Garden Glow Essentials 12V Low Voltage Cable 1.5mm 25 Metre

Twenty five metres of two core 1.5mm low voltage cable, which is the size that suits most runs under about thirty metres.

Low voltage garden lighting lives or dies on the cable and the connectors, not on the fittings. Two things go wrong. Cable too thin for the run, which shows up as the far end of the garden being visibly dimmer than the near end. And joints made with terminal blocks in a plastic box, which fill with water within a season. Buy the thicker cable and the gel filled connectors and neither problem happens. Our transformers are toroidal, which means they run cool and quiet and tolerate a long cable run, and every one over 150W has multi tap outputs so you can dial out voltage drop rather than live with it.

Specification

• Dimensions: see the product name
• Materials: PVC and rubber jacketed cable, toroidal transformer in a powder coated case
• Finish: black cable, graphite grey case
• Light source: not applicable
• Light output: not applicable
• Colour temperature: not applicable
• Beam angle: not applicable
• Power: 12V SELV from a garden transformer, safe to cut and join outdoors
• Ingress protection: IP68, rated for permanent immersion
• Cable: as described in the product name
• Warranty: 2 years
• Suitable for direct burial at 100mm or deeper
• Can be cut and joined outdoors with a gel connector
• No conduit needed on a 12V circuit
• Weight: approximately 2.4 kilograms

In the box

• 1 x 12v low voltage cable 1.5mm 25 metre
• A note on voltage drop and cable sizing

Installation

This runs on 12V, which is the reason to choose a low voltage garden system in the first place. The cable can be laid in a shallow trench or clipped along a fence without armoured conduit, it can be cut and joined with waterproof connectors outdoors, and a spade through it is an inconvenience rather than an emergency. The transformer itself is the only part that touches mains, so that is the only part an electrician needs to look at. Bury cable at least 100mm deep, run it along a line you will remember, and leave a loop of slack at every fitting so you can move things next year when the planting has grown.

When to buy

Garden lighting is bought in spring and installed in a hurry. It is much easier to dig a cable run in February when the borders are bare and the ground is soft than in May when everything is in leaf and you are trying not to stand on it. Order in winter, get the cable in, and the first warm evening of the year is ready for you rather than a job list.