Thanks for watching the video! If you want to learn more or need help, here are 3 options. ✅ Feel free to check out my FREE PDF download of the fundamentals of landscape lighting course.aklighting.net/freepdfdownload Or ✅ Get the landscape Lighting I recommend! diycourse.aklighting.net/lightingrecommendations Or ✅ Complete Start-to-Finish Guide for Your Lighting Project Get affordable professional help so you can install your lights the right way course.aklighting.net/diylandscapelightingcourse
I love your correct grammatical use of the word few and fewer. Most people say less lights when they should have said fewer lights as you did. You hit a home run with this video with the content and your proper use of the English language! My Mother was an English teacher so I have been scarred for life and it’s wonderful to finally not cringe listening to You Tube content, LOL 😂
Your comment made me laugh! 😂 I appreciate it! A little personal history about correct grammar. I grew up in a family that spoke incorrectly and then married into a family full of grammar police - I've learned a lot over the years. And then I recently found out I have dyslexia which made sense why I struggle with grammar, phonetics, and spelling. Needless to say I'll most likely mess up my speech in my videos, but I'm extremally flattered that I impressed you with this video and I hope I somehow keep it up!
14 gauge is perfectly fine for the vast majority of modern led projects leaving you with room for expansion on longer runs (who’s still working with halogen?). I just wired my parents yard, two zones, 55w on the first, 25w on the second - the 200w transformer is no where near its limit. Project came out great.
Hi! Thank you for this video on clarifying these wire sizes. I do have a question about wire. Is all low voltage copper wire created equal? For example: 200’ of 12/2 copper wire that costs $100 and another brand of 200’ 12/2 copper wire that costs $200. Is there any reason why the more expensive roll would be better? Thanks!
Great topic, Adam! This is tough to explain without a whiteboard. As a rule of thumb and without breaking into circuit theory 101 (it's been thirty years since I took that class), err on the side of caution meaning shell out a bit more for the lower (thicker) gauge if you think the run is long or the wattage starts adding up. Every arrangement will be different as you describe (difference in individual bulbs, manufacturers' tolerances/cheapness, number of bulbs per circuit, etc). One point to add to this discussion: The quality of the connection matters too. Over time, a poor connection will corrode dramatically increasing the resistance of the circuit. When this happens, and it does with the cheap threaded pin connectors from big box kits, the overall conductivity of the circuit will be choked. As "Un Perrier" denotes below, as R (denominator) goes up, P goes down meaning you'll need more power to "squeeze" through the "pipe". You've mentioned before the method that I now employ for connections: after twisting the clean copper wires together, squeeze a copper crimp on with a vise grips, then insert the entire connection in a silicon-filled tube that snaps shut (I'm sure there's a name for them).
Great video! It would be helpful if you did a "mock" job where you later it out on paper showing how you allowed for voltage drop with quantity of bulbs, wattage and distance to come up with a particular wire gauge. Also, transformer selection info would be helpful.
Hi Adam tnx for the helpful videos i live in a tropical country, cyclones are pretty bad here and is almost frequent half a year. are wires recommended to be in a pvc conduit? would love to hear your thoughts. thanks!
When trenching and burying thin low voltage wire under small size gravel, would you encase the wire in a pvc like tubing to protect the wire from damage?
We often run various wires through PVC sleeves in areas where it might be damaged, like under a gravel driveway. It also makes it easier to replace if the wire is ever damaged.
If I have short runs ~20' and long runs ~100' should I just buy 8AWG to not worry about it? I'll be lighting up at least 20 to 30 4W LED fixtures (thinking 3 runs) to light up concrete patio, landscape and trees in back. Thanks for your insight!
Hi Adam! I really appreciate your videos. I completed my own project with volt landscape lighting back in March of this year. I noticed recently on the side of my house where I installed 4 path lights that turn off and on at night while set on the timer. I installed 4 path lights (path wire) and 2 spotlights to the hub that comes with the volt landscaping kit and I ran the main wire from hub to transformer 150 watt. I did not run a main wire (14/2) and connected all the lights down the side of my house. Have you ever came across this issue? I checked all the wires and they were secured in the hub. I’m thinking of just running a main wire down the side of my house and connect all the wires. It’s more work but I’m running out of options. Any advice I will greatly appreciated.
10 g would work better than 12 for 150 watts on 250 feet. And depending on brand of LEDs, a 300 watt transformer would work with the ability to add more later
May I connect a 16 to a 14 gauge cable to make it longer? Say 50ft (16) + 50ft (14) so that I can run 100ft. If so, which one will be connected to the transformer 16 or 14?
Thanks for the helpful videos. Wish you have direct links to these products instead of having to buy a course. I’d have bought some. You’d be making some on affiliate marketing. Hope you are making good on your course to justify not just putting product links here. Just a thought…from someone who makes a living on links.
I am thinking of installing 15 PAR36 LED Landscape Bulb lights, 10W in my garden. What transformer (wats), what type of wire (gage) and how many cables do you recommend?
I would go with a 300Watt transformer, 12/2 gage wire, and at least 2 main runs. It all depends on how far apart the lights are from each other, might need 3 main wires for functionality.
Adam, is it possible to run wire across the driveway through the dividing cracks that are already there? My driveway has wood dividing it into 4 squares. I'm wondering if it's logical to pull up the wood, run the wire, and fit the wood back over the top or seal it if necessary. Thus, I avoid having to use a saw to get it across in a new crack and seal. (Not sure if that wood is even easily removable, but definitely wanted to ask before trying.)
Yes I use that gap all the time! Sometimes the wood is hard to remove, so it takes some time to pull it out. I would not put the same wood back, you can either seal it up with leveling cement or a rubber sealant.
How much load, how long of distance. 95% of people will have plenty of capacity and upgradability with using 12awg. 10awg or 8 only needs to be done for very high loads, very complex systems or very long runs. My longest run on my Volt system is 175 feet. I use led 5w bulbs and and have zweo issues. 600w transformer, but im only consuming like 170w total.
I would run a 12/2 gage wire. A 16/2 would work, and will work for years. I've done it several times. Although I'm learning that 16/2 wire makes the transformer work harder than a 12/2 gage wire.
Can I add a 50 foot run of 14g wire to an existing 16g wire? 16g to 12g? 14g to 16g?? I am going to play with some Harbor Freight lighting tomorrow...I KNOW, I KNOW!! Dude...I just don't have the $$$..to buy $110/ea lights! I have (3) 120w transformers (on sale for $15 ea...originally $130!) 1- 120w transformer, running 150'-16g wire- (16 LED lights @ 2.5w ea) plus- one spot @ 5w. The run is within 30 foot proximity to the house, just loops back (pathway, garden) Why is it the manufacturer recommends starting at least 10 feet from the transformer? 🤔
I would run 12/2 gauge wire or 14/2 gauge. I use to use 16/2 when I first started, and after about 4-5 years, I've had lots of issues because the wire really isn't thick enough. If you want to mix wires, I would start with the thicker wire from the transformer and then use the thinner after. No worries, we all start somewhere with lighting. I have sold a few lights that cost over $400- $1,000 each and i could never afford something like that haha. The 10ft is probably an old label. Lighting was very different with halogen systems.
Anything over 25 feet of wire on a fixture and I'd go with 12G. 14 or 16 is fine if adding 10-20' to a fixture with only a 3-5 foot lead. 16g for 150 feet isn't ideal
The title of this is "What Gauge Wire Do You Recommend?" But, at no time do you actually explain whether e.g. a 16 gauge wire will do the job, or do I actually need 14 gauge... It this info is there please give me a time, because I never heard this info...
You just gave some info but not detailed. Typical business advertisement. I was expecting to hear , for 16 gauge wire you can only add 10 LED lights, etc.
Kind of disagree with the assessment. It’s not up to what we want to use, it all about the current draw and position of lights in the house which will determine distance. Was expecting to see that in the video.
If you state a conversion rate, you the "Professional" should know it? Pretty elementary right? This is multiple videos you're stating you don't know the "conversion rate" of "Resistance" for length of wire. You need to get Elementary ducks in a row before trying to post yourself as an informative and "course" offering person. It looks bad not knowing what you should know first of all for your business and customers, but then suggesting people listen to you for training and but you keep excusing not knowing something Elementary that you could easily look up. This is the problem with YT and so easily presenting content that end users don't know is incomplete and by individuals that are not prepared correctly, not a teacher, not even the work ethic to do the job.
![Quando Rondo - Grow Up [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8zFnCg3BO4Q/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for watching the video! If you want to learn more or need help, here are 3 options.
✅ Feel free to check out my FREE PDF download of the fundamentals of landscape lighting course.aklighting.net/freepdfdownload
Or
✅ Get the landscape Lighting I recommend!
diycourse.aklighting.net/lightingrecommendations
Or
✅ Complete Start-to-Finish Guide for Your Lighting Project
Get affordable professional help so you can install your lights the right way
course.aklighting.net/diylandscapelightingcourse
Thanks for breaking it down for those of us who are laymen!
I love your correct grammatical use of the word few and fewer. Most people say less lights when they should have said fewer lights as you did. You hit a home run with this video with the content and your proper use of the English language! My Mother was an English teacher so I have been scarred for life and it’s wonderful to finally not cringe listening to You Tube content, LOL 😂
Your comment made me laugh! 😂 I appreciate it! A little personal history about correct grammar. I grew up in a family that spoke incorrectly and then married into a family full of grammar police - I've learned a lot over the years. And then I recently found out I have dyslexia which made sense why I struggle with grammar, phonetics, and spelling. Needless to say I'll most likely mess up my speech in my videos, but I'm extremally flattered that I impressed you with this video and I hope I somehow keep it up!
14 gauge is perfectly fine for the vast majority of modern led projects leaving you with room for expansion on longer runs (who’s still working with halogen?). I just wired my parents yard, two zones, 55w on the first, 25w on the second - the 200w transformer is no where near its limit. Project came out great.
This was a very helpful video. Thanks for posting.
Very helpful. Thanks.
Hi! Thank you for this video on clarifying these wire sizes.
I do have a question about wire. Is all low voltage copper wire created equal?
For example: 200’ of 12/2 copper wire that costs $100 and another brand of 200’ 12/2 copper wire that costs $200. Is there any reason why the more expensive roll would be better? Thanks!
Great topic, Adam! This is tough to explain without a whiteboard. As a rule of thumb and without breaking into circuit theory 101 (it's been thirty years since I took that class), err on the side of caution meaning shell out a bit more for the lower (thicker) gauge if you think the run is long or the wattage starts adding up. Every arrangement will be different as you describe (difference in individual bulbs, manufacturers' tolerances/cheapness, number of bulbs per circuit, etc). One point to add to this discussion: The quality of the connection matters too. Over time, a poor connection will corrode dramatically increasing the resistance of the circuit. When this happens, and it does with the cheap threaded pin connectors from big box kits, the overall conductivity of the circuit will be choked. As "Un Perrier" denotes below, as R (denominator) goes up, P goes down meaning you'll need more power to "squeeze" through the "pipe".
You've mentioned before the method that I now employ for connections: after twisting the clean copper wires together, squeeze a copper crimp on with a vise grips, then insert the entire connection in a silicon-filled tube that snaps shut (I'm sure there's a name for them).
Great comment! I need to make another video about the connectivity of wire and how bad connections effect it. Thanks!
Great video! It would be helpful if you did a "mock" job where you later it out on paper showing how you allowed for voltage drop with quantity of bulbs, wattage and distance to come up with a particular wire gauge. Also, transformer selection info would be helpful.
Excellent! I’ll run some 10 ga. Wire, running to about 250 feet with 3 Spot Lights near the end. In between about 10-12 standard walkway lights.
Sounds like a great plan!
Awesome again. I’m now subscribed!!
Awesome! Thank you!
great information
Glad it was helpful!
Hi Adam tnx for the helpful videos
i live in a tropical country, cyclones are pretty bad here and is almost frequent half a year. are wires recommended to be in a pvc conduit? would love to hear your thoughts. thanks!
I have a long run from my transformer, I’m looking at 130ft from my trans former to the first light. Should I use 10g or 12 gauge ?
What brands do you trust for low voltage wire?
When trenching and burying thin low voltage wire under small size gravel, would you encase the wire in a pvc like tubing to protect the wire from damage?
We often run various wires through PVC sleeves in areas where it might be damaged, like under a gravel driveway. It also makes it easier to replace if the wire is ever damaged.
If I have short runs ~20' and long runs ~100' should I just buy 8AWG to not worry about it? I'll be lighting up at least 20 to 30 4W LED fixtures (thinking 3 runs) to light up concrete patio, landscape and trees in back. Thanks for your insight!
I rarely use anything bigger than 12/2 gauge because its more expensive and harder to work with. I would run 12/2 gauge and do 2-3 main runs.
*Where do you buy a spool of 8/2 landscape lights?*
Hi Adam! I really appreciate your videos. I completed my own project with volt landscape lighting back in March of this year. I noticed recently on the side of my house where I installed 4 path lights that turn off and on at night while set on the timer. I installed 4 path lights (path wire) and 2 spotlights to the hub that comes with the volt landscaping kit and I ran the main wire from hub to transformer 150 watt. I did not run a main wire (14/2) and connected all the lights down the side of my house. Have you ever came across this issue? I checked all the wires and they were secured in the hub. I’m thinking of just running a main wire down the side of my house and connect all the wires. It’s more work but I’m running out of options. Any advice I will greatly appreciated.
i have 12 gage wire ...my problem is the connectors are usually for 14 and below......what connector is the best and easy to do.
I have 250 ft long distance
@ 50 lights led 3W each
what Caine of transformer you recommend and what Caine of wire
10 g would work better than 12 for 150 watts on 250 feet. And depending on brand of LEDs, a 300 watt transformer would work with the ability to add more later
May I connect a 16 to a 14 gauge cable to make it longer? Say 50ft (16) + 50ft (14) so that I can run 100ft. If so, which one will be connected to the transformer 16 or 14?
Thanks for the helpful videos. Wish you have direct links to these products instead of having to buy a course. I’d have bought some. You’d be making some on affiliate marketing. Hope you are making good on your course to justify not just putting product links here. Just a thought…from someone who makes a living on links.
Can I add 120V well lights into a 12V system? I have open circuits on my transformer. Briefly, how is this done?
No, you can't. You can't even add a 20 Volt light to a 12 volt system.
Can a RA2 switch be installed to control a low voltage Lanscape lights transformer and work zones with it’ll?
I am thinking of installing 15 PAR36 LED Landscape Bulb lights, 10W in my garden. What transformer (wats), what type of wire (gage) and how many cables do you recommend?
I would go with a 300Watt transformer, 12/2 gage wire, and at least 2 main runs. It all depends on how far apart the lights are from each other, might need 3 main wires for functionality.
there's # 10 wire i can use or # 12 is ok??
Do you have any videos of wiring directly into the back of an outlet? Outlet inside, to outside, to accommodate a transformer. Thanks!
Adam, is it possible to run wire across the driveway through the dividing cracks that are already there? My driveway has wood dividing it into 4 squares. I'm wondering if it's logical to pull up the wood, run the wire, and fit the wood back over the top or seal it if necessary. Thus, I avoid having to use a saw to get it across in a new crack and seal. (Not sure if that wood is even easily removable, but definitely wanted to ask before trying.)
Yes I use that gap all the time! Sometimes the wood is hard to remove, so it takes some time to pull it out. I would not put the same wood back, you can either seal it up with leveling cement or a rubber sealant.
But doesn’t resistance on the thicker wire come to play?
It's called attenuation.
You forgot to mention Coriolis Effect. 🤣
How much load, how long of distance.
95% of people will have plenty of capacity and upgradability with using 12awg. 10awg or 8 only needs to be done for very high loads, very complex systems or very long runs.
My longest run on my Volt system is 175 feet. I use led 5w bulbs and and have zweo issues. 600w transformer, but im only consuming like 170w total.
200 watt 12 volt transformer, (7) 3 watt low voltage led path lights, 100 ft run max, is 16/2 wire ok? Thanks 🍻
I would run a 12/2 gage wire. A 16/2 would work, and will work for years. I've done it several times. Although I'm learning that 16/2 wire makes the transformer work harder than a 12/2 gage wire.
@@aklighting8292 I went down and got a spool of 12/2 today, no price on piece of mind 🍻 TY
@@aklighting8292 how about a 14/2 gauge wire that i have?
Can I add a 50 foot run of 14g wire to an existing 16g wire? 16g to 12g?
14g to 16g??
I am going to play with some Harbor Freight lighting tomorrow...I KNOW, I KNOW!! Dude...I just don't have the $$$..to buy $110/ea lights!
I have (3) 120w transformers (on sale for $15 ea...originally $130!)
1- 120w transformer, running 150'-16g wire-
(16 LED lights @ 2.5w ea) plus- one spot @ 5w.
The run is within 30 foot proximity to the house, just loops back (pathway, garden)
Why is it the manufacturer recommends starting at least 10 feet from the transformer? 🤔
I would run 12/2 gauge wire or 14/2 gauge. I use to use 16/2 when I first started, and after about 4-5 years, I've had lots of issues because the wire really isn't thick enough. If you want to mix wires, I would start with the thicker wire from the transformer and then use the thinner after.
No worries, we all start somewhere with lighting. I have sold a few lights that cost over $400- $1,000 each and i could never afford something like that haha.
The 10ft is probably an old label. Lighting was very different with halogen systems.
Anything over 25 feet of wire on a fixture and I'd go with 12G. 14 or 16 is fine if adding 10-20' to a fixture with only a 3-5 foot lead. 16g for 150 feet isn't ideal
The title of this is "What Gauge Wire Do You Recommend?" But, at no time do you actually explain whether e.g. a 16 gauge wire will do the job, or do I actually need 14 gauge... It this info is there please give me a time, because I never heard this info...
You just gave some info but not detailed. Typical business advertisement. I was expecting to hear , for 16 gauge wire you can only add 10 LED lights, etc.
It’s all about total watts and distance 😂 just like he said - not every LED bulb has the same watts.
Kind of disagree with the assessment. It’s not up to what we want to use, it all about the current draw and position of lights in the house which will determine distance. Was expecting to see that in the video.
Guage
If you state a conversion rate, you the "Professional" should know it? Pretty elementary right?
This is multiple videos you're stating you don't know the "conversion rate" of "Resistance" for length of wire.
You need to get Elementary ducks in a row before trying to post yourself as an informative and "course" offering person. It looks bad not knowing what you should know first of all for your business and customers, but then suggesting people listen to you for training and but you keep excusing not knowing something Elementary that you could easily look up.
This is the problem with YT and so easily presenting content that end users don't know is incomplete and by individuals that are not prepared correctly, not a teacher, not even the work ethic to do the job.
Dude .. better learn to spell
Thanks for pointing it out. I'm actually dyslexic and try my best to not misspell things.
@@aklighting8292u doin jst fine
boring..
Thanks for the feedback. How is it boring? What could I change to improve the video?
I don’t think it’s boring because what you are saying is important. I’m sure for the impatient everything is boring.
You should make a video on this topic.