How to Install Low Voltage Landscape Lighting | Complete Step-by-Step Video | Costco Lighting Kit

[@alanbrynjolfsson1447]

VOLT here, first thank you for the review/video. You do a great job of explaining and demonstrating how to set up a. landscape lighting system. I wanted to make a few notes. 1. LED bulbs are constant current (unlike halogen/incandescent where you need to get the input voltage between 10.5 - 12 volts). The VOLT LED lamps in this kit (and all VOLT LED bulbs) will operate the exact same with voltage inputs anywhere from 9 -22 volts. That is the reason the transformer has a 15V tap. If we had a 12V tap then it couldnt do longer runs. With 15V tap you can do long runs yet you are never "over-volting." Most LED manu's recommend using the 15V tap as there is less in-rush current (higher Volts= lower Amps). 2. The transformers now come with a bracket for wall mounting as well. The purpose of the pedestal mount is for DIYers who dont want to drill into their house or dont have a drill + concrete bit + screw with plastic expansion sleeve. The pedestal also acts a UL listed conduit as you need to have the wire from the transformer to ground in conduit. This saves a DIYer from having to buy conduit, cut it, glue threaded coupling, and conduit lockwasher to install. 3. The hubs make it easy for DIYers to make easy, yet secure connections, all in one place and have them above ground in a dry junction box. Also makes for easy troubleshooting and adding expansion fixtures--- again all with no tools. The long lead wire is for use with hubs. You dont need to cut off the wire, you bury next to the fixture so you can move the fixture in the future. Hubs dont need to be in the middle of beds, you can put them inline along the house edge as well. With the low LED draw and 15V transformer you dont need to worry about voltage drop,. The hubs have secure wago clamp connectors that ensure secure mechanical connections. New DIYers often make mistakes with cutting and stripping wire and twisting securely and waterproofing. The hub fixes all these issues for DIYers. The long fixture lead wire is prestripped and ready to be used in the hub clamp connectors. Pro's will make alterations for their needs, but the kit is designed for the DIYer to get it right the first time and with no tools. Stick fixtures in the ground, connect lead wire to the hub, mount transformer on pedestal, connect transformer to hubs with thicker main run wire and you are done! (after you bury the wire). Thank you for the review and video! Team VOLT®

[@alexanaya5088]

Thank you Volt for the clarification. I was shocked the hubs were not used in the video because I thought the hubs are one of the benefits of making these kits great. I'm about to install mine today and wanted some pointers. This is a good video, but I thought it missed on the benefits of the hubs and I think the long wire on the fixture is awesome.

[@skg75]

Does Volt recommend how many max spot-lights to connect in a daisy chain? I have a 150 Watt transformer (the exact one shown in this video)

[@PhilosophySama]

Thanks Volt

[@suzique7302]

I did it! Thanks to you Adam! I watched ur videos and ordered one of your resource documents. After a test run, I asked a friend to inspect and he gave me a gold star. I’m a single woman in her 50’s and felt overwhelmed until I discovered ur channel. Purchased the Costco kit and called Volt w/ a few questions... and voilà! I’ll email you a couple pics but I’m super duper pleased! Thanks again

[@aklighting8292]

This makes me super happy! Thanks for sharing! Please send those pictures, I'd love to see them.

[@mjmonte18]

Extremely helpful!! Thank you!!!

[@slceowtitsy]

Great videos! I would love it if you would come back at night and show what these systems look like when they are illuminated!

[@aklighting8292]

Thank you! I try to show the end result in all my videos...but I completely forgot to put it in this one. At least its in the thumbnail!

[@gilgomez7848]

@@aklighting8292 can yóu take a picture of the installed project at night?

[@refreshlandscapelighting4813]

Great video Adam. I watched it for the third time now

[@aklighting8292]

Haha! I appreciate it! You're the one killing it now. Love your work!

[@refreshlandscapelighting4813]

@@aklighting8292 lol, ty Adam... I’m still a student. 😊

[@user-xv6my8zv6e]

You should show how looks all light up at night

[@aklighting8292]

I agree. I for some reason forgot to add it. If you look at the thumbnail, you'll see the end result.

[@SueCaldwell-l5w]

Hi Adam, You did a great job! I have the Costco set and 3 of my path lights stopped working. My installer did not use the hubs as you did not. I am trying to figure out how to disconnect just the three path lights from the set? I called the Volt customer service spoke to Kevin and unfortunately he was not helpful. I have to send the three sticks back for them to fix but do not know how to just disconnect the three not working. Any suggestions? Thank you!

[@BrooklynDave718]

Great video. Very informative and well done.

[@aklighting8292]

Thank you.

[@tanishaw8628]

I just discovered your channel. I've been through tons of solars lights which basically do nothing. I'm really trying to spruce up my yard this year..my neighbors have hardwired lights..but I don't have that in my budget right now as I have a few other large projects going right now. I'm a single women...but I don't mind trying to do it myself. I've never thought of trying to do my own lighting. Never even heard of low voltage lighting. However, this looks very diy friendly. I'm a little nervous about how to run the wire under the sidewalk to the other side of the house. I have large flower beds on both sides of my house and my porch and outlet is in the middle. However..I'm going to put this on my list of yard projects for this spring/summer!

[@discreetfire]

Great video! SUBSCRIBED!!!

[@aklighting8292]

Thanks for the sub!

[@ashutoshsrivastava303]

If you need to run the wire over stone floor, can I do it inside a metal conduit or it always needs to be buried. I have a lot of hardscape and can always bury the wire but I could run conduit at the edge of the floor so that its not a tripping hazard

[@webcrawler3332]

Did you use the 14/2 for the feeder line to all the fixtures?

[@aklighting8292]

yes

[@archerpro137]

So what did it look like? Cmon man. Need to see the results. I need to buy lights.

[@josephcruz4013]

Great video . Can you tell me is C9 light is good for roofline and where to buy . Thx

[@aklighting8292]

I don't install C9 bulbs, but those are the best. Make sure to get them from lighting companies instead of Home Depot.

[@janfaccone8055]

Hi! I assume you start closest to to the transformer and work your way to the end?

[@aklighting8292]

Either way works. I actually prefer to start from the farthest end and work my way towards the transformer. I can't really explain why. I find I can keep track of the wires and lights better that way.

[@noelcapacio9804]

NICE,,,

[@HowardD-l5d]

Useless without a view of finished results at night

[@DotSunTv]

Smooth brain comment

[@PoloRalph]

Did you not see the intro dumass?

[@jtejkowski]

The LED lamps from Volt are rated for 15V. I'm not sure why you would toss all that 18/2 wire. It works great for runs out to fixtures from the main wire and is no easier to accidentally cut than any other landscape wire.

[@drummerseahawkboy]

what is the price on getting a company to wire, bury etc etc

[@capona6826]

Nice video and I enjoy your channel. Several comments. You don't like the hub because you would have multiple feeds going through the area. I kind of get that but just locate the hub along your main line as you would without using the hub. I think if you use the hub, that would resolve your other concern about only having a 15 volt feeds and close fixtures having a reduced lifespan. I think that hub is spreading out the voltage between all fixtures on that hub. So nothing is as close as it would seem. Lastly, my transformer also came with a bracket for a house mount option if that's your preferred mounting method. I got the front of my house done in a couple of hours. Probably could have gotten it to an hour if I moved quicker but those days are over. I suppose a contractor would charge $1000-2000 to do the same. So for $500 and a couple of hours effort, seems like easy money staying in my pocket. Volt nailed this pretty well for the DIY'er although it would be an improved product to have other mount options possible with these fixtures.

[@aklighting8292]

Love your comment. Yes I agree with your hub theory, that's actually how lighting systems had to be installed years ago. I have learned since this video that it also really depends on the bulb. Some bulbs actually prefer and last longer at 15v. Other bulbs have a longer range of voltage it prefers. I think a lot of cheaper bulbs might have the issue with 15v. That's awesome your transformer came with a house mount option. The kits I've used in the past only had the ground option. Yes money in your pocket! Well done. I think Volt has provided a great option for people like you who want to install their own lighting and save some money. Thanks again for your comment.

[@kurthuseman3431]

Hello Adam. We have the same kit. The kit states that the Hubs, which you hate, should be located 50 ft from the transformer. Is this due there being 100 feet of 14/2 and two hubs or is it a voltage drop issue? We are looking at putting 18 5 watt fixtures on the transformer. The longest run would be 100 Feet from the transformer. Can I run the 100 feet of 14/2 and daisy chain the fixtures to the 14/2? Thanks in advance to your response.

[@aklighting8292]

Thanks for asking that question. No you can not. I would run 12/2 wire instead of 14/2 and have 2 main wire or (3 main wires with 14/2). The voltage drops more with a 14/2 than a 12/2, but 100ft is not where you run into issues. I assume that the kit is meant for people who have a smaller yard and 100ft is a pretty common distance.

[@alby2233]

What wire did you use and how can I go get it? Thanks

[@EvinSarkisyan]

How much electricity does it take ?

[@Kandres027]

What’s your opinion on intermatic/malibu? My full metal cl191 set has lasted for years but as a professional where do you rank these?

[@aklighting8292]

They're not bad. I'd probably rand them around 7/10 for quality and 5/10 for lighting/illuminating light.

[@kennethpayne2019]

To light up a 4 foot area between windows , how far from the wall should you place the Costco light fixture ? I enjoy watching your videos

[@aklighting8292]

Glad you enjoy watching the videos! I would test it to see what you like best. I usually place lights about 12-15 inches away from the wall.

[@gentleteeth]

Hi do u like amp lighting better?

[@aklighting8292]

Yes.

[@MattFirdous]

is this Texas bro?

[@mikemcelfresh5679]

You need an in-use cover and it should be gfci protected

[@JoshuaCJones]

“Good luck Isaac.” 😂😂 Been there Isaac #trenchbrothers

[@aklighting8292]

Haha trenchbrothers! Love it!

[@gilgomez7848]

Can you ignore the included photocell in the Costco kit? I want to plug the transformer into a wifi plug (wet rated outdoor wifi plug)?

[@aklighting8292]

Yes you can. Just turn the Costco transformer photocell to ON and it will be on always. Then plug your wifi plug.

[@gilgomez7848]

@@aklighting8292 Thank you so much! Now I’m trying to figure out how to install the transformer attached to my concrete block/stucco exterior wall. The feet that come with the transformer mounting kit are way too short for South Florida wet conditions. I don’t want to use wood as a backing or mounting (again because wet conditions). I found some stainless steel L angles at Home Depot and I’ll need to tinker with the mounting of the transformer and find a way to mount without voiding the Volt warranty. If anyone has experience mounting the Volt transformer to to their concrete stucco walls instead of using the kit footsies? Thanks!

[@tritonh5683]

We want to see how nit looks at night

[@ravitejamnm]

How much did you charge the customer?

[@djm5k]

As mentioned previously, it would have been nice to see the nighttime results of this installation. It’s too bad Costco provides such cheap quality wiring that ends up discarded or better yet recycled. Seems like you could have gone with a better quality fixture and wiring for what you have to discard with these Costco kits. You might be just breaking even coastwise.

[@brandonleesanders]

12:57 - Ebay that wire. Don’t toss it. Somebody would gladly buy it.

[@aklighting8292]

I recycle the wire. I wouldn't want to sell it.

[@truthseekerKJV]

The video title says " How to install ", and they start the video AFTER it's 75 % installed.

[@aklighting8292]

Yeah...this was not what I intended. I honestly forgot to film while we installed. I apologize for that! I still posted it because I hoped it would help.

[@Noitsdeffonotalex]

I have to say just sell the hubs and the wire on amazon or ebay that is what i did

[@RolexDSSD]

That kit was on sale for 399$.

[@aklighting8292]

Nice!

[@RolexDSSD]

@Raul Hernandez Costco had them for 399$ a few days ago.

[@refreshlandscapelighting4813]

That’s a great price! Adam, with those types of transformer/photo cell. The photocell is inside the case, and not a punch out/screw in from the outside? Lol, I don’t know how to word it, I hope that question made sense!

[@aklighting8292]

To clarify, this install had 2 kits. The main kit, and an additional kit with 4 lights bought separately.but yes, great price at $399!

[@aklighting8292]

Yes the photocell is on the inside. It's pretty cool. Only downside with any photocell is their lifespan and inconstant lifespan. I've seen photocells last for 1.5 years, 3 years, and 5 years, and every once in a while one will last like 15 years!

[@Ghost_Recon_Phantom]

So in short don’t buy it at costco