Prices are estimates. How we get them
By Franklin Night Lighting · October 29, 2026
Daylight saving time ends this Sunday. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), it ends on November 1, 2026, at 2 a.m. local time, when clocks fall back one hour. [NIST] If your outdoor lights in Franklin run on a plain timer, they will be an hour off on Monday night unless someone resets them. A smart transformer is a better fix than resetting the timer again.
A U.S. Department of Energy lighting guide says simple timers are not often used alone for outdoor lighting, because the timer may have to be reset often as the length of the night changes with the seasons. [U.S. DOE] The guide calls photosensors useful with all outdoor lighting, and for decorative lighting it suggests a photosensor to turn lights on in the evening with a timer to turn them off at a set hour, for example 11 p.m. [U.S. DOE]
A Wi-Fi landscape transformer with a dusk-to-dawn mode does that job for you. The DEWENWILS 200W smart transformer's Amazon listing says it offers astronomical dusk-to-dawn control or any mix of timer and clock schedules from a phone app, three independently controlled outputs at a selectable 12V or 14V AC, and Alexa and Google Assistant voice control with no hub. [Amazon listing] You set it from your phone instead of climbing behind a shrub with a flashlight twice a year.
Darin's go-to night lighting kit: spot lights, under-cap lights, wire and a Wi-Fi transformer, so there's no more resetting timers when the clocks change.
The brain: Wi-Fi smart transformer
A 200W, 120V AC to 12V/14V AC transformer with three independently controlled outputs, so path, tree and wall lights can be controlled as separate zones. The listing says it has an astronomical dusk-to-dawn mode, timer and clock schedules in the DEWENWILS app, works with Alexa and Google Assistant with no hub, has an all-metal weatherproof case, and is ETL certified with DOE VI efficiency.
Needs 2.4GHz Wi-Fi at the mounting spot. Check the current price and details on Amazon.
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Spot lights
Twenty-four 12W LED spotlights rated at 900 lumens each, with a 90° beam, a 270° adjustable head, an aluminum body, glass lens and IP65 waterproof rating, plus 24 screw-tight connectors that need no splicing.
Transformer and low voltage wire are not included. Check the current price and details on Amazon.
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Spot lights, smaller yards
The same style of 12W, 900 lumen warm white spotlight in a 12-pack, with a 90° beam, 270° adjustable head, aluminum body, glass lens, IP65 rating, spike stands and 24 screw-tight connectors.
Transformer and low voltage wire are not included. Check the current price and details on Amazon.
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Under-cap lights
Twelve 5W, 12V-24V under-cap lights for steps, retaining walls and fire pits, each 500 lumens of 3000K light from CRI 90+ LEDs, with a 270° adjustable light direction, die-cast aluminum housing on a stainless plate and an IP65 rating. Mounting screws and wire connectors are included.
Transformer and cable required, not included. Check the current price and details on Amazon.
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Wire
250 feet of 12 AWG two-conductor copper clad aluminum wire with a black PVC jacket, listed as direct burial landscape lighting cable and rated for operating temperatures from -35°C to 105°C.
Copper clad aluminum, not solid copper. Check the current price and details on Amazon.
View on AmazonAs an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Before you buy, add up the wattage of every light on a run and keep it under the transformer's rating. The listing says the app shows the wattage the system is using. [Amazon listing] See the whole kit in our night lighting shop.
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