Transformers and Controls
Transformers from 60W to 900W, plus timers, photocells, sensors, zone modules, dimmers, scene keypads and app control.
Size the transformer at total load plus 20%. Ten 6W spotlights is 60W, so a 150W unit, not a 60W one. The headroom stops it running at its limit and leaves room for the two extra fittings you will want next year.
The controls are where a garden scheme stops feeling like a set of lights and starts feeling designed. A photocell plus timer means it comes on at dusk and goes off at eleven whatever the season. Zones let you have the terrace on without the whole garden. And turning it off at a sensible hour is the single most effective wildlife measure available — see Dark Sky and Wildlife.
An astronomical timer is worth the extra over a plain one: it tracks sunset through the year so you never reset it.
