How to Choose Line Voltage vs. Low-Voltage Recessed Light

Decide how bright you want your home’s recessed lights to be. Low-voltage systems actually have lights that are twice as bright as normal house lights of the same wattage since they are more compact. For brighter lights, choose a low-voltage system.

Choose if you want dimmers on your recessed lighting system. Dimmer lights will run on your line voltage system with regular dimmers installed. Low-voltage systems need an extra dimmer installed for every light on the line.

Select the type of lights you want to use in your recessed light fixtures. Line voltage runs at 120 watts, while low voltage runs at 12 watts. This means the low-voltage bulbs will take up less energy than will line voltage bulbs as well.

Decide how much sound you want your lights to make. Since a low-voltage system needs a transformer to run, it makes extra noise. The transformer may hum or buzz. Line voltage does not have this problem.