Home automation setups are one solution, but that’s way above my knowledge level. Odds are, you don’t want to have to flip a switch every time you want your landscape lights to come on. These taps can help ensure that you’re getting the necessary voltage to the end of the line. It’s not uncommon in a large transformer to see a couple of 12V taps, as well as a 13V, 14V, and 15V tap. Pro-quality multi-tap landscape lighting transformers often have different output voltages on different taps. You can also play it safe, by limiting the number of fixtures on a long run or by using heavier gauge wire. The best way is to use a voltage drop calculator (there are a gazillion online) and math it out. There are ways to deal with voltage drop. It’s like water in a pipe – the farther from the source, the more the water pressure drops. Where does the voltage go? On any circuit, impedance is going to cause a reduction in voltage as you go down the line. Put as simply as possible, voltage drop means that you’re not going to have the same voltage at the end of a run that you do at the start (at the landscape lighting transformer). Why would the length of the run matter? Voltage drop. This is especially useful if you have a lot of fixtures, or if you have some long, long runs. Multi-tap transformers allow you to run multiple lines from one transformer. That’s fine if you have a short run of only a few lights, but that single tap greatly limits your flexibility. That means that there’s only room for one wire to come into the transformer and connect to power. The cheap transformers you can buy at the big-box hardware chains are most often single-tap transformers. Landscape lighting wire is connected to taps inside the box, and that’s what powers your lighting system. Your transformer plugs into a standard outlet (GFCI if outside or in an area that may get wet). What is a landscape lighting transformer?Ī landscape lighting transformer typically consists of a weatherproof enclosure that contains electrical elements that take regular household current and decrease the voltage, typically to 12 volts. A rough knowledge of landscape lighting transformer basics will help you plan your system, if you’re a DIY-er, or it can help you understand what you’re getting if you’re hiring someone for professional outdoor lighting design. You’re taking regular household line voltage and stepping it down to something that’s much safer and easier to work with.
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