How to Install Landscape Lighting

Outdoor lighting can provide your guests with safe passage to your home. You and your guests can avoid hazards such as steps, abrupt changes in elevation, and debris.

Well-installed lighting can also provide extra safety and security to your home. A well-lit landscape will deter potential intruders. It eliminates dark areas and shadows that would conceal movement around your property.

Furthermore, landscape lighting can have five excellent returns on investment. That is because it creates a stunning first impression when viewed by visitors.

With those in mind, you might be wondering how to install landscape lighting on your patio. You only need to follow these steps:

1. First, you need to mark any existing cable or irrigation lines. This way, they are not damaged during the landscape lighting installation.
2. Next, you need to unpack and assemble your landscape lighting fixtures. Make sure to take everything out of its box.
3. Install bulbs in any lamp-ready fixtures, and attach mounts. There are several ways you can mount fixtures. Although, there are three known categories, stake mounting, surface mounting, and in-ground mounting.
4. Make sure to clear a path for your wire runs. Place your fixtures based on the project map you created during the planning stage.
5. After that, mount your low voltage transformer. Keep in mind that your transformer must have one foot of clearance in every direction. It should be at least 30 feet away from water features. It also should be on a surface that can withstand the heat it produces.
6. Next, layout and dig your trenches for your main wire runs. You can determine the exact depth of the trenches by your local codes. But, low voltage cable is usually buried at least six inches deep.
7. Once dug, you should place the wires in your trenches. Cover them completely with dirt. Make sure to leave at least five feet of unburied wire at each end. This way you can have room for adjustments later.
8. You can begin connecting your system. You can use a clamp-connected transformer. This uses levers instead of the screw mechanism to clamp to the wires.

You can start by connecting your transformer to your main runs. You can do this by placing one strand of wire in the com terminal. Place the other strand of wire in a terminal marked either 12 volts or 15 volts.

9. Next, connect the fixtures by splicing their lead wires to your main runs. The most common method is to use twist-on style connectors.
10. Insert the connection into the cap and twist clockwise until the wire begins to spin with the cap.
11. Once you make all your connections, you should test your system. Turn on your transformer. After that, walk around your property to ensure that every fixture is lit.

If you find that one is out, it may be that you have a bad connection to your system.

12. If all your fixtures are functioning, you can begin adjusting your installation. You should wait until nighttime before you start adjusting it. That way you can see the lighting effects created by each fixture.

Walk your property again and make sure that each light aims at the desired feature in your landscape. You should also keep an eye on glare coming from your fixtures.

13. The final step on how to install landscape lighting is to bury the remaining wires. Program the timer on your transformer.