Converting a Gambino Landscape Lighting system from halogen to High Performance Low Energy LED

Converting a Gambino Landscape Lighting system from halogen to High Performance Low Energy LED

By Mike Gambino

We started installing hybrid LED/halogen landscape lighting systems around 10 years ago when only a 4 watt LED/20watt halogen equivalent was available. Today’s LED Brightness capabilities now far outpace any halogen lamp still available on the market (although they are slowing becoming extinct) and consume a fraction of the electricity to operate. For the past eight years all of our new system builds have been 100% LED and we wouldn’t dream of ever installing a new system with any other type of low energy/voltage light source. That is of course unless a newer technology comes about that is superior however that is an extremely low probability of happening anytime soon .

In the beginning color rendering was an issue with higher kelvin cooler color temperature (bluish, green color) LED’s prevalent. As lower color temperatures are now much more readily available the concerns over color of the light source has been virtually eliminated. We most almost always use 3000k color temperature LED’s because it is considered color neutral , most close to the familiar color of halogen lamps and showcase whatever is being illuminated in the most favorable light if you’d pardon the pun.

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 major redesign of 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. In fact to date around 80% of our clients have hired us to retrofit their original halogen Gambino landscape Lighting system with our exclusive proprietary high performance low energy/low voltage LED alternatives. This article is mainly for the 20% of the holdouts.

Since all of our original systems have been built with incredibly close electrical tolerances and have been electrically calibrated, 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 physically change the lamps and then make adjustments to lower the power to all of the cable runs. This entails testing 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

All photos on our Facebook page and in this article are of Gambino High Performance low energy LED Landscape Lighting systems designed and installed over the past six years.

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 29 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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