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.
Because the low voltage outdoor lighting system uses low voltage it is very simple to install and does not need the services of an electrical contractor. Even official regulations for this type of installation are very easy to implement. But please do check the requirements in your locality.
As mentioned before, modern outdoor lighting systems are extremely thrifty in operation. An LED lamp which gives a light output comparable to an existing lamp, uses just about one-fourth the electrical energy of the latter. That means your electricity bill on account of outdoor lighting is slashed down to a quarter of the normal, month after month, year after year! Oh yes, I forgot to mention that LED lamps outlast standard incandescent and even fluorescent lamps by a factor of 10 at a minimum. In fact, with LED lamps, it is a matter of 'fit and forget'! So you save yourself the trouble of replacing lamps ever so often, and usually at the most inconvenient times of all! Not replacing lamps means you don't have to maintain an emergency stock of lamps, 'just in case'. More savings.
The current load for LEDs is so low that you can use light wiring for the low voltage outdoor lighting system. You can use overhead wiring without fear of it causing grievous bodily harm to people or animals. With light overhead wiring it is easy to rearrange the lighting whenever required. This allows you to highlight different parts of the house and grounds for a change. So you can highlight the gazebo one month, and the Spanish columns the next.
Changing your outdoor lighting system to a low voltage outdoor lighting system using LED lamps will be a power and money saving idea. You'll be contributing to environmental conservation as well by reducing the demand on large power generating stations. The main benefit of a low voltage outdoor lighting system is that you are now completely free from the risk of electrocution accidents. You can watch your children play out there and not have the teeniest fear about them getting a fatal shock. What could be better than that?
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Lighting the exterior of your house can make it look inviting and beautiful, but it can also make it safer too. Walkway lighting is very critical for this reason. To find out more about low voltage, LED and solar outdoor lighting visit www.Contemporary-Lighting-Accents.com.
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