Outdoor lighting is one of the best ways to enhance your outdoor landscape, especially with low-voltage lighting. Most people want to design their unique outdoor living and the desire to make it be one-of-a-kind will go along with making a project of installing a number of lighting services, including its installation and light fixture. Your beautiful landscape lighting should be combined with the exterior designs to light the garden and make it less of a target for burglars.
Low voltage landscape lighting installation is one of the easiest projects that almost all homeowners could complete without concerns about safety or risk as electric shock. The installed system usually uses 12-voltage electricity and you can bury the wire connectors under the ground by yourself. In case you use line voltage with 120V, you will need a licensed electrician to help you!
Keep reading this article to gather the required tools and guidelines on how to install low-voltage landscape lighting for your DIY installation.
OVERVIEW OF LOW VOLTAGE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING
Generally, a normal 120-voltage line will be reduced to a lower voltage with a transformer at a level of 12-to-24 low voltage lighting. For landscape lights, this transformer will reduce the voltage to 12 volts brought to landscape lighting installation.
Outdoor lighting provides you a safe feeling
A gloomy property offers several safety hazards to your family and your guests. It’s difficult to see where you’re going and detect any impediments in your path when pathways and stairs are poorly lighted. Installing outdoor security lighting will bring you visibility when it gets dark outside. It also provides you peace of your mind when you spend time on a vacation with your beloved people and there is nobody home.
The more light you got, the better feeling you have. Installing appropriate lighting fixtures in the right places will eliminate all of the frightening areas, enhancing safety and peace of mind, and guests will be able to locate your house with ease. By illuminating your home’s exterior, you will get no concern when the night comes and you can still feel comfortable.
Outdoor lighting prevents unwelcome guests
Unwanted guests, both human and animal, can be deterred by the security lighting. If you want to keep furry critters out of your garden, try investing in a security lighting system that is particularly intended to detect animals. Moreover, outdoor lighting has been demonstrated to reduce crime when it gets late. Outdoor lights with motion sensors may be useful; if motion is detected, whether from you walking outside or an intruder, the floodlight will switch on. You should also set your lighting system on a timer to manage your energy while your property is still kept safe.
The functionality of your home will be increased
When you install security lighting on your back patio, deck, or front yard, you will have the possibility to fully utilize these areas. For instance, you can spend your time with your family or your friends as long as you want outside your home instead of gathering inside your home. You can also hold a night party in your backyard with no hesitation thanks to your lighting system.
Outdoor lighting prevents unwanted accidents
Your guests may get difficult to take a walk around the exterior of your home, and unfortunately, some unexpected accidents could happen when nobody pays any attention. An outdoor lighting system may ensure that any guests can get to the front door without stumbling or falling, regardless of the season or weather.
GET READY FOR LANDSCAPE LIGHTING INSTALLATION
Outdoor lighting may improve your outdoor living, increase security, illuminate dark zones, as well the quality of your house. Begin by learning about the options, then plan and install landscape lighting to enhance your property and showcase your home. If you want to install a perfect light system for your home, you have to know what you love the most in your yard to make it to the conference and select the right components for this installation.
Required Tools
- Wire strippers
- Voltage tester
- Garden spade
- Posthole digger
- Sledgehammer
- Safety glasses
- Flood lights
Required Materials
- Transformer (two 45-watt ones and one 120-watt)
- Lights
- Wire connectors
- Gauge outdoor wire
- PVC pipe (1 – 1/2 inch x 12 inches)
- Copper pipe
Step 1: Layout Outdoor Lighting Overview
A successful low voltage landscape lighting plan is a series of work including gathering the right fixtures (like low voltage spotlights, transformers) to wire them correctly. Whether installed along a path, walkway, driveway, or pointing up trees, walls, and fences, low voltage lighting required fully three components: a transformer, low voltage cable, and fixtures. The first step is to identify which location in your house ground that you need to add lights first and how many lights are required.
You have a variety of different options for outdoor lights that the price varies depending on the types of light fixtures you chose and their characteristics. You can utilize waterproof lights for fountains, pools, or other water features, or choose path lights, tree-mounted spotlights, or flood lights for larger building elements.
CAUTION: Before starting any physical works, call 811 to ask utility companies mark the location of any underground wires and pipes not to harm the underground utilities when digging for low voltage wire.
Make sure to have an available electrical outlet outside to connect the power to the transformer to support enough electricity for the work. You can bury the cable in shallow trenches between each fixture.
Step 2: Install Bulbs in Light Fixtures and Attach Mounts
When you’ve finished determining and assembling enough light fixtures, then install and mount bulbs into fixtures. There are several ways to finish this step, but these 3 ways might be the most common ways for almost people:
- Stake mounting: attach a stake to the fixture and place it directly into the ground.
- Surface mounting: attach a fixture to the hard surface with the help of a power drill.
- In-ground mounting: a fixture is mounted directly into the ground, requires a spade, shovel, or post-hole digger.
Step 3: Place All Components
Clear the path where you planned to add light fixtures and wires.
Lay the low-voltage cable following the line of fixtures. Use 10-gauge wire for main lines from the transformer with total watts of 200 or less, and switch to the 12-gauge wire for the larger system between lights.
Note: Put the first fixture far from the transformer at least 10 feet.
Use a flat-blade shovel to cut a slot a 3-inch-deep trench in the soil where the low-voltage wire will cross the lawn to bury wires and prevent them from damage during the process. Then lay the cable in the trench and make the connection with the light fixtures by making cable slack at each fixture point.
Note: The cable needs to be buried at least 6 inches in depth, then cover it with dirt. Remember to leave at least 5 feet of unburied wire at each point end unless you will face difficulty connecting to the light fixture.
Step 4: Plug in the Transformer
Install the cable nearby the outdoor electrical outlet installed before and mount your low voltage transformer on a post.
Use strippers to cut off 3/4 inch of insulation from the cable, twist the strands together, attach them to the terminals marked either 12 volts or 15 volts on the bottom of the transformer and hold the cable securely in place. Make sure you usually replace the standard outlet cover with a weatherproof cover since the transformer is always plugged in the power.
Step 5: Make a Hole in the Ground
Once you set all the light fixtures into position, make sure anew that they’re equally spaced. Use the plastic pipe to construct the steady bases for the low voltage lighting, and provide safety for your wire connection.
Use a screwdriver to make a hole for the fixtures’ stake. Never glue all parts of a plastic pipe together and never use a hammer to drive the fixtures into the ground!
Step 6: Connect the Connectors and Fixtures
Strip the last half-inch of wire at each end and slip the two connector halves over the cable. Connect the wires with weatherproof connectors and twist them clockwise together until you hear a click. Then insert the connector into the cable cover till the wire begins to spin with the cap.
Step 7: Test the Light
The transformer is always plugged in, therefore the fixture should light up now. You can use a digital voltage meter to test your system at its voltage level. Walk around your property when the system is working. If there are any bulbs not lit, check any faults in your transformer or outdoor electrical outlet. Remember to make any voltage adjustments if the meter shows extremely low readings (bad connection) or too high readings (burnout of bulbs).
LANDSCAPE LIGHTING DESIGN
Here are some designs and light fixtures of outdoor lighting that you can examine to add lights to have this project done in your landscape. Each different light fixture in different designs will make different feelings and functions to your home space.
SEATTLE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING PROFESSIONALS
For the best result of a landscape lighting installation project, it’s better for most homeowners to find their local business. They have experience and the right tools for each work of this project. You can easily search the list of professionals near you with a large number of comments on the Internet. In which, you can exam whether that company is good or bad enough to choose their services. No one wants to waste their money and time on a bad address.
The following details will show you some contractors in installing landscape lighting in Seattle, Washington that you can consider hiring for your house.
Green Arbor Landscaping
Green Arbor Landscaping is a full-service, 35 years experienced landscaping company serving customers. We inform you confidently that we will provide you with professional landscaping lighting services in the area not only around Seattle – Washington but also all around Bothell, Issaquah, Renton, Maple Valley, Bellevue, and the surrounding communities.
All our team members are not only required ongoing training to maintain our licenses with hands-on experience at the top level, but also provided with a vital amount of tools, and each of these tools has very high quality. This means the whole team members have the possibility to work personally and bring you perfect landscaping lighting services as you wish. In addition, our team members are very friendly and knowledgeable, with the goal towards your pleasure so you definitely can count on us.
To contact Green Arbor for a free cost estimate here is some information that you might need:
- Phone number: (206) 265-2940
- Email: info@greenarborlandscaping.com
- Site: https://greenarborlandscaping.com/
Green Arbor Landscaping not only provides landscape lighting service for the Seattle area but also other landscaping services, such as bamboo removal, sprinkler installation, construction of paver, patio, deck, pathway, etc. Also, the team commits that all services will go along with full maintenance service for your home landscape, so you’ll not need to worry about how to keep their longevity with you.
Feel free to call us anytime for a free quote. Our team will satisfy you with our experiences and professional qualification to enhance the beauty of your outdoor landscape.
