# Powering outdoor product



## itaist (Jan 27, 2017)

Hi all.

I am a mechanical engineer and do not have much experience working with electricity but I am now working on a project that involves a physical product that is meant to be left outside year-round. 

The product has various electronics inside and needs to be plugged into a near by wall outlet. I wanted to know what the various electrical codes are in a situation like this. 

Is it possible to run AC current directly to the product? Or is it better to convert it to DC with an appropriate wall wart and then only feed the lower voltage DC current to the product?

In general, the product only needs DC voltage that does not exceed 25V but if there is no issue to feed 220V AC to the unit then that would be much better and allow us to use components that need the AC current.

I hope this question is even relevant for this forum... Any feedback would be really appreciated!


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Your project description most closely resembles outdoor landscape lighting in the USA. 

They utilize a cord & plug connected transformer where line voltage feeds the transformer and the other side of the transformer is the low voltage going to the lights. There is a timer in there too but to answer your question, yes, cord & plug with line voltage going to your device is ok.

FYI if you're making it for the US market, consulting with NRTL is advised.


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## Speedy Petey (Jan 10, 2007)

Thanks for posting on ElectricianTalk.com. However, working with electricity and electrical systems can be unsafe if not done by a professional licensed electrician. The moderators of this site would like to advise you to contact a professional electrician in your area. 

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