Low voltage landscape lighting is usually thought of as being cheap and of low quality. The primary reason for this is the poor quality of products found at the local big box home improvement stores. These low voltage landscape lighting fixtures are made very cheaply with plastic or some kind of potted metal. They just don’t last very long. These fixtures usually come with very poor pierce point connectors which give a bad connection, and also allow water to get into the connection causing corrosion and other issues. The manufacturer of these products includes instructions for poor installation methods such as the daisy chain. This method allows the first light to be really bright while the last light can hardly be seen. 
This system usually comes with a little black 12 volt transformer with a built in mechanical timer (which loses time every time the power goes out) causing the lights that are working to come on at all different times. This system is doomed to fail before it leaves the store shelf. No wonder the general public thinks so poorly about low voltage lighting.
The average consumer doesn’t realize that there are professional grade low voltage landscape lighting products out there that are made from quality materials like brass, copper and stainless steel. A professional outdoor lighting transformer is usually made out of stainless steel, and has several different voltage taps from 11-15 volts — this helps keep the proper voltage going to all fixtures, avoiding that dim light situation. A good professional transformer also allows for an independent control device to be placed inside of it so it can operate in many different ways including a regular timer, photo cell or maybe even a remote control. Controls are another topic altogether.
When a well trained professional outdoor lighting company uses these high quality products and installs them properly by using their design skills, waterproof connectors, quality wire and electrical distribution techniques, you can end up with an outdoor lighting system that will blow your socks off and will last for many years.
To see what great low voltage lighting can look like, visit our gallery
