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Thank you everyone for your help; I was out of town for the week and so I didn't reply sooner.

When I mentioned connecting all circuits into one, i meant this: Years ago, i installed these lights around the yard. I had 4 separate circuits, each with its own x-former. Well, the lights have all crumbled to pieces and now i will be re-doing them. Since so much cable is buried already, i wanted to connect all 4 of those circuits into one, using existing buried cable, and then using just one big x-former. But, the buried cable is only 16 gauge. from what i've read in the replies, it seems the best thing would be trial and error; if the lights are too dim, just start from scratch using 12 gauge.

A lot of different points to ponder. Since the load is 12v the calculation for the input current is 10% of the 12v (180w) output. Then the input off the 15 amp 120v circuit would be about 1.5 amps.

The wire size is critical in a 12v. system. I agree with the other people that you will not be able to light your fixtures. You need larger wire, or much less load for that length of wire. But the good news is you may damage the transformer, or the wire, but you won't kill anyone at 12v. Mr. Electric

Thank you all for the advice. In the end, I ended up using a load of only ~80W for now on ~260 ft of cable. instead of connecting the lights in series, I used a "T" connection. The top of the T is about 160 ft of 16 gauge. The vertical part of the T is 100 ft of 12 gauge connecting the 160 ft to the transformer. I also have a few lights on that 12 gauge section. I assume it is safe to make a T connection b/c a generic lighting manual from Home Depot suggests this method among several others. With that said, the lights look good and are not dim.