Do I Need Multiple Transformers for My Landscape Lighting?
Low voltage landscape lighting is a snap to install, but only after you’ve already laid out the entire system. The tricky part of the installation is figuring out the wattage of the lights that you plan on installing and figuring out if you need one or more transformers or powerpacks. Here are some tips to help you find out if you just need one or more than one transformer.
The first thing that you need to do is figure out the wattage of your entire lighting system. To do this, add up the watts of every light fixture that you plan on installing. You should try to find a transformer that has a capacity of seventy to one hundred percent of the total watts of your system.
If your system has an incredibly high wattage, you have two options. First, you could opt for installing LED lights instead of incandescent ones. These use less power and would allow you to place more lights on a cable. The other option that you have is to split the lighting system up and run two separate cables instead of just one. Many times this will be your best bet.
You may also need to install more than one transformer if you have to run a long cable to a set of lights. As you lengthen a power cable, it loses some power along the way. Unfortunately, with low voltage cables even a small reduction in power will mean that the lights at the end of the cable will appear a little dimmer than the ones at the beginning. If you’re just doing outdoor deck lighting, this won’t be a problem, but if you have a large garden, you may run into problems. You can eliminate this by placing a second transformer closer to the lights. Unfortunately, this also means that you need a grounded socket close to this area, which may not be available in every home.
For more tips and hints on installing your landscape lighting, visit the Garden Lights Guru.
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