Power Options

Outdoor lighting is available in 120V or 12V systems. The 12V systems are the best choice for most homeowners because they usually can be installed without hiring an electrician and without adding additional circuits to your electrical panel. The cords typically are buried, but if you use a 12V system they don`t pose a safety risk and need not be buried very deep. Transformers are about the size of a half-gallon milk carton. They can be placed in garages or basements, attached to exterior walls or located discreetly in the yard. Lights positioned more than 75 feet from a transformer sometimes are dimmer than those located closer. Installing multiple transformers is one way to solve this problem. LED systems have much less of a chance of having this issue, referred to as voltage drop, because they consume less power for the same amount of lumen output.