The Highlights of Low Voltage Ottawa Outdoor Lighting

Here's a scenario for the budget-conscious: Let's say you're in the market for a new vehicle. You shop around; searching for a car that looks good in the driveway but that also meets your practical needs. Safety is high priority. Fuel efficiency is important, too, but maybe not as important as it should be. You're not going for a Smart Car, but an Escalade would be overkill. You have enough cash saved up so you don't have to go cheap, preferring something that has pretty good resale value. And then, once you've made your purchase, you decide that you're only ever going to fill the tank with the most expensive gas on the days when fuel prices spike.

Why pay more for your Ottawa outdoor lighting than you have to?
Sounds silly, right? Of course, you wouldn't pay more than you have to for gas, so why keep paying higher electricity bills for a standard 120-volt landscape lighting system? While looking at all of the available energy-saving information out there, there are a few terms that we can help to demystify:

• Standard voltage: The typical 120-volt power supply of a home or office.
• Low voltage: In the case of Ottawa outdoor lighting systems, this refers to a line where the power output has been reduced to 12 volts by the installation of one or more transformers.
• Watts: The amount of power used by a bulb, and not a measure of its brightness as is sometimes assumed.
• Lumens: This is the unit of measure for the amount of light produced by a bulb.
• Light efficacy: Also known as lumens-per-watt, this is the ratio of light produced per watt of electricity consumed, and is used to indicate the energy efficiency of a bulb.

A low voltage system is all I need to save money, right?
Not exactly. The utility charges for the number of watts used every month, usually measured in kilowatt-hours. So while reducing the energy output to 12 volts accounts for part of a high efficiency system, it has to be factored in with the total number of watts being consumed by the entire lighting system – transformers and bulbs included.

More brightness for the buck
The main benefit of a low voltage Ottawa outdoor lighting system comes in greater light efficacy. In other words, you can use low voltage lights that produce as much or more brightness than a standard bulb for roughly one-third of the required energy. And because of their superior light output, smaller low voltage bulbs can often be used which makes it easier to draw attention to the beautiful lighting effect and not the lights themselves.

Easier to maintain
Yes, low voltage bulbs are a bit pricier up-front than their standard incandescent ancestors. But this century-old technology tends to need frequent replacement, not to mention consuming a lot more power. When you consider that many low voltage bulbs may not need to be replaced for years, the total cost of ownership tends to be much lower in the long run. And soon, you won't have a choice. Most standard voltage bulbs in the 75 to 100 watt range will be phased out of the market during 2014 due to environmental regulations.

Low voltage lines are also considerably safer in outdoor applications, and are not subject to the same regulations for burying 120-volt lines in your backyard. This improves the accessibility to the system in case service is required, though we still recommend that you allow a licensed professional handle any major electrical work.

Contact us for ideas on how to make your Ottawa outdoor lighting sparkle at night, while being kinder to the environment and your wallet.