05 Oct Conversion from halogen to LED Landscape lighting
By Mike Gambino
For the past two years we have been installing hybrid LED/halogen landscape lighting systems. Soon we will be 100% LED so stay tuned as that announcement is coming soon. The more we use LED lighting the more we have become comfortable with offering it to our clients whom we have installed halogen lighting systems for in the past. I am not talking about redesigning electrical circuits or removing fixtures, transformers and trashing them. After all Gambino landscape lighting system components are built to last a lifetime when properly maintained.
Since all of our original systems have been built with incredibly close electrical tolerances and have been electrically balanced and engineered for halogen electrical loads changeovers are economically feasible and attractive to our clients. What is required when retrofitting an existing Gambino lighting system from halogen to LED’s is to make adjustments to lower the power to all of the cable runs. This entails digging up homerun connections which are color coded and making adjustments inside the transformers to lower the voltage to the recommended range.
This is required because LED lamps require less power per watt than halogen lamps so they operate at the same color balance and brilliance.
The major benefits of LED over halogen are:
Better Warranty
Longer lamp life
Run much cooler
Much more efficient
Much less power consumption
They save money
More environmentally friendly
Below are photos of a project we designed and installed 4 years ago in Chatsworth California. The first photo is the original halogen system which consumed 540 watts. The second photo is of the same system after we recently retrofitted it out to LED lamps 81 watts consumed with no degradation in light color or output. Obviously the plant materials have matured in four years and of course the lighting improved.
Halogen System
Same system with LED lamps
If you have a halogen Gambino landscape lighting system and would like to upgrade to LED contact us. If you are the original system owner your design consultation and cost estimate is free.
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 .
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