, make sure that you put them correctly in the designated positions across your yard. To make sure that they are evenly balanced, you can measure the distances between fixtures. When installing path lights, it is best to place them about 8 to 12 feet apart, while remembering to position the first light ten feet away from the placement of the transformer. Moreover, do not put the lights closer than 10 ft from your pool or pond.
You should run your low voltage wiring according to your rough sketch, placing them above the ground near the fixtures. If you are planning to run the wiring on grass, you may need to cut the sod first before lifting it. Position the low voltage landscape lights accordingly to achieve maximum lighting potential. Always tidy up all extra wirings and secure your transformer so that it won’t disappear.
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