Landscape lighting

[Binky]

Bought a 4 lamp 12-volt "system" to add some deco light to the front of the house.

Worked great, until the freeze or heat / water caused one of the lights to shatter and short out.

What do ya'll have or reccommend that wont break the bank but will last more than a fuckin week?

[yellowstang]

Are these the type that point up from the ground, like spot lights?

[Binky]

Yeah, 20w halogen.

http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xggZaqpe/R-202025758/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

[yellowstang]

Never bought that type of lighting, but the reviews are half bad and half good on that link!

When I was a kid, we did go bust a few of those type of lights tho, squirt gun + hot light = loud bang!

[Tyrone Biggums]

I've got these in the 35w halogen version all along the front of my house. They're probably at least 10 years old and have held up to the elements very well.

http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Landscape-Deck-Lighting/Malibu/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xg1Zbky3Zyh/R-202059599/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

[Binky]

If I had a choice from teh start i would've prolly done something different. However, it was prexisting, I figured I'd just repair and it and go from there. Replaced the transformer, that's great... the lights f'ng suck.

I was thinking that the halogen portion was the problem - heat and cold water don't usually mix well except when making soup. I'll try the LED version adn see how it works out.

[RuStYpNuS]

did the glass cover break or the bulb itself? those small halogen lamps can explode/shatter very easy. Malibu actually makes decent low voltage lighting.....why did you have to replace the transformer? You might think about increasing the transformer size......so it doesn't have to work "as hard"

[GE]

I have the exact same ones that Chris has. Had them probably 3 years now. The timer on it seemed to have taken a shit a few months ago, but then started to work again so who knows. I think for the price, they do a pretty good job at lighting the place up.

[Binky]

I replaced all the halogen ones with the led versions. Expensive, but i'm happy with the power and color. Hopefully, the inclement weather or cold wont shatter these since the run so much cooler.

I honestly dont know if i'll see a power consumption savings since these run at 7w vs 20w, i have no idea what the native draw on the transformer is. I may be able to run more lights off it, and if so i could put a few sidewalk lights by the step out front.

[bcoop]

Malibu does make good lights, you just have to pony up for the metal versions. The cheap plastic shit, is just that. I actually have a friend that works for Malibu, and I know several people that use Malibu religiously.

[txstangnut]

x2 on the LED. Next door neighbor had some put in. Looks great.

[RuStYpNuS]

I just cant get used to them. Take the same exact layout with some nice halogen fixtures and then copy it with some LED and that incandescent look just sets the two apart.....its like changing to CFLs in the house.....your losing the "elegant look" of the halogen light but your saving pennies

[carparks]

Not sure if this is relevant, but this site has some pretty cool landscape lights and bulb/led replacements.

SuperBrightLEDs