Can Low Voltage Lights Be Plugged Into an Outlet Inside a Cupboard?

High Voltage

• The most likely damage caused by plugging a low voltage light into a standard 120-volt electrical outlet is damage to the lighting itself. The rush of voltage may cause the wires inside of the low voltage lighting unit to burn out. If this happens, the lighting won’t work. If you burn the wires in the low voltage lighting up, you must replace the lighting, because there is no way to repair the damaged wires.

Voltage Reducers

• To prevent damage to low voltage lights, you must create a low voltage environment in which to plug the lights in. Do this by plugging a volt reducer into a standard outlet, such as the outlet inside a cupboard. A volt reducer, or step-down transformer, decreases the voltage that flows from the 120-volt electrical outlet to approximately 12 volts. This provides sufficient voltage to power low voltage lighting.

Wiring Low Voltage Lights

• Step-down transformers are designed for use with low voltage lights, which makes for a fairly simple installation process. Extend the wires from the lighting unit to where the step-down transformer sits inside the cabinet, laying the wires out across the ground. Connect the two wires from a low voltage light to the two small screws on the step-down transformer and tighten the screws with a small-scale screwdriver to hold the wires in place. If you want to hide the wires for the lights, dig a small trench, lay the wires along it and cover the wires with soil.

Plugging In

• Secure the step-down transformer to the interior of the cabinet next to the electrical outlet if you can place a screw through the wall of the cabinet without it coming out the other side. Insert the electrical plug connected to the transformer into the electrical outlet inside the cupboard. If you cannot install the transformer on the inside of the cupboard, install the cabinet to the outside of the cupboard.