I have a number of standard flood lights mounted on the exterior walls of my house as up-lights. What would be the proper way of converting these to 12V LEDs? What fixture would be recommended for this? Typical incandescent bulbs use way too much power and LED flood lights seem to go out in a matter of months. I would like to keep them hardwired and not replace with new wiring if posssible.
Hello KDH, Given the convenient natures of our products, swapping out existing fixtures for new, low-voltage LEDs is becoming a popular project for DIYers. If the lights that you currently have in place are line-voltage, you would need to run low-voltage wiring in place of the 120V wire and acquire a low-voltage transformer. The most commonly used cable is 12-gauge, rated for uses up to 150'. The type of transformer you should use would be dependent on the total power consumption of the system; this is typically decided on as a final step in the process. If the current lights are indeed low-voltage, just be sure that the transformer which you are currently using has a magnetic core and an output of AC (alternating current) as both of these are required for our fixtures. After that, you would just want to verify the power load of all the new fixtures combined meets the operating specs of your existing transformer. For a low-voltage flood light, I would recommend one of the Gentle Splash Cast Brass Flood Lights. The Gentle Splash fixtures are designed with wide beam spreads and also include frosted lenses for further diffusion of light if desired. Another option could be one of our G4 Infinitis™. If using an Infiniti™, it comes with a 60° optic pre-installed, which is ideal for medium-to-wide flood lighting applications. As you said these were mounted on the exterior walls of your house, if this was the mounting style which you wished to keep, I would also recommend using Solid Brass Surface Mounts for sturdy, long-lasting mounting.
