The route which will give the least headache is to use direct wire 120V AC lighting. Two other alternatives 1. Have the existing 120V AC wiring for the UCL separated out to form the low voltage wiring. Downsides - may not be simple depending on how it was wired up. A separate 120V AC run (with switch(es)) is required to the power supply (transformer). 2. Fish new low voltage wiring and add a separate 120V AC run with the necessary controlling switch(es) to the power supply (transformer). Your electrician will need to use the appropriate wiring gauge to account for the voltage drop and current draw. In both cases, the power supply could be left in the basement. Both could require additional holes inside the cabinets.

Thanks for the follow-up, Breaker. I'm looking into powering both legs of my 240 panel with a single 120 generator, sort of along the line of what you were looking to do. I've already bought an interlock kit for my DO panel and really want to avoid using a transfer box. My plan was to wire it with 8/3 (for if I ever upgrade to a bigger generator) all the way out to the outside connection box. And I already have a 10/3 outside cable where I was planning to cut the generator side of the plug and replace it with a 10/2 plug, connecting both hot wires of the 10/3 wire into the single hot connector of the 10/2 plug. I thought I had it all figured out when I bought all this last year, but now having a little concern about powering both legs at the box with the single leg from the gen. I do know about being careful to stay under load limits and keeping off any 240 loads. This setup seems to be the simplest and at the same time offers the most flexibility about which circuits I want to power, and stay with a small 4k watt generator to keep noise and fuel consumption down (important for neighbor and fuel availability reasons). I welcome and would appreciate advice from anyone on what I mentioned above. IâÂÂm a computer tech but a have a lot to learn when it comes to house wiring. This post was edited by rmui on Wed, Mar 6, 13 at 15:49

Beacon : Use a rotating beacon like what construction vehicles use and put a resistor or rheostat in line with the power on the motor so you can slow it down for realism. I would use a low voltage photo cell and possibly replace the bulb with LED's from a place like superbrightleds.com. They should have a compatible led light that will go in the plug or have the things needed to make your own setup. Power: I think a lead acid lawn mower battery (U1L the old bigger battery not a motorcycle style) series and trickle charger would be adequate for the beacon and the lift. IF you go with the LED setup you could charge it via solar panel. Lift : I think a window motor could be adapted and work well or the early to mid 90's rangers and F series trucks had electronic shift on the transfer case for 4x4. It was a starter style motor with gear reduction and stop switches for different ranges and best of all they are fairly well sealed. If you check some of the motorcycle shops you might be able to get a starter from there that has a planetary gear reduction (high torque) that just needs taking apart and given some TLC for little or no money. This would be a pretty compact and rather quiet option. I see both projects as being really cool ideas but the lift might be better to just buy a lift designed for such use and adapting it further for your setup. I would check ebay. OH wait umm what voltage did the old monster satellite dish rotators run off of? That would be by far the easiest to adapt. Either lift or rotate could be used. I like the solar charge with photo cell and LED light idea the best with wire run over to the adapted satellite dish rotator spa cover lift the best!

It sounds to me that the person asking the questions does not understand enough about wiring to do this safely and should get someone that knows what they are doing to help. Even if one does not get a shock or worst setting it up, there is always the fire hazard. Based on what I read so far, if he switches the elements to 3500's and they only run one at a time, then the 12/2 wire would be just fine and this is the way I have seen many a water heater installed. The thing I did not care for is the use of two single 20 amp breakers for a 240v load. Code requires the breakers to be tied together so that both trip if one trips. If he gets the correct breaker, this should be safe. Static