Low Voltage Garden Lighting

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Very often, all owners of summer cottages, garden plots, and just private yards, have a problem: what kind of lighting to choose and how to make it yourself?

In this article, we'll take a look at a low voltage garden lighting system. What are the advantages of this lighting method? Firstly, it requires little electricity, and secondly, since the voltage in the network of this lighting is only 12 volts, it is absolutely safe, and thirdly, such a system is easy to mount on your own. First of all, we will develop a plan for our lighting, decide where we will put the lights, which ones, how many pieces we need to buy. Next, we will measure the distance and calculate how much cable we need to purchase.

So, for work we need:

- transformer, -cable, - flashlights.

The transformer must have a capacity that can withstand the load from all the lights in our lighting system. We will connect the transformer only to the outlet that is grounded. By the way, keep in mind that connecting this unit will reduce the voltage in the network by 12 volts. Now we are digging a special trench into which we will lay the cable. The trench should be about 10 cm deep, so be careful not to accidentally damage the cable when gardening.

Now we proceed directly to the assembly of the low voltage garden lighting system

First, we lay out the lanterns in the places where we will install them. Keep in mind that the optimal distance between adjacent poles with lighting is 2.5 - 3 meters. If you put the lights farther apart, then it will be dark on the site.

Next, we take the cable and lay it out over the site in the order in which we will attach the lights, that is, along our cable trench. If along the way you come across obstacles in the form of bushes and trees, then it is enough just to go around them.

Attention! If you are planning a lighting power of more than 200 watts, then you will need a 12-gauge cable, if less, then a 14-gauge cable. By the way, we put the first lantern at a distance of at least three meters from our transformer.

Now we begin to lay the cable directly into the trench, leaving a small loop near each lantern. This is done so that lighting devices can be connected to our network later. After this operation, you can carefully dig a trench and put the sod back in place.

Attention! In the process of burying the cable, the loop that is needed to connect the lanterns to the network must be left on the surface.

Now we connect the transformer. We carefully strip the ends of the cable and connect them to our transformer. Then we fix the transformer itself on the wall or on a special post. After that, we need to lead the cable to any grounded outlet, preferably an external one, and connect a transformer to it.

Now we connect the lights. Take 2 halves of the connector hanging at the base of the lamp post and put them on the cable until you hear a click. This will pierce the cable and attach the flashlight to it. The lantern should light up (as we have already connected the transformer to the power supply). If the flashlight does not light, then try to repeat the above procedure again. So we connect all the lights and stick their base into the ground. Pressing gently, stick it deeper, check if the lanterns are level. We hide the rest of the cable under the sod (carefully lift it with a shovel, remove the excess cable and carefully put everything in place again). Now you can lightly water the ground along the "path" of the cable with water and thoroughly tamp the sod.

That's it, now you can enjoy beautiful lanterns in the evenings. And you can install a small table under them for tea drinking.