D.I.Y. Saturday #13 – Installing Outdoor Landscape Lighting

Entry #244, August 14, 2010

Your home is appealing in the daytime with its gorgeous windows pouring in natural light, but what about in the evening? Can you see clearly how to get from the curb to your doorway? Is the landscaping accented with lighting to give beautiful aesthetics and security? Landscape lighting helps the curb appeal of your home at night, but it also protects your home and keeps visitors safe while walking to and from your home.

On DIY Saturday today, I will show you how to install your own outdoor landscape lighting.  Outdoor lighting is categorized by what function you need it for.

Outdoor Lighting Categories:

• High voltage: lighting used for commercial buildings. Should be installed by a professional electrical contractor
• Solar powered: used for aesthetics, powered by solar cells on individual lighting fixtures.
• Low voltage: Used for safety and security, hardwired in to your electrical system of your home.

 

 

Low voltage installation:

(Provided by This Old House.com)

Where to install:

Installed along walkways, steps, and driveways, or pointing up at trees, walls, and fences, the typical low-voltage lighting system requires just three components: a transformer, low-voltage electrical cable, and the fixtures. You don’t have to be comfortable with wiring—or even have ever done any—to install this type of system.

The transformer steps down the 120-volt house current to just 12 volts. It must be plugged into a GFCI-protected outdoor electrical outlet fitted with a “while-in-use” cover, and oversize plastic box that closes over the power cord. The transformer needs to have enough capacity to support the cumulative wattage of the lights in the system. Between fixtures, the cable is buried in a shallow trench. As long as you have a nearby outlet, you’ll be able to give your home and yard a welcoming glow when the sun goes down.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Lay out the components

Set the pathway light fixtures on the ground where they’ll be installed — usually about 8 to 10 feet apart.

Lay the low-voltage cable along the concrete walkway, following the line of light fixtures. Use 14-gauge cable for lighting systems that total 200 watts or less and 12-gauge cable for systems that are more than 200 watts.

When you come to an obstacle, such as a fence or shrub, string the cable under or around it.

Tip: Put first fixture at least 10 feet from the transformer.

2. Turn over the sod

Move the light fixtures out of the way.

Take a flat-blade shovel and slide it underneath the top layer of grass, about 12 inches in from the edge of the walk. Then lift up on the handle to separate the grass from the soil, and fold over this scalped portion of sod. Continue in this manner all along the walkway.

Use the corner of the shovel’s blade to scratch a 3-inch-deep trench in the soil where the wire will go.

Tip: If necessary, set the light fixtures on top of the folded sod to prevent it from flopping back down.

3. Bury the electrical cable

Set the low-voltage electrical cable in the trench. Leave a bit of slacked cable at each fixture point for making the connection to the light fixtures.

Smooth the soil over the trench, but leave the cable sticking up out of the soil near each fixture.

Make a slit in the detached sod where the fixture will sit and fold the sod back over the soil, keeping the cable for each fixture above the grass.

Tip: Don’t bury the cable more than 3 inches or you’ll have difficulty connecting the light fixture.

 

 

4. Plug in the transformer

Run the cable up to the outdoor electrical outlet. Then use
wire strippers to cut the cable and strip off ½ inch of the rubber insulation.

Slide the stripped wires under the two terminal screws on the bottom of the transformer. Tighten the screws all the way to hold the cable securely in place.

Drive a wood stake into the ground next to the outlet. Then screw the transformer to the stake. (It can also be mounted directly to the wall of the house.)

Lift up the “while-in-use” cover on the outlet and plug in the trans

5. Prepare holes for the fixtures

Set all the light fixtures back into position, checking to make sure they’re equally spaced.

Position the first fixture as close to the edge of the walkway as possible without any part of it hanging over. (If the fixture extends into the walkway, people will constantly be bumping into it.)

Make a hole in the ground for the fixture’s stake with a large screwdriver or long steel punch. Never use a hammer to drive the fixture into the ground.

Tip: Don’t place a light within 10 feet of a pool, spa, or fountain.

For the rest of the steps to installing your outdoor landscape lighting visit: This Old House.com

You Tube Video: Installing Outdoor Landscape Lighting

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.