Valuable information from Outdoor Landscape lighting experts.
Looking for some ideas on how to bring LED low voltage landscape lighting to your yard and not sure where to start? Our video can help you visualize what using our LED-S215 path light, LED-FG1021 spot light and LED-B7011 step lights can quickly achieve. You will find links to our products conveniently placed below for easy access to these products.
LED Hawaii Lighting making the magic happen in this video
LED-S215-BK
LED-FG1021-BK
LED-B7011-ARBSubscribe to our Youtube Channel
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Tags: Landscape lighting, LED Lighting, Hawaii Lights, Lighting Hawaii
TLS100-UNV Smart TransformerIt's the smartest because it meets the needs of so many of our customers. It's the smartest because it will work with any home automation system, It's the smartest because it's easy to use. It's the smartest because it tell's you if it's working. It's the smartest because it's simple and easy to use. It's the smartest because . . . well we could go on. Watch the video and see for yourself :)
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Tags: LED low voltage lighting, Landscape Lighting Transformer, Smart Transformer, Simple Transformer
As spring draws near, people will be spending more time walking around your neighborhood. I don’t know about you, when I am taking my evening walk, a well-placed spotlight is quite remarkable. Here are some inspirational pictures using directional lighting in your yard.
 LED Spot Light |
 LED Spot Light Complete Kits |
For more information about landscape lighting, check out our kits and videos.
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Tags: led landscape lighting, LED spot lighting, LED low voltage lighting, Directional Lighting, uplighting, bullet lighting, tree lighting
Two Shipping Myths Big Business Doesn’t Want You to Know
Who doesn’t like saving money? How many times have you left a website because they didn’t offer free shipping? As a small family-operated online retail company, we get hundreds of questions a day. However, the most popular questions we get are about shipping prices. Almost everyone wants free shipping. Today we are going to share the top two myths big business doesn’t want you to know.
Myth 1: Free Shipping Always Saves Me Money!
The other guy offers free shipping, why don’t you? We get this question every day, and every day we tell our customers the same thing. “Shipping isn’t Free.” In all our years of business, we haven't found a single carrier who is willing to ship our orders for free. In fact, every week, our shipping carrier sends us that pesky little invoice requesting payment for service.
So how does that other guy get away with calling it free shipping then? Here is what they don’t tell you. Let’s say you order a recessed trim for $21.41 with free shipping, and live in a state with 10% sales tax. The cost of the trim is $2.41 and the shipping cost is $19.00. However, you are getting free shipping so these two costs are combined into 1 line item. The 10% sales tax on the $21.41 trim is $2.14, making your total order $23.55. It is only $2.14.”I can’t get a cup of coffee for that much.” “I am getting free shipping, so I don’t mind giving away my money.”
What if the other guy decided to charge you shipping? Let’s find out. Back to our favorite $2.41 recessed trim. Because they charge you shipping, the $19.00 is a separate line item. This means the 10% sales tax is only being applied to the $2.41 trim, making the order total $21.62 instead of $23.55. You just saved $1.93!! Still not a cup of coffee, but savings is savings.
Now that we know sometimes free shipping isn’t always the best deal. I bet you are wondering “Why does it cost $19.00 to ship that $2.41 trim.” You are not alone. Let’s see why.
Myth 2: The Cost Of Shipping Depends On The Cost Of The Order.
How could something so inexpensive, cost so much to ship? This recessed lighting trim has to go into a box so it gets to you undamaged. No one wants to delay their DIY project due to a cracked or dented trim. To prevent this mishap, the warehouse puts bubble wrap, air cushions, or paper inside the box to prevent movement. Then they tape, and label the box. We want to focus on the shipping cost, not the handling costs, right? We use UPS to ship this trim; however, all the common carriers are about the same.
How are shipping costs determined? All the popular shipping carriers have a shipping calculator on their website. This calculator asks for the delivery location, the dimensions of the box ( Length, Width, and Height), and the weight of the box. With that information, they will tell you how long and how much it cost depending on when you want the package. We use ground service as it is the least expensive. In our $2.41 trim example, we enter the following information: Miami, Florida, 11” x 8” x 8”, and 1 pound. Why Miami? We have been shipping a lot of boxes there right now, but you can go to UPS.com to test this for your location.
If the box weighs 1 lb, why is the billable weight 5 lbs? All shipping carriers combine the weight and the size of the box to determine the actual cost to transport your package from us to you. The industry calls this “dimensional weight.” After plugging all this information in the shipping calculator, the cost to ship this trim ground from New Mexico to Miami, Florida is $19.00.
What if I put a $5,000 diamond ring into the same box, would it cost more? The delivery location is the same, the box dimensions are the same, and it weighs less than a pound. Using the handy shipping calculator, we find that it still costs $19.00 to ship UPS ground from New Mexico to Miami, Florida.
If shipping isn’t free, why do we offer free shipping? First, we know that is what people want. Many times that is the first thing consumers seek out when buying online Second, we need to stay competitive, and offering “free shipping” on some of our products helps us do that. We are a small family business and we have to try to compete. If you run a small business you know how hard this can be.
Why do we still charge shipping on some items, if people want free shipping? Well, we want to give our customers the opportunity to find the best deal for their project. Many times a customer can save money having shipping as a separate line item, especially when buying larger quantities or heavier items.
We know you have choices out there, and hopefully, after reading this you are a more informed consumer that will choose Total Lighting Supply for your next lighting project.
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Tags: Big Business, Dimensional Weight, DIY Projects, Family Operated Business, Free Shipping, Getting a Deal, Myths, Saving Money, Savvy Shopper, Shop Local, Small Business
Use your existing 12volt AC low voltage outdoor lighting system to bring Christmas string lights to your yard, business, patio and more. These unobtrusive lights We show you the ins and outs of this unique low voltage Christmas light helping make it easier and faster for you to install and operate :)
Get your LED 12volt Christmas Lights and make your place magical!
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Tags: led, Low Voltage, Christmas Lights, String Lights
A customer favorite for both lighting the way and accenting your garden, our LED-S225 stands out as one of our most popular Landscape LED fixtures. The reflective round top shade gets the light down and out without unsightly glare, the protected bulb housing with glass lens and extra large heavy duty spike helps keep the path light secure in place making this fixture a great addition to your existing low voltage outdoor landscape lighting system or the perfect choice for a band new installation. Included with the LED-S225 is the warm natural LED light bulb that can be easily replaced, so there's no need to trash the fixture if there is a problem with the LED or if you just want to make a change light bulb it's all possible. Can you say sustainable and environmentally friendly? Make your outdoor space magical and special all year long ?
Shop the LED Round Top Path Light
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Tags: Path Light, Landscape lighting, Low Voltage, LED Lighting, Walkway Light, Make Magic
Rated for outdoor use the stainless steel ESL40W transformer is built to weather the harshest weather while lasting a very long time with its magnetic core. Included in all ESL units is an easy to use mechanical analog timer, manual reset button, enclosed terminal compartment, grounded three-prong power cable and photocell. The ESL40W is fully serviceable and provides 12volt low voltage and a 15volt boost so you can bring power to your LED low voltage outdoor landscape lights at a great distances. See our video link below on when to use this 15volt option. Available in 40 to 300watt configurations.
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Tags: Low Voltage, transformer, Analog Transformer, Stainless Steel, ESL Series
Malibu Lighting went out of business in 2014 and from our understanding their digital low voltage transformers were made up until that time. You can still find these transformers in the market for sale but there is one issue causing these magnetic transformer to fail. Join us as we unfold the mystery.
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Tags: transformer, Failing, Malibu Lighting, Troubleshooting
Many of our customers have asked how the Coronavirus / COVID-19 virus is affecting our lighting supply chain.
They are concerned about stock running out on many of our lighting products such as track lighting, recessed lighting, LED T8 retrofit conversion lighting, LED low voltage outdoor landscape lighting and lighting parts, accessories and LED light bulbs that are almost all manufactured in China. They have large projects underway and the lighting must be installed at a specific point in time or the project is put on hold as the finish work can not be completed without it in place.
In November, our primary factory told us to order for the annual Chinese New Year closure and include one more month after, to ensure that the factory can have time to gear up after the holiday season. We did so and increased our order 30% just to be safe. This all took place before the Coronavirus took center stage in China and world. Then the virus hit and the factory remained closed and did not restart production.
We purchased enough product to cover us until the end of March.
We expected that the factory would be back to work on a limited basis by the first week of February and we would have new product on the water (i.e. in a container ship heading our way to the United States) by the middle of the month. Unfortunately, this did not happen. We are now at the second week of March and there is very limited product in production and the shipping and delivery dates are still not guaranteed. We have some products expected by the end of March and the rest will arrive sometime later. You will see on our website that some items that are out of stock do not have an expected delivery date as they are not in production yet.
We have had large delays before, the last big delay was back during the last dock worker union port strike in Los Angeles. It was very disruptive and it went on much longer than expected.
If you have a project that has a construction time-line, please contact us so we can ensure you have product in hand or on the move to avoid costly delays and pricey air shipping expenses.
We do our best to help you from going over budget and get your project delivered on or before it is needed. All of our orders ship complete unless you tell us to do otherwise. Incomplete shipping can create greater confusion, frustration and disruption that you simply don’t need added to your project. We want to avoid this at all costs.
Communication is the most important factor in guaranteeing success. Feel free to contact us. We are here to help.
For now, check your project schedule, wash your hands with soap and shut off CNN. We like websites like John Hopkins University, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) website for real facts on the virus, not “news” reporters running around like chicken little.
Thank you for reading our update and feel free to contact us with questions and project schedules. Again, we are here to help :)
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No matter the season, summer, winter, fall or spring LED low voltage outdoor landscape lighting can make your yard magical. Thanks to our good friend HandyDADTV who braved the cold to get some amazing video and pictures of the LED low voltage outdoor landscape lights covered in snow that he installed in the summer and made a superb video. Come watch the magic!
LED Low Voltage Outdoor Landscape Lighting used in the video
LED-S215-RU
LED-S220-BR
LED-FG1021-BK
LED-6011-BKPosted in: .
