Intellicenter + landscape lighting wiring

[petepool]

Hi all.
I'd like to wire ground landscape lighting into my intellicenter so I can control from my phone and run on a schedule. I already have 4 low voltage lines running from different areas around my pool converging at the panel.

Pictures of my panel are below. All breakers currently off for the winter except:
- 2nd to last one, which provides power to a yard outlet and line voltage yard light fixture (yard light is wired through one of the relays, so I can control from phone). Outlet has constant power.
- last one, which powers the intellicenter itself

Panel has an existing transformer on outside for the 4 LED pool lights (breaker for this is currently off)

What do you suggest as the easiest way to wire in the new landscape lighting? It will probably be a total of 10-15 LED path lights and uplights in various locations. Do I need a new breaker (dedicated circuit) or can I easily tap into an existing one?

Also any suggestions on which transformer to buy? I do electrical work but mostly indoors, not as much experience on the pool panel.

thanks

 

[Jimrahbe]

Pete,

Your automation does not switch low voltage for lights.. It basically switches the 120 volts going to a low voltage stepdown transformer. You would do basically the same thing for landscape lights.

Do you plan to use white LED lights, which you can buy in a kit from any big box store, or do you plan to use Pentair color changing lights and a pool rated transformer?

Either way, I'd work backwards.. Decide on the lights, then the transformer (If not included with the lights) and then how to wire it into the IntelliCenter.

You would not need a new breaker. You can just jumper off of your existing 120 volt light power.

If you can wire a 120 volt in-house outlet, you can wire up your IntelliCenter to control external landscape lights.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[petepool]

It would be non-pentair 2700k landscape lights (likely the Volt lights purchased from Costco).

Understood that the panel only deals with 120v and the transformer handles the stepdown. I estimate a 150W max transformer should be sufficient for my needs as these landscape lights use no more than 5W each and I don't expect more than 15 of them. 150W gives me some room to add more later if necessary. Any suggestions of good transformers? Once I have that picked we can talk wiring and how to jumper off the existing circuit.

Have wired many many in house outlets over the years so with your help i'm confident it should be straightforward.

thanks

 

[Jimrahbe]

Pete,

Unless you plan to have the landscape light so that you can touch them from the pool, I would just use the transformer that Costco sells for those lights.

Just to be safe you can use the 300 watt Pentair transformer .. https://www.amazon.com/Pentair-Wate...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584207577164594&psc=1

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[gingrbredman]

I can't take credit for this diagram, someone else posted this here a while back and I saved it when I was researching my outdoor lighting.



I eventually did not go this route. I just wondered, what is the advantage of connecting to the Intellicenter, if all I wanted to do was control simple, white, landscape lights? Why go through the wiring of the Intellicenter when there are better options out there for control?

To me, the reason you would do this is if you wanted to integrate Pentair landscape lights into the pool area. Those lights could change color based on the pool color and be timed the same. But for simple lights, all you would get to control is timing, and on/off. and control this all through the Pentair app. Why not just swap out one of your outdoor outlets to a smart outlet and get better control, with a better app?

Or, since you have to get a transformer anyway for the new lights, why not get a "smart" transformer, or a Wifi connected one that you can control from an app?

For me, I ended up putting in a Lutron smart outlet and plugged a standard transformer in there. I already had a few of those and switches so it tied into my smart home nicely. If you have other smart devices and can tie into your existing infrastructure, that will minimize apps.

Just another idea for landscape lighting. I also picked up some outdoor LED strips that works with the HUE app and tied that into my outdoor lighting. There is a little device that transforms the voltage so I can use my existing low voltage wiring and transformer and gets some cool colored lights without having to pay Intellicenter light costs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HXC4QC4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For me, the best way was to not tie into the Intellicenter, but whatever you decide, post some pics of the project, it will always help others who come along and see things like this.

 

[petepool]

Actually it's the desire to minimize apps that is leading me to go through the pool panel. I use the pentair app now for my pool, pool lights and other yard light fixture, so I figured I would have all the backyard lighting there (even if not pentair) on a consistent schedule.

My smart home stuff is all google home so then i'll really just have 2 apps. Maybe pentair gets with the program one day and integrates into google home, but i'm not holding my breath - their software development is abysmal.

Another factor is that all my landscape wiring terminates at the pool panel inside a fenced area. So I could either wire it into the pool panel, or do your idea but use the outlet on the side of the panel.

 

[gingrbredman]

Maybe pentair gets with the program one day and integrates into google home, but i'm not holding my breath - their software development is abysmal.

This is one of the other reasons I chose to not wire in my lights into the Intellicenter, the Pentair app is not the best, and if I only have to use it for my pool, I'll stick with the other apps for my smart home. Pentair tried many times to work with Alexa and that is still pretty shaky, so yeah, I agree with you, Google Home shouldn't be expected any time soon.

I do like the idea of utilizing the Intellicenter to integrate the whole pool area, I am still looking at some Pentair landscape lights in some strategic areas to highlight the pool, but they are expensive lights so this has not been at the top of my list.