[scapepro]

I hope Im doing this right.

I have a customer that had some lighting done for them, but they want it brighter. Not more lights, just brighter lights. Do I need to worry about extra watts, or will any bulb be ok for a light?

[Stonehenge]

Welcome aboard scapepro,

To answer your question, yeah you do need to be aware of the whole electrical arrangement when changes out to higher watt bulbs. All transformers should have on them a max wattage rating - all you do is add up all the bulbs in the lights that the transformer feeds, and it should be less than that rating. If it's more, you'll probably know it before you add the numbers - only a few, or possibly none of the lights will light, because they'll be trying to pull more juice than the transformer will allow.

You also have to be careful not to load up the lighting with a monster trnasformer capable of supplying way more juice than you need - this can quickly lead to fried out wires/lights, and could result in a fire. your best bet is to install a transformer that has just a bit more juice than the total requirement of the lights.

I hope this helps.


Jeff

[SprinklerGuy]

You could add a 10,000 w transformer if you wanted and then bump all the bulbs up as bright as you want....but it won't work.

It is absolutely imperative that you check the wiring to the lights themselves. There is voltage drop to consider....


There are a couple of ways to figure it, but to be safe try this:

Do not put more than about 75 watts on a single 100 foot run of 12 gauge lighing wire.

If the wire is "home depot" kit wire and it probably is if they are complaining about brightness....forget upgrading the bulbs without upgrading the wire.

The wiring is like the veins in your body.....if the heart is willing but the veins are collapsed, no blood to anywhere.

Good luck