How To Size A Low Voltage Transformer For Landscape Lighting

Not only does landscape lighting add a certain aesthetic appeal to a property but it also adds security and safety.

How to size a low voltage transformer for landscape lighting. The size transformer you need will depend on the number of lights wattage of lights and length of wire run to the lights. Add up the wattage of each light in your landscape lighting design. Were as a 120 volt line voltage wire is a single strand wire.

Low voltage landscape wiring or electrical cable comes in several numerical gauges or sizes. Then you must multiply the total wattage by 125 to adjust for loss due to cable distance. Increasing the wire size using a higher voltage tap on the transformer and lowering the number of lights or overall wattage will allow you to make longer wire runs.

There are several factors that will allow you to make longer wire runs from the transformer to the lights. When figuring total wattage always use the maximum wattage capacity for each light. We recommend 12-gauge or 10-gauge wire for long distances.

The wire comes in different sizes such as 8 10 12 14 16 and 18. Common wires for landscape lighting are 10- 12- 14- or 16-gauge wires. I was using 122 guage wire and was very much under the total wattage allowed for the 300 watt transformer however the lights were EXTREMELY DIM and kept tripping the transformer after a.

Matching the size of the transformer to the lighting design is important for efficient operation and function of the system. For example a 4-watt lamp might pull 6. Again if you want to connect twenty landscape lights to a low volt transformer and the lights are pulling 4W 7VA 35 Watts of halogen power draw on the system you would need a 300 watt transformer.

10 lights X 4 VA 40 voltage amps. Tap to unmute. That way the fixtures will all have the same voltage drops.