Installing Landscape Lighting

The right outdoor lighting layout can turn your backyard into an inviting retreat, day or night, throughout the year. Whether on a covered deck, or along a stylish garden wall, landscape lighting highlights places in your yard that add dimension and bring out the unique character of the space. Landscape lighting ideas even add to the safety and security of the whole property.

If you’re updating the outdoor lighting, it’s time to look into how to install landscape lighting. The fixtures used in landscape lighting pose advanced challenges for many homeowners, particularly due to the different power supply options.

To get your landscape lighting installation project started successfully, begin here with this guide to everything you need to know about installing landscape lighting.

Before Installing Landscape Lighting

The first step in any outdoor lighting plan is to sketch out your landscape lighting ideas. A sketch will give you the opportunity to choose how many lights, and what specific type of fixtures, in addition to where they will be placed. Not only does a sketch allow a visualization of the final look of the yard, it will also allow a more exact picture of how much digging up the yard will be needed to run the lines to individual light fixtures.

As part of the yard sketch before installing landscape lighting, pay attention to the kind of tasks you want the light to perform where it is installed. Will it be an accent light placed for decoration only? Or if it is also to serve a safety or security function, will the fixture need to provide brighter illumination than in other areas? Those kinds of questions help steer you to the right light fixture as well as determine the requirements of the power source.

Determine the distances between lights, and from the lights to where the transformers will need to be installed. Take rough measurements when committing the layout to paper so your sketch is as accurate as possible. Even if it looks a little rough, the important part is that it provides an accurate visualization of the space you have to work with and the materials. These measurements will help you plan how to use the electrical wires most economically.

At this point, it’s also a good idea to set yourself an ideal budget for the project. Look into the costs of the individual light fixtures, the transformers, the cables, and any other landscape lighting accessories and tools you may need. The number of lights, their combined wattage use, and the distance from the transformer will help determine the type of wiring and transformers your project will require, so it’s important to be specific about the layout as early as possible.

Installing the Right Type of Power Source

When it comes to installing landscape lighting, you really have three types of power sources to choose from. These include:

• Solar powered lighting
• Line voltage lighting
• Low voltage lighting

Solar powered lighting is generally a seasonal option, though it can certainly hold up year round when installed correctly and when the solar panels are arranged to best collect the lighting. There is little to no wiring installation required for most of the available solar lighting fixtures today, and they offer excellent do-it-yourself lighting options for anywhere in the yard.

The next power option when choosing landscaping lighting is line voltage. With line voltage fixtures, the lighting is connected to the home’s regular 120 volt power supply, usually via extension cords or longer cables built into the fixture. The weather proof wiring is then tucked under mulch or decorative features to keep it from being tripped on along the route to the light placement.

Line voltage works well for placement near the house, but gets more complicated the farther out the light is to be placed. Some line voltage can be run across larger distances by burying the line in an underground trench with the right cables, or overhead with the assistance of a protective conduit to mount it to the walls. Make sure to buy waterproof housing covers for the house outdoor electrical outlets that will accommodate line voltage to be plugged in continuously, year round.

Finally, low voltage landscape lighting taps into the house’s 120v electrical output also, but it connects that line to an exterior transformer that steps the power output down to a lower, cheaper to operate voltage, such as could power a 12v, 14v, or 16v light fixture. These small, bright light fixtures can be tucked anywhere in the yard that can be reached via wiring installed underground to protect the cables.

Solar power and line voltage fixtures provide a relatively easy to install lighting option. They can be moved around the property as needed with just a few simple adjustments. Low voltage fixtures are more complex.

Basics of Installing Low Voltage Landscape Lighting

To install a low voltage lighting layout, there are three basic requirements to have organized and on-hand. These requirements are:

• A transformer
• Appropriate low voltage wire cable
• Low voltage light fixtures

On the surface, something that has only three necessary components may seem like an easy project, but there are many different types of each, and mixing the wrong combination can result in problematic, even dangerous circuit overloads. 

In contrast, the right combination can maximize lighting coverage and minimize energy costs, while also holding the safest connections over time. That’s why these customization options exist, and why it’s a good idea to consult with a professional electrician on low voltage landscape lighting installation.

What Is a Transformer?

The transformer is an external power box that takes in the 120v power from the house power supply and reduces the power output to a lower voltage that is safer (and cheaper) for outdoor installations. The lower the voltage, the less likely it is to injure anyone in the case of a short, and the less likely it is to overload the circuit feeding from the house when installed and assembled properly. This is a definite advantage when planning landscape lighting for child- or pet-friendly backyards.

The transformer steps down the power output to the much more manageable wattage required by low voltage landscape lighting fixtures. A transformer can be selected to power an entire system with a low wattage demand or a high one, from as few as 44 watts to as many as 900 watts, it just depends on the maximum wattage output the transformer is rated to handle. A higher transformer wattage rating means a higher power output, which can allow a longer cable line between the transformer and the light fixtures.

When planning how to install landscape lighting, a transformer can be installed on the wall near a standard GFCI-protected electrical outlet, or they can be individually mounted to posts closer to where the lighting will be installed. Larger properties may require multiple transformers to ensure the yard is safely wired for power. Just run line voltage out to the transformer, and from there, the transformer safely powers the lower voltage fixtures.

To determine the wattage rating for the transformer, total up the amount of wattage required to power all of the lights that will be installed on the line. The amount of wattage the lights will use is the minimum wattage of the transformer rating required, but it is a good idea to buy a transformer rated to handle well over that minimum, to allow adding additional lights later on. Because of this, it’s a good idea to buy the lights you want to use before you buy the transformer, so you have a firm number on the required wattage.

What Is the Best Low Voltage Cable?

Low voltage cable is the wiring made specifically to run wiring underground. It is available in multiple gauges, which is an indication of the diameter of the wire, and determines how much electric current the wire can carry. To prevent circuit overloads, the gauge capacity cannot exceed the transformer’s capacity.

It’s important to choose the right gauge wire for the amount of wattage the cable must carry, over the appropriate distance. When the distance the line covers doesn’t match the gauge used, it adds to the electrical resistance along the wire. Electrical resistance creates something known as “voltage drop” when the amount of power at the beginning of the electric line nearest the transformer is stronger than at the end near the last light fixture. 

In order to operate correctly, the voltage at the end of the electric line from the transformer must still be strong enough to meet the requirements of the light fixture. Thicker diameter wire will have a lower gauge number and a greater power capacity, but it will also have a higher level of resistance, and therefore be more likely to experience voltage drop. 

Because of this, the best low voltage cable to use for a landscape lighting project will vary, depending on the type of lights you choose and the distance they have to cover. A light placed 30 feet from the transformer will require a different wire gauge than the same light placed 150 feet from the transformer. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to selecting low voltage cable for installing landscape lighting.

There are various ways to work with and prevent a loss in voltage over the distance between a light and the transformers. One way is to install multiple transformers. Tee-connections can be used to reduce the voltage drop, and placing lower voltage fixtures at the end of a line can help make the best of the stepped down power.

Low Voltage Light Fixtures

The remaining requirement for low voltage landscape lighting is to have a selection of low voltage light fixtures. The most common low voltage fixtures are usually pathway lights or other accent lights

Pathway lights include low voltage path lights, bollard lights, post caps, and even deck lighting. Pathway lights are designed to keep the light low to the ground and illuminate walkways for safety and add ambiance.

The broader category of accent lighting includes many low voltage fixture styles to choose from. Landscape flood lights include spotlights and wall washers, which are used to illuminate an area of the yard by aiming bright lights at another surface, such as a wall or a tree. Well lighting aims directly above where the light is installed, such as at the base of a flag pole or water fountain. They can include different bulbs or reflective surfaces to create a variety of light effects on the surface they are aimed at.

Whether you’re looking into how to install well lights or path lights, be careful to select the right type of fixture for each location, as all of these lighting options are available for both line and low voltage power supply. 

Do-it-Yourself or Call in the Professionals?

Every home is different, and each yard design project will include balancing how the family uses the space against the size of it and the resources available. For most landscaping features, it is a matter of preference, and a homeowner can craft a yard they love with a shovel, some garden stones, and their favorite greenery.

When it comes to adding landscape lighting, however, the added components of wiring a complete electrical system into the yard can be overwhelming. It is entirely possible to plan and wire your yard for a complex landscape lighting layout yourself when armed with the right information and some basic skills. It may also require purchasing additional electricians tools and various landscape lighting accessories to match your project plans.

Because of the unique variables inherent in installing landscape lighting, particularly low voltage lighting, it’s a good idea to consult with a professional electrician before and after a landscape lighting project. The professionals can advise you on the specific electrical demands and concerns of your property’s setup.

Designing the lighting layout and digging the appropriate troughs for burying the electrical wires is a weekend project of only moderate complexity. The important part of the project is to choose the correct wiring, connections, and transformers for each location, which requires advanced consultation. Seeking out individualized, expert input on your landscape lighting layout can save you money, time, and effort in the long run.