Pond Lighting Guide: Build Your PondMAX System in 3 Steps

Pond & garden lighting • Safe 12V • Plug and play • No electrician needed

PondMAX 12V lights are the easy way to light up your pond, waterfall and garden after dark. Every light plugs into a low voltage transformer, which plugs into a standard outdoor power point. Follow these three steps to work out exactly what you need.

PondMAX multi colour lights in a garden pond

1Choose Your Lights

All PondMAX lights are waterproof, come with a 2-year warranty and include both a weighted base for underwater use and a garden spike, so you can use them in or out of the pond.

Light Power Brightness Best for
3W Warm White
Code 04PL686 		3W 250 lumens
About the same as a 50W halogen 		The all-rounder. A soft, natural warm white glow for waterfalls, fountains, plants and garden features.
3 LED Multi Colour + Remote
Code 04PL682 		5.8W 128 lumens 8 colours plus fading and flashing modes, controlled by remote. Choose this for your first colour light.
3 LED Multi Colour (No Remote)
Code 04PL683 		5.8W 128 lumens Add-on light to expand a colour setup that already has the remote and controller.

Just want one light? The PondMAX 3W Warm White Pond Light with Transformer comes with a 12VA transformer included, ready to plug in. Its transformer has room for one more 3W warm white light later.

2Pick Your Transformer

The transformer converts your 240V power to a safe 12V. Always choose a transformer more powerful than the lights you connect to it.

The simple formula

  1. Add up the watts of all your lights.
  2. Multiply by 1.5. This adds 50% safety headroom.
  3. Choose a transformer with that VA rating or more.

Total watts × 1.5 = VA needed

Example: 4 × 3W warm white lights = 12W. 12W × 1.5 = 18VA, so choose the 72VA transformer.

How many lights can each transformer run?

Transformer 3W Warm White
3W each 		Multi Colour
5.8W each 		Max load
12VA
Code 04ST020 		2 1 8W
72VA
Code 04ST072 		16 8* 50W
96VA
Code 04ST036 		21 11* 64W

*A maximum of 6 multi colour lights can be linked on a single cable run, and up to 33 warm white lights. For more than 6 colour lights, the lights need to be split across separate cable runs. Contact us and we'll help you plan it.

All PondMAX transformers are outdoor rated (IP44) with weatherproof screw-together connectors. Not sure? Go one size up, which leaves room to add more lights later.

3Connect It Up

Every connection is plug and play and splash-proof. The connections screw together, so you don't need tools or an electrician.

  1. 240V outdoor power point. A standard weatherproof outdoor socket, ideally protected by a safety switch (RCD).
  2. Transformer. Matched to your lights using the table above. Mount it off the ground, out of the weather and away from the water's edge.
  3. Your lights. Each light has a 5m cable. Link lights together to build your system, and place them in the pond on the weighted base or in the garden on the spike.

Want more? PondMAX also makes a photocell and timer (turns lights on at dusk and off after 4 or 6 hours), 3-way and 5-way connectors, and extension cables for longer runs. Contact us and we can order these in for your setup.

Quick Examples

Project Lights Working Transformer
Small pond or water feature 2 × 3W Warm White 6W × 1.5 = 9VA 12VA
Waterfall and pond plants 6 × 3W Warm White 18W × 1.5 = 27VA 72VA
Colour fountain feature 1 × Multi Colour + Remote
2 × Multi Colour add-on		 17.4W × 1.5 = 26.1VA 72VA
Large pond and garden 10 × 3W Warm White
4 × Multi Colour		 53.2W × 1.5 = 79.8VA 96VA

Remember

  • Not sure? Go one transformer size up.
  • PondMAX recommends a maximum of 30m of cable per transformer.
  • Multi colour lights need the remote controller to run, so make your first colour light the version with remote.
  • Use a timer and switch lights off later in the evening to give fish and frogs a natural dark period.

Need a Hand?

Tell us about your pond and what you'd like to light, and we'll put together the right lights and transformer for you. Read our pond lighting guide for placement ideas, browse the full pond lighting range, or ask us for free pond advice.

Benefits of Shopping with Us

Create a Pond in an Instant

Our potted pond plants come with their own floating ring, allowing you to create an instant pond.

  • No repotting
  • No digging
  • No waiting

Frog & Fish Friendly

Our pond plants are safe for our aquatic friends. Grow our frog-attracting pond plants, & watch as the frogs hop right in—build it, and they will come!

Gardening Starter Packs for your Pond

These are the best of the best pond plants that we recommend for starting out.

Packing & Delivery

Our plants are packed to manage long trips around Australia for $18. Due to quarantine laws, we are unable to deliver plants to Western Australia or Tasmania.