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Using smartphone to control low voltage landscape lighting

poolroomcomesfirst

8 years ago

Are there any starter kits out there that have a smartphone enabled low-voltage transformer with multiple zones for controlling all backyard lighting from an app? ideally app would support at least 2 devices for shared control. I searched the google and couldn't find anything. I was thinking of using multiple transformers attached to a MyQ type device, but figured there might be something out there that I couldn't find.

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Comments (5)

David
8 years ago
Some options
1. PowPak or a RadioRA2 outlet control from Lutron could be used to control individual power supplies that power the low voltage lights
2. ViziaRF from Leviton tied into an internet connected Z-Wave hub to do the same.
3. Insteon is yet another.
You'd need to be able to
1. make the necessary changes to the outlet(s),
2. get the hub/ master controller,
3. program the master controller
4. put the master controller on your home network
5. get the app that communicates with the controller.
homepro01
8 years ago
Fx luminaire makes a unit for this purpose with dimming and lighting scenes. Expensive though. If you already have a home automation system, you can use that to control landscape lighting too.

Good luck!
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they help save electricity by using a transformer that converts higher voltage electricity into a 12 v energy efficient electrical current. Sorry to say it's not quite that simple. First of all, there's nothing magical about a transformer. Watts are Watts. With an ideal transformer, watts in would be exactly equal to watts out. But in real world transformers, watts in > watts out - always - because of the transformer's losses (inefficiency). So all other things being equal, a transformer wastes electricity. The evidence for this is that it gets warm. Heat == waste. But things aren't always equal. When you're talking about low intensity incandescent lights, a low voltage lamp can be (though it isn't always) more efficient than a line voltage lamp. This is because its filament can be operated at higher temperatures for a given light output. This is often the case with xenon undercabinet lights for kitchens, for example. I may have missed some, but regrettably I've never seen any landscape lights that appear to operate this way. Every incandescent landscape light I've seen has been a low output (and thus low filament temperature) lamp. So I doubt that you gain much, if anything, by using a transformer. There's also the greater losses in the wiring caused by the higher currents. By Ohm's law, current = voltage / resistance. So, for a given wattage, at 12 volts the current is 10 times as high as at 120 volts. The only real advantage that low voltage landscape lighting has over line voltage is relative ease of installation. That said, low voltage landscape lighting is a good application for LEDs. Even though they're not as efficient as their reputation would suggest, they're usually more efficient than dim incandescents. They're also right at home with low voltage. As a side benefit, they usually last much longer than incandescent lamps.
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Yup- as others said usually the relay provides 120vt ac to a dedicated outlet that the low voltage lighting transformer is plugged into. Important to note local electrical code requirements may necessitate purchasing a pool and spa rated low voltage transformer (the design physically separates the 120vt side of the transformer coil from the low voltage so a coil failure won't send 120vts AC down the landscaping wiring. CAST sells these type of transformers (that what I have) which are well made and offer voltage taps that allow you to compensate for voltage drop in the wire. Here's there website: http://www.cast-lighting.com/homeowners Thier website also has some great info on how to design a lighting system and how to size the transformer.
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Martin, No offense, comments are good, but I'm just wondering why you've dredged up some long dead threads in the forum. This one is 6 weeks old, for example. The point in this forum is to help people with their electrical problems. But with these old threads, there's nobody to help. In most cases the original poster has long since solved the problem. We do have some regulars, but the typical pattern with Internet forums is that someone will join and post with a question, get the answer, and then never return unless he has another question. Once a thread is about a week old, the original poster is usually long gone and will not see what you write. Basically, any thread that isn't on the first page in the forum is pretty much dead. It's up to you, I just hate to see you waste your time.
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poolroomcomesfirst
Original Author
8 years ago
Everything seems over engineered. I thing MyQ from chamberlain looks to be the best option. I can control 16 outlets or switches from 1 app. I'll have to wire my outlets to separate transformers for each exterior zone, but even with that I think this will be cheapest. Only drawback I see is the app doesn't accommodate different timers for different switches.
poolroomcomesfirst
Original Author
8 years ago
I wish I could get everything in 1
PRO
Twilight Designs
8 years ago
There's a number of options out there, none of them are perfect as far as the few I've sampled. You'll find most options will control the transformer on the 110v side meaning that multiple zones = multiple transformer. As mentioned above FX Luminaire is one option, back when I saw of demo of that particular product it was required that you use FX Luminaire fixtures throughout the project and the transformer was very pricey so I never tried it out. I think they've since improved it but I am nor familiar.

There's a company out there called "Universal Lighting Systems" and they make something called a "U-sync ZoneControl", I've used this and it works well. It connects to the low voltage side and you can set up to 3 separate zones setting each as either automatic or manual. So you can set a light on your BBQ for example as manual controlled meaning everything else goes on and the BBQ "zone" must be turned on manually via remote control or remote wall switch. Runs $200 - $300 or so.

Vista Lighting has another option called a vPro transformer which come with either 1 or 2 "zones". This is controlled via bluetooth on your smartphone and zones can be set separately as dusk - dawn, dusk - 1am, 8pm - 2am etc.. You can also dim each zone or have a zone go from 100% - 35% light output at 2am for example. The bluetooth has a limited range so you need to be relatively close to the transformer to make changes to the timer or to control it manually. It works with most LED fixture out there but you need to make sure fixtures are dimmable it you want to use that feature. Not sure the exact cost but plan on spending $200 - 300 more than you would for a professional grade transformer without the vPro control option.

I have MyQ for my driveway gate, never used it for a transformer. Sounds like a viable option. Like I said from the beginning, there's a number of options... none of them perfect.

Good Luck!

Dave

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