07 Dec Beware of Misinformation on public landscape lighting message forums
This is poor advice. 50v? I am assuming he meant 50 watts. You would be very hard pressed at this time to even find a 50 watt halogen replacement in LED for outdoor use in enclosed fixtures that has the same lumen specifications and lamp characteristics. This broad generalization of an answer does not even address dimmable LED lamps. Again the 12 v LED lamp was designed to optimally operate at 12 volts. Dimmable LED’s will lose brightness as the voltage is reduced. Therefore the wide voltage span purported to be acceptable is absurd. Furthermore it is way too early in the game to safely determine what affect operating LED’s at voltages other than 12 volts or close to it will have on their longevity.
Q-Thanks! Why do they make transformers that have the 14V option then? Wow, this is amazing as it shows a total lack of grasp of the concept of low voltage landscape lighting. |
A-The 14 volt tap on a transformer compensates for voltage drop in the wire. Resistance in copper wire reduces voltage until it gets to the termination point. |
This is an excellent answer and it came from an experienced installer.
A- To clarify, the goal for halogen/incandescent is to get 10.5-12 volts at the fixture. As your cable run gets longer and/or you add more fixtures (load) onto the cable, the voltage drops. So if you start at 12 volts and have a long wire run, the voltage might only be say 9 volts at the end of the run. The higher voltage taps on the transformer (such as the 14 volt tap) enable you to boast the starting voltage so that you can get your desired 10.5-12 v even on longer runs or runs with more fixtures. Once again (see above) I disagree with the voltage span of acceptability. This statement paints with a super wide brush and doesn’t mention wiring techniques that would be required to accomplish small voltage spans like .5 volts which is the optimum acceptable range between all fixtures for best results in a halogen low voltage landscape lighting system.This is all old school now. If you switch to LEDs it’s a different ballgame that is much easier. LEDs can operate properly anywhere from 9-15 volts (for the most part) so you have more flexibility. Secondly they draw ~5X less power so the load is so much less– that means there is less voltage drop to begin with. With LEDs the layout is much less critical. You can generally just hook up to the 12 volt tap (or 15 volt tap if you have longer runs with lots of fixtures) and daisy chain all the fixtures on the same run. It doesnt matter whether the voltage at the fixture is 9 volts or 15 volts– the LED will perform the same output. Go LED its easier, faster, less maintenance, 80% more efficient. “Old school”? We haven’t installed a new halogen system in all of 2013 as its been all LED however halogen lighting is still very much a viable and energy economical choice for safe and effective landscape lighting systems. Again throwing the wide voltage spans around to make things seem simple, The next bit of advice about daisy chaining the installation is just plain irresponsible. Higher lumen low voltage LED’s are requiring more power , in some cases up to 12 watts. Voltage drop between the closer fixtures to the transformer on a cable run and the further ones will be significantly different. Daisy chaining is very seldom the choice of professionals. Most of all I resent this poor advice because it encourages and attempts to validate the practices of lazy and unskilled installers by breaking down any perception that this not easy work and not technically challenging just so he can make a sale of his products.
The most disappointing aspect of this all is the fact that at the time of this article being published, not one person has yet to set the record straight and challenge this information in that forum.
This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links. |
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