FVTLED Low Voltage LED Deck Lights Kit - 12V Warm White Bronze Recessed Landscape Lighting for Outdoor Garden, Yard, Pathway & Stair Steps | Durable Weatherproof Deck & Patio Lighting

These lights exceeded all my expectations. Initially I was doubtful whether they would even work for my application which was a long set of outdoor rustic steps that I was building. My experience with low voltage lighting is that the connectors are the weak link and I knew I couldn’t use their connectors (although they did look quite robust for outdoor use) as I didn’t want anything buried that couldn’t be easily accessed when something doesn’t work. Also, my wire lengths were a lot longer and I was concerned by comments in the questions about voltage drop with longer wire lengths. I sent a couple of messages to their customer service and they were very helpful. I even sent my wiring diagram with lengths of each segment and the wire gauge and although it wasn’t typical, they said go ahead and try it. So I bought two sets of 30 lights and used all but two of them.I ganged the two transformer/rectifier outputs together and mounted them on my garage wall. I then used an existing low voltage, 16 gauge light cable to get the 12 volt DC power to the steps. I also bought a 500 foot reel of thermostat wire because it was 18 gauge and had red and white colors so I could always know which were the positive and negative wires. Incidentally, before I started the install, I connected all the lights in one long string using their connectors and then fed the supply voltage through the complete 500 foot reel to the lights and they worked fine so I was pretty confident my design was going to work. If you understand the design of the lights, they are all connected in parallel so if one led fails, the rest stay on. Knowing this and before filling in the step treads with gravel and decomposed granite, I ran the thermostat cable to the bottom end of the steps and then zigzagged it across the back of each riser all the way to the top where I then ran it back down to the starting point. I drilled the 15/16 inch holes for the lights a little deeper than they specify in my 4 by 8 risers and then put a smaller diameter drill through that hole to the back so that at each light I could fold the wire and feed it through the hole leaving about two inches sticking out the front of the riser. Like other users, I cut the light wires a few inches from the light but went a step further and soldered the two positive wires together and then the two negatives to each other. The lights are a much thinner 20 gauge wire and soldering each pair of like wires together made a thicker segment for connecting. The wires on the light have a grey strip on the positive line so if you also cut off their connectors make sure you keep the polarity straight. I did not cut my thermostat wire; instead, I peeled the plastic covering back to expose the fold and about a quarter of an inch of the copper wire and then used the smallest available wire nuts to connect the light wires. The grey striped wire always connected to my red line or positive and the all black wire was the negative (or neutral) connected to my white wire. Because I never cut the supply wire, this approach ensured if the wire nut came loose, only that light would fail. I coiled the wire and connectors into the back of the large hole and popped the light in. I’ve included my wiring diagram in case it’s helpful.The reason for taking the supply line to each end of the steps was to allow me to insert a motion sensor at each end of the steps so the lights would turn on no matter which way a user was going. I did get some basic motion sensors but they didn’t have a day/night control so the lights would come on during the day especially if it was windy. I replaced them with better low voltage dc motion sensors that could switch off completely during the day and these work really well.As I said above, the lights really exceeded my expectations. I didn’t want the staircase floodlit; the intent was to provide just enough illumination that at night time people would be able to clearly see the steps. Because the hillside was a variable slope with the steepest section in the middle, my steps were of variable depth so you really had to see where you were putting your foot. I located the two lights 30 inches apart laterally on each riser so that the main section of the step could be used without potentially kicking a light even though they seem pretty rugged. I was also very careful to keep them all aligned from one step to the next. I’ve included a night time picture although it really doesn’t do it justice. Not only do they look great during the daytime because are compact and unobtrusive and at nighttime are really spectacular, they are also highly functional and were perfect for my application. Coupled with the great customer service, I would recommend these lights wholeheartedly. I hope this helps.