Low Voltage Landscape Lighting Design Notes
A low voltage lighting system will consist of light
fixtures, one or more
transformers (to convert line voltage to 12V),
and one or more timers.
The first decision to be made is simply what to
light. There are a good variety of landscape lighting fixtures designed
to suit different situations, available in various wattages or brightness
levels. Walkway lights are generally designed
to cast light downward to provide enough light to see one's footing on
a path. Spotlights and floodlights are
higher wattage and can project a directed beam on a shrub, pond, statue
or other garden feature (a spotlight will have a more focused beam than
a flood). Various wattage accent lights can
be placed throughout the garden for interest. Low
wattage surface mount deck lights provide subtle
lighting on deck posts or safety lighting on stairs.
If there are to be only a handful of lights, they
can be combined on a single circuit provided
that wattage limits are not exceeded. If there are to be a large number
of lights or several geographically distant locations, areas or light types
(i.e. walkway or garden accent) can be divided off into separate circuits,
or zones.
If the system is controlled by timer(s), this also allows for greater control
over the light display.
The sum of the wattage consumption of all lights
on a zone or circuit should ALWAYS BE BELOW the rated voltage of the transformer.
The most control comes from creating many smaller
zones with accompanying smaller wattage transformers (can be especially
effective if a remote control is used).
Proper outdoor-rated low voltage lighting wire should
be used, typically 12 or 10 gauge. This wire is specifically designed for
the rigors of outdoor existence. Use of household wire or speaker wire
is not recommended, nor is the use of smaller gauges. The wire can be placed
in a conduit between lights or can be left on the surface and mulched over.
All wires experience losses
over distances due to internal friction. This means that in a
long run of lights connected sequentially on a single wire, the
lights furthest from the transformer will be noticeably dimmer
than those closest. For this reason, it is best to design any
circuit like a tree rather than like a string, balancing the
amount of wattage draw on each branch.
The General Rule: 100 watts,
100 feet. On any given circuit path from the transformer
to the most distant light on a branch, the total distance should not
exceed 100' and the power draw should not exceed 100W.
This is just a rule of thumb but it provides a good benchmark to work
from.
Not all low voltage transformers are approved for use with lights situated
near water (i.e. pond, spa). All lighting transformers
should be connect only to a GFCI protected electrical
outlet.
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