Trying to get some ideas for lighting my backyard after our pool is complete. I already have 12 fencepost cap lights that I will be using along the back edge of the pool. But, I have a row of Arborvitae on the side yard, I'm thinking maybe a couple or three strategically placed wall wash lights. Right now the wife has solar well lights if you will placed everywhere. They work OK. But not really the desired effect. Then on the street side, we have Arborvitae and some Magnolia trees. I don't have much room between the sidewalk and these trees. There are currently 4 solar uplights on the Magnolias and more solar well lights. Then, we have a hill on the back side of the pool with more Arborvitae, Dogwoods and various plants. More solar wells up there. I would love to hear some lighting ideas as well as hubs needed for this project. For the fencepost caps I was thinking about just running those lights daisy chained from the transformer. I have a 200W multitap transformer that will run 11 5W path lights (on the 12VAC side) and then 12 3W post lights (on the 15VAC side for voltage drop due to distance. I have a 2nd transformer just like the first. Maybe I can add the hilltop to the 1st transformer? Just looking for ideas from the experts. Thanks!!
Hi, Patrick. Fellow landscape lighting enthusiast here. Full disclosure, I don't work for VOLT. It appears you have a fairly large property. Before offering any feedback, I'd be curious about the maximum length of wire runs you're considering and if you're planning to add lighting to complement your existing (as opposed to starting over from scratch)? I mention this because if you're planning to add many more fixtures and you're planning long wire runs, I think it might behoove you to invest in more powerful transformer that would give you more planning flexibility. Not necessarily suggesting that you ditch either of the other two transformers (which could be a great way to create multiple lighting scenes). Btw, it looks like now would be a good time for you to place a couple of pvc or steel conduit that will make it easier for you to route cable to the other side of your walkway. HTH
Hey Mesodude! The current pathlights are being ran by a 60W transformer. Probably too small but it's going away anyway. The run from the transformer to the lights is about 10' to a T and then 35' one way and 25' the other. From where the transformer will mount to the fence is 50' before the first light and then 70' to the last one. There are 12 of them with 3W bulbs. I want to put those 2 on separate zones so I can control the 2 zones independently. I found a 150W transformer for that that may be a tad too small based on the math. But then the 300W is probably too large. Total watts/0.7/0.7 is the formula I have been using. For the side of the pool and the hill I really don't know where to start. On the street side I don't have room to backup and use wall wash fixtures. On the pool side I can but not sure how many to use there. I'm really open to suggestions on these areas. I will not use any zoning up there. The reason I do on the fence and path lights is I don't wat the fence post lights on all of the time. It may be a visual problem inside the house for us and the neighbors. Any help is greatly aappreciated.
