Do-it-yourself landscape lighting - 02/02/00

Learn how to install low-voltage landscape lighting at your home. It can improve the safety and security at your home while using very little energy.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Building & Remodeling
• Renewable Energy
• safety
• security
• landscape lighting
• low-voltage lighting
• low voltage lighting
• lighting
• path lighting
• call before you dig
• locate

[AJoeSmith]

Nice vid!

[bjtaudio]

More tips:- did you know if you buy a bare toroidal transformer, and put in in your own enclosure you can add extra turns to the secondaries and add extra tapping for different voltages and currents. Voltage drop on long cable runs can be compensated for by supplying more voltage at the transformer eg 12v 13v or 14V 15v etc..

[bjtaudio]

Its perfectly fine to run low power 12v tier path lights of a large 12v 500va transformer, instead of the gutless plug-pack transformer that is typically supplied with the cheap kits.

You can extend and add more lights to your system at a later date if you want, however since the short circuit current is much higher, a inline fuse on the low voltage 12v side should be used to stop the cables from burning if there is a accidental short circuit on one of the cable runs.

[bjtaudio]

You can even make up your own light fittings from glass jars, or candle holders, use pvc pipe at the mast. The best lamp holder to use is the 12v MR16 ceramic holders, the are cheap, and you can use many different types of bulbs and LEDS lights in them. Use a 300va~500va 12V-0-12V Toroidal transformer as they have more power and better regulation than those cheap plug packs than come in the kits.

[bjtaudio]

Here are some tips:- For very long cable runs Voltage drop can be a problem, one solution is to run heaver cable, or multiple runs, a cheaper option is to run a 24V system. Run the cable in conduit, or pvc pipe so it will not get accidentally cut. You can use twin and earth LV building cable as your trunk cable as its cheaper. The joiners that come with the kits are not reliable, twist and solder the wires together and use pvc electrical insulation or adhesive heat-shrink to keep water out.