Controlling the lighting
A lighting transformer is just something that takes 120V electricity and converts it to approximately 12 volt power. It may also have a timer, as shown here, and possibly a photocell so that it won’t turn on during the day.
The reason for the word “approximate” is that many transformers, this one included, have multiple voltages to compensate for voltage drop inherent in incandescent lighting.
If there is supposed to be 12 volts at the light, but the wire will lose two volts along the distance from the transformer to the light, multiple taps make it a simple matter to correct. Just connect the wire to the 14 volt lead and you’ll have 12 volts at the fixture.
This is fine, but incandescent – or halogen – lights will soon be obsolete. The bulbs don’t last all that long, and having to replace landscape lighting every month as the bulbs fail is a real chore. Light-Emitting Diode, or LED, lighting is the technology of the future, at least until something better comes along.
LED lights will supposedly last 40,000 hours. Some have ten year guarantees, or more. If you run your lights four hours every single night of the year, that translates to 27 years without ever having to change a bulb. Not that you could change a bulb, since the trend is to make the fixture and light source integral. Not the most ecological decision, since it means that you’ll have to throw away the fixture and replace it at some point in the future. Not the least ecological choice, either – since LED lights use only a fraction of the energy required by incandescent systems.