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How to Control Outdoor Low Voltage Lighting with Insteon Page 1

Background

Low voltage lighting controllers are usually based on a nice little transformer with a mechanical timer on it. You set the timer to turn your outdoor lighting on at dusk and off at dawn. The problem with this solution is that you have to continually adjust your timers as the seasons change. The other problem is that there is no way to turn the outdoor lighting on if you want it on early, or to turn it off if you happen to be a stargazer.

One solution is to control your outdoor low voltage lighting with Insteon. This can be done a variety of ways, but we chose to make the whole thing watertight and locate it outside. You could run your low voltage wires into your garage or house and locate all of the controls there, as well.

Start by acquiring the following parts:

  • Insteon Icon On/Off module (SmartHome)
  • 12V (AC or DC) transformer with as many amps as you need (Jameco, Digikey)
  • 12" x 12" plastic, waterproof J Box (BuyElectricalSupplies, ours is a Kraloy 12x12x4)
  • Standard outlet box and receptacle to go in the box (Home Depot, Lowes)
  • About 3 feet of outdoor power cord (Home Depot, Lowes)
  • A standard male power cord adapter (Home Depot, Lowes)

Here is what ours looked like when assembled. A description of what is happening follows.

insteon low voltage controller

 

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Jason Bauer

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Jason Bauer is an owner and programmer for Portforward.com. He's allergic to twitter and facebook, but you can find more of his articles in the Guides section.
 
Friday, 29-Mar-2024 06:25:50 PDT