Dangerous garden lights

[chickenslegs]

I have 17 garden lights, installed by the house builder, all working on mains voltage .

9 of the lights are along the poolside, withing arms length of anyone using the pool!

They are weatherproof (sealed) units with 30W halogen bulbs and are earthed.

The remaining 8 are just the type of wall mounted lights (carriage lamp style) which are

normally fixed to a house wall protected under the eaves. However, these lights are on the

garden wall, subject to all weather. These have 11W compact flourescent bulbs.

I recently found that one of the poolside units has perished, looks like UV damage, and

has let in water.

Question: I am assuming that a 12V system be safer, especially around the pool (but people tell me it's not the volts but the amps that are dangerous). Is it safer?

Question: What tranformers will I need? I want to have 2 separate sections - poolside (9 lights)

and garden (8 lights).

Question: Will I need to replace the electric cables or can a 12V system operate using the

existing mains cables.

I realise that I will need to change all the bulbs to 12V and possibly buy new sealed units.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Sandman77]

My advice!

Buy solar garden lights avalible on amazon , have some fluid inside

Looks like a ball and bright and light up alone , no voltage or cable needed !

25€ each!

[chickenslegs]

My advice!

Buy solar garden lights avalible on amazon , have some fluid inside

Looks like a ball and bright and light up alone , no voltage or cable needed !

25€ each!

Thanks for the reply.

All the solar lights I have seen are pretty dim and I need bright white light. But I will definitely take a look at the ones you suggest.

[Sandman77]

There are many types out here , but Iam not exactly sure what is avalible on the market!

When it's to bright, it will bring a lot of mosquito in the nighttime

Or another good idea

A lava lamp, looks amazing, and all the people look in your garden will see something never seen before!

On tv I see a story from the us

The shop is called Christmas wonder world sending worldwide!

A fanatic Christmas singing tree addicted us woman bought around 400 trees and thausends of light and take care them every day, with hundrets of visitors !

You can buy complete Christmas light chain or even any animal in Christmas light

For Thailand maybe have a buffalo version smile

In Florida Holiday every house make like a contest who has the more brither and bigger chrismas lights

Here the shop comes on tv

He makes millions of dollar every month

http://www.bronners.com/category/mobile.do

[chickenslegs]

There are many types out here , but Iam not exactly sure what is avalible on the market!

When it's to bright, it will bring a lot of mosquito in the nighttime

Or another good idea

A lava lamp, looks amazing, and all the people look in your garden will see something never seen before!

On tv I see a story from the us

The shop is called Christmas wonder world sending worldwide!

A fanatic Christmas singing tree addicted us woman bought around 400 trees and thausends of light and take care them every day, with hundrets of visitors !

You can buy complete Christmas light chain or even any animal in Christmas light

For Thailand maybe have a buffalo version smile

In Florida Holiday every house make like a contest who has the more brither and bigger chrismas lights

Here the shop comes on tv

He makes millions of dollar every month

http://www.bronners.com/category/mobile.do

OK...

[IMHO]

Even with the most sensitive RCD (10mA) you will still feel considerable pain if shocked by 220V - so yes, a 12V system will be a lot safer..

The problem you have with going 12V is the amount of watts you want to support - 17x 30 watts = 510 Watts, which is already a huge AC-DC transformer, and also means over 42 amps of current which would need massive cable (assuming long cable runs).

The only way I can see to make it all work would be to find LED replacement lights. Decent LED modules are capable of around 80-100+ lumens/watt, so would be able to match the 30W halogen light output with a rating of around 8-12 watts/piece - which in turn makes the transformer smaller, and the wiring needs within sensible range....

[Crossy]

Back on topic.

12V is much, much safer in a poolside environment, whilst it's true that the current kills, that current needs voltage to drive it through the relatively high body resistance.

Yes, you can use the existing mains wiring provided you're not looking at high wattage halogen lights, if you can get LEDs that will fit in the exiting lamps without butchering them too much you're good to go.

Get a 'transformer' from the same place as you get the LEDs. Most are electronic these days (that's why it's in 's). Whether you need one or two depends upon the lamps you use and the available transformers.

[chickenslegs]

Thanks for the replies.

So, 12V is safe and I should be looking for LED rather than halogen (to keep down the wattage). And transformer size/model will be calculated according to the total number of watts.

Using the existing mains cables will mean a lot less work for me.

Thanks again.

[bankruatsteve]

Thanks for the replies.

So, 12V is safe and I should be looking for LED rather than halogen (to keep down the wattage). And transformer size/model will be calculated according to the total number of watts.

Using the existing mains cables will mean a lot less work for me.

Thanks again.

FYI: your original installation is "safe".

[chickenslegs]

Thanks for the replies.

So, 12V is safe and I should be looking for LED rather than halogen (to keep down the wattage). And transformer size/model will be calculated according to the total number of watts.

Using the existing mains cables will mean a lot less work for me.

Thanks again.

FYI: your original installation is "safe".

Can you elaborate?

[meatboy]

be careful,i had sealed spot lights around my pond and lights around my summer house,yet the rain found its way into most and the sealed spots were blowing all the time and at 135bht each I decided after a staff member[home pro said they don't last long.

then I bought 6 garden lamps wich I more or less had to cover all around with silicon as water was getting into the bulb section [screw in type and blowing.

[bankruatsteve]

Thanks for the replies.

So, 12V is safe and I should be looking for LED rather than halogen (to keep down the wattage). And transformer size/model will be calculated according to the total number of watts.

Using the existing mains cables will mean a lot less work for me.

Thanks again.

FYI: your original installation is "safe".

Can you elaborate?

"Weatherproof" lights are not a safety hazard esp. when properly grounded. If you don't already have RCD protection, I would add that versus changing out the system.

[T_Dog]

A bit off topic, but if you have a doorbell, check out how it is wired. We had a rental house and it was mains voltage to the push button on the street and back to the house. Push button was hardly waterproof and luckily no one got zapped in the rainy season before we disconnected it. Safe systems use a much lower voltage like 12 or 24 volts AC to the push button switch.

[chickenslegs]

A bit off topic, but if you have a doorbell, check out how it is wired. We had a rental house and it was mains voltage to the push button on the street and back to the house. Push button was hardly waterproof and luckily no one got zapped in the rainy season before we disconnected it. Safe systems use a much lower voltage like 12 or 24 volts AC to the push button switch.

Same here. I have disconnected it and installed a battery operated doorbell.

[chickenslegs]

Thanks for the replies.

So, 12V is safe and I should be looking for LED rather than halogen (to keep down the wattage). And transformer size/model will be calculated according to the total number of watts.

Using the existing mains cables will mean a lot less work for me.

Thanks again.

FYI: your original installation is "safe".

Can you elaborate?

"Weatherproof" lights are not a safety hazard esp. when properly grounded. If you don't already have RCD protection, I would add that versus changing out the system.

Thanks for the advice.

The lights around the pool are "weatherproof" but the others are not so I'm going to replace the lot for peace of mind.

[HooHaa]

A bit off topic, but if you have a doorbell, check out how it is wired. We had a rental house and it was mains voltage to the push button on the street and back to the house. Push button was hardly waterproof and luckily no one got zapped in the rainy season before we disconnected it. Safe systems use a much lower voltage like 12 or 24 volts AC to the push button switch.

haha i had to disconnect mine, but it was a hoot to watch the chefs xp guys jump.

[IMHO]

Thanks for the replies.

So, 12V is safe and I should be looking for LED rather than halogen (to keep down the wattage). And transformer size/model will be calculated according to the total number of watts.

Using the existing mains cables will mean a lot less work for me.

Thanks again.

FYI: your original installation is "safe".

Can you elaborate?

"Weatherproof" lights are not a safety hazard esp. when properly grounded. If you don't already have RCD protection, I would add that versus changing out the system.

RCD's help protect you from dying if shocked, but they sure don't stop it hurting.... I have permanent shoulder damage from a shock that was protected by a 30mA RCD.

I would suggest that the possibility of a permanent disability qualifies as dangerous