Power-saving Shockproof Outdoor Lighting
When you think of outdoor lighting you think of floodlights to light up the house and its environs in the night for safety and security. You may also think of decorative lighting for the garden. Then there is highlighting to show off your landscaping or architectural beauty. In all these cases the outdoor lighting involves running wires carrying high voltage to the different light points. You may run the wires underground or overhead. However you run the wiring, you have to be very careful that there is no chance of electrocution. Underground wiring is prone to water infiltration and damage by normal activities like gardening or some sports (cricket, for instance). If the insulation of underground wiring is damaged, high voltage electricity can leak out. Overhead wiring can break in storms and fall to the ground. Fatal accidents can occur to human or animal victims. Electrical short circuits can cause fires to break out, injuring people and damaging property. If you are thinking of rewiring your current outdoor lighting system, or if you are planning to install one for the first time, you should opt for the low voltage solution.
Electrical voltage above a 60 – 70 volt threshold is sensible to humans. Above 100 volts it becomes dangerous. At just 12 volts, low voltage electricity is safe because it cannot cause electrocution. So outdoor lighting systems using low voltage electricity are absolutely safe.
The low voltage required by your low voltage outdoor lighting system is obtained by transforming the high voltage (120 volts) electricity to low voltage (12 volts) by means of a transformer. The low voltage outdoor lighting system uses LV lamps. Nowadays LED lamps are very popular because they operate off LV and their current demand is extremely low. The high intensity LEDs that are available now are able to match the brilliance of their high voltage counterparts.
Installing an outdoor lighting system is very straightforward. You can hand the installation over to a contractor or you can do it yourself. The low voltage electricity running through the wires is safe to touch and handle barehanded. So you don’t need to switch off the mains every time you handle the wires. Even official and legal formalities are easier to implement with low voltage outdoor lighting system. The fire hazard still remains but you can avoid that by using high quality fire resistant cabling and by installing MCBs at strategic points in the wiring system.
So just how much money can you save with LED lamps? Well consider that they typically use about a quarter of the electricity of standard lamps. That’s a 75% savings every month on your outdoor lighting bill. Figure that out over the course of a year or even ten years, and the numbers become significant. Then when you add in the fact that these bulbs will last at least 10 times longer, the savings get even better. And as an added benefit you won’t be forced to change the bulbs nearly as often. As we all know, outdoor lights always seem to go out when we would least like them to, like when the temperatures are sub-freezing.
The electrical load of LEDs is so light that you need not bury the cabling underground. Just use overhead wiring for the outdoor lighting system. This means that it is easy for you to reposition the lights whenever you feel that that is required. Having the same lighting arrangement month in and month out becomes boring. So changing the arrangement every few months helps to keep the novelty going over the years. This is an attraction in itself. You are now free to highlight the house and grounds differently over the months.
This primer on low voltage outdoor lighting should encourage you to change over to a modern efficient lighting system for your outdoor lighting needs. You’ll save pots of money in electricity bills, take my word for it! More importantly, you’ll be 100% free of electrical shock hazard. Your householder’s insurance cover will benefit too, from the changeover. This means that the value of your house will go up while you are actually saving money. Now aren’t you glad you read this primer?