Outdoor Low Voltage Lighting

My brother has found a really great resource for purchasing outdoor low voltage lighting - fixtures and lamps. He's made these fixtures and light bulbs available on the internet on his web site - low voltage landscape lights dot com - lowvoltagelandscapelights.com.

As a result of his interest in low voltage lighting systems I've been looking around the web to see what other resources are available.

"Nightscaping," as the industry terms it, can mean a simple enhancement like putting in a few path lights. Or it can mean a complex scheme for the whole property, with extensive illuminated scenes that involve house features, decks, paths, plants, and sculptures."

Outdoor low voltage lighting serves both aesthetic and practical purposes and providing safety and beauty for your home doesn't have to cost a fortune. But there are some things you need to know about low voltage outdoor lighting in order to make the most of this valuable design resource.

1) Know what you want to accomplish. Are you looking to improve the aesthetics of your home and garden? Or is security your primary goal?

2) Make a plan. What ever your goals are it is best to make a plan and design your low voltage outdoor lighting system to achieve your goals.

3) Get the right transformer. A systems capacity is determined by size of transformer, wattage of fixtures, and the gauge of wire which helps to determine voltage drop over distance. Your transformer should be able to handle the total number of watts connected to it (as determined by adding up the watts needed by the number of fixtures connected to that transformer). Let's say we are planning to use 8 spot lights with 20 watts each, and 5 path lights with 10 watts each. This set up gives us a total of 210 watts.

4) Pick the right fixtures. Find high quality fixtures that have a good warranty and will last a long time.

5) Go for it! Install your outdoor low voltage lighting system and enjoy the rewards.