For outdoor path lighting, is it better to have 2 small transformers or 1 big one?

Question

I'm planning to have about 12 lights, roughly half are towards the front of the house and half extend towards the rear.  Should I run a really long wire to all of the locations, and use one larger transformer, or should I split it into two separate runs with two smaller transformers?

Pros of two - separate on/off controls to save energy if one side isn't needed.  also simpler to run the shorter cable lengths.

Pros of one - only one timer to set, one plug required

????

Joe · Accepted Answer

If it were me, I'd probably install the two smaller systems.  It's better to have shorter buried wire runs.  It will also be easier to diagnose malfunctions, down the road.

carl r · Answer

if the further set has its transformer located where the first one is, then the beginning of the run all the way to the further set needs a heavier cable to make up for the voltage drop caused by the additional distance.  Otherwise the further set will have orange-ish lights 

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For outdoor path lighting, is it better to have 2 small transformers or 1 big one?

2 Answers