How many watts per bulb should I have for low voltage...

[mbolo]

lighting? I'm looking to put in spot lights but I don't know what would be enough wattage.. I want to do spotlights up against my house.

Thanks!

I am also looking for a quick and easy landscape lighting kit.. I only need about 4-6 lights...transformer and wiring.. Also, if I am putting 2-3 lights up on one side of the house and the same on the other. do I need to get 2 transformers? one for each side of the house?

Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

Wattage is a subjective thing, there isn't one answer for all situations. It depends on what you want it to look like, what kinds and colors of material are being illuminated, and how far away the light is going to be.

Different transformers are designed to power different numbers of lights. If you get an appropriately sized transformer you can have just one and run wires everywhere you want lights. Depending on the distances involved and what obstructions there are along the route it is often simpler to use different transformers in each area, but there is no absolute need to do it one way or the other.

 

[crazycanuck]

If you are running a low voltage system, you can put as many lights in a series as your transformer allows.
Typical transformers that you can buy at Home depot run from 100 watts to 700 watts. The typical lightbulb in each
low voltage spotlight is about 7-14 watts. So if you want 6 lights, multiply the wattage by the number of lights and buy a transformer that can handle that amount. Make sure you oversize your transformer because guaranteed, you will get more than 6 lights and you want to have room to add them. Nothing worse than having to buy another transformer.

 

[HarryH3]

Just wanted to add a somewhat unknown company into the mix. Our house came with deck and landscape lighting around the pool area. Very nice quality stuff, but I had never heard of the company, so I looked them up online:
http://www.twilightlighting.com/iwwida. ... e?Comp=SMR

We have 7-watt deck lights, 18 watt tulip lights, 25 watt and 35 watt flood lights, wired to a 250 watt power pack.

I especially like their transformers because they're weatherproof and give you many different options for mode of operation. You can use them in dusk-to-dawn mode, switch them to "on" when needed for checking wiring, etc., or my favorite, you can set them to come on at dusk and then turn off a specific number of hours later. I really don't need all the lights to be on while I'm asleep. (We also have a few lights on a small, single Toro power pack that has a mechanical timer. It's going to be replaced soon, as I don't like having to reset the clock when the time changes, after extended power outages, etc.)

Their lights seem to be much sturdier and better quality than most of the stuff I find at the big box stores. They also sell replacement parts at reasonable prices. I have nothing to do with the company, I'm just a happy customer! I had never even heard of them until we bought this house.

 

[mbolo]

Thanks for this!

 

[sredish]

for our deck lights, we use a dull yellow-ish flourescent bulb. works really well, is not too bright (actually it's the perfect hue and brightness for night time) and they're very efficient; believe you can get them in a 18-25 watt output and they're plenty of light, although we have quite a few of them.