I live on the edge of a tidal marsh and want to illuminate 5 live oak trees that grow out over the marsh. The trees grow more horizontally than vertically and I was thinking up to 2 20 - 35 low voltage lamps per tree. Are any special features needed to provide additional protection against the salt air environment, and should any special type of coupling be done to connect these lights to the powered line? What type of lamp housing would you recommend? The farthest run will be about 100 ft so I had thought to do multiple lines. Would a transformer such as a 500 watt (2x250 watt) be better than a single 500 watt? Thanks. Rick Bolt

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I would recommend that you use copper MR16 fixtures or brass MR16 fixtures for what you have described.  My rule of thumb for maintaining the voltage is no more than a 100 watts on a 100 foot of 12/2 cable.  You can double that calculation if you use 10/2 cable.  Click here to see the wire.  As far as the transformer, I would pick either a stainless steel enclosure or a fiberglass enclosure.  The high voltage mutitap transformer is great for long runs. 

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