Landscape Lighting
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602 Posts
Good topic. I'm interested in this as well.
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I just bought a low-voltage transformer, a bunch of cable, and a handful of LED fixtures. I plan on using them for house up-lights and a well light for a tree. It doesn't look hard at all, but finding the time to put it in will be another story.
The only advice I can give would be: "Less is more."
The only advice I can give would be: "Less is more."
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338 Posts
I didn't know a whole lot about outdoor landscape lighting but this website was very helpful.
I plan to buy all my lighting through them, they have very good customer service and their stuff screams quality.
Check it out, and no I am not a their sales rep....
https://www.voltlighting.com
I plan to buy all my lighting through them, they have very good customer service and their stuff screams quality.
Check it out, and no I am not a their sales rep....
https://www.voltlighting.com
I did both my up lighting on front of house and path lights and up lighting in backyard and both sides of house. Pretty easy to do with low voltage kits from Home Depot or Lowe's. Gets expensive depending on type of fixtures and how much low voltage wire you'll need. My advice would be to definitely measure the distance you plan to run wire and get the correct thickness of wire for your application. Also buy a bigger transformer than you think you'll need. That way you can add lights at a later date if you decide to. Other than that it's pretty much plug and play. Oh, and if you need to splice wires - DO NOT use regular wire nuts. Either use nuts acceptable for ground and moisture contact - or even better solder and heat shrink.
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882 Posts
I installed my own landscape lighting over the last two summers, and will do more next summer.
The summer of 2016 I did the back yard:
* Path lighting from the front driveway to the back yard.
* Lights on the risers of each stair leading up to the deck.
* Lights under the top row of the sitting wall around the fire pit.
The summer of 2017 I did the front yard:
* Path lights on the walkway from the driveway to the front door.
* Spot lights up lighting each column and corner of the house.
* Spot lights up lighting the bigger trees of the front beds.
Plans for the summer of 2018:
* Put spot lights on the corners of the house in the back.
* Put spot lights on the major landscape elements of the back (bigger trees, interesting bushes, etc).
* Wrap the deck railing, swing set and large, mature trees with solar fairy lights.
I used all Volt Lighting (linked above) equipment, transformers and fixtures. I got the wire and bulbs from amazon for significantly less than what Volt wanted for essentially the same thing. I used standard blue/red DryConn connectors that can be found at any big box store for the splices. (Also: get something like this, it made my stripping life way more manageable.)
This is easily a DIY project. Volt has several good tutorials. Watch them and any others on YouTube. The biggest hurdle for me was tunneling under my front walkway in two spots. The builder of my house and walkway put down a 16" base, which was an absolute bear to get under.
I'll try to get some pictures of at all this evening when it's darker.
Good luck!
The summer of 2016 I did the back yard:
* Path lighting from the front driveway to the back yard.
* Lights on the risers of each stair leading up to the deck.
* Lights under the top row of the sitting wall around the fire pit.
The summer of 2017 I did the front yard:
* Path lights on the walkway from the driveway to the front door.
* Spot lights up lighting each column and corner of the house.
* Spot lights up lighting the bigger trees of the front beds.
Plans for the summer of 2018:
* Put spot lights on the corners of the house in the back.
* Put spot lights on the major landscape elements of the back (bigger trees, interesting bushes, etc).
* Wrap the deck railing, swing set and large, mature trees with solar fairy lights.
I used all Volt Lighting (linked above) equipment, transformers and fixtures. I got the wire and bulbs from amazon for significantly less than what Volt wanted for essentially the same thing. I used standard blue/red DryConn connectors that can be found at any big box store for the splices. (Also: get something like this, it made my stripping life way more manageable.)
This is easily a DIY project. Volt has several good tutorials. Watch them and any others on YouTube. The biggest hurdle for me was tunneling under my front walkway in two spots. The builder of my house and walkway put down a 16" base, which was an absolute bear to get under.
I'll try to get some pictures of at all this evening when it's darker.
Good luck!
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135 Posts
I Just installed some landscape lighting this past weekend. I cant stress how easy it really is. I too used https://www.voltlighting.com as well as a few other websites during my research.
I ended up going with a 300w transformer from https://www.bestprolighting.com/tra...-tap-stainless-steel-transformer-12v-15v-p-20
The transformer already had a timer and photocell built in I am very happy with the transformer. Its bigger than what I need and that was done with purpose. I am sure I will want to add some more lighting in the future and this transformer should be all I will need.
As far a as lights go...well I played around with a few LED lights until I found some that were able to really do what I was looking for. Im no expert but choosing the right wattage and "throw" pattern can make a huge difference.
I don't really have any before pics, but I took some on the night I installed them. The existing flood lighting that I had really left the front of my house dark. I am pretty happy with these results though. I'm not done playing around with different styles of lights.
Cheers!
PS yes I know I still have leaves in my yard. I swear I had them all cleaned up just a few days earlier..
I ended up going with a 300w transformer from https://www.bestprolighting.com/tra...-tap-stainless-steel-transformer-12v-15v-p-20
The transformer already had a timer and photocell built in I am very happy with the transformer. Its bigger than what I need and that was done with purpose. I am sure I will want to add some more lighting in the future and this transformer should be all I will need.
As far a as lights go...well I played around with a few LED lights until I found some that were able to really do what I was looking for. Im no expert but choosing the right wattage and "throw" pattern can make a huge difference.
I don't really have any before pics, but I took some on the night I installed them. The existing flood lighting that I had really left the front of my house dark. I am pretty happy with these results though. I'm not done playing around with different styles of lights.
Cheers!
PS yes I know I still have leaves in my yard. I swear I had them all cleaned up just a few days earlier..
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338 Posts
Looks good Cavan!
I agree with your statement about the angle beam and wattage. I ended up ordering about 15 more bully lights from volt lighting because they were 50% off a few days ago. I just got them today and installed five along my side yard. I ordered 3W,5W, 6W and 7W to play around with intensities all at a 60 degree angle.
I agree with your statement about the angle beam and wattage. I ended up ordering about 15 more bully lights from volt lighting because they were 50% off a few days ago. I just got them today and installed five along my side yard. I ordered 3W,5W, 6W and 7W to play around with intensities all at a 60 degree angle.
Almost done with my project. I'm going to wait for my perennials to recover from the winter before adding a few path lights to highlight them. I ended up going with Volt and very pleased with their products. Their waterproof connectors are a must buy.
Sorry for the crappy pic.
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Sorry for the crappy pic.
Voltlighting.com!
They have good quality lights for the prices. Some lights are quite a bit more so look around on their site. Spending more is worth it because they last a lot longer than those cheapy ones from HD and Lowe's.
Their prices on led bulbs aren't that great, so get those somewhere else.
It used to be you needed to know how many lights you wanted then get a properly sized transformer. With leds using a lot less power you can get by with a smaller transformer.
I installed a couple flood lights up lighting trees, and path/area lights for landscape beds.
They have good quality lights for the prices. Some lights are quite a bit more so look around on their site. Spending more is worth it because they last a lot longer than those cheapy ones from HD and Lowe's.
Their prices on led bulbs aren't that great, so get those somewhere else.
It used to be you needed to know how many lights you wanted then get a properly sized transformer. With leds using a lot less power you can get by with a smaller transformer.
I installed a couple flood lights up lighting trees, and path/area lights for landscape beds.
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