How Much Does Landscape Lighting Cost?

Landscape lighting makes a home more inviting to guests and increases property value. However, it can be expensive because of the fixtures, wiring, and transformers that are required.

Unlike solar and battery-operated lights, hardwired landscape lights require a licensed electrician to install them. Fortunately, LED landscape lighting costs less than halogen options. Read more.

Lighting Design

Landscape lighting adds a subtle, warm glow to your home, trees, bushes, flowers, pool, patio, driveway, and lawn statutes that gives your outdoor areas a well-lit look. It enhances your curb appeal and allows friends and family to safely navigate paths and entrances after dark.

While it’s tempting to spotlight every tree, plant, paver, and column in your yard, too many lights will wash out your landscape. Instead, highlight the special things in your outdoor space that you want to draw attention to—the majestic palm tree in front, the cool arched entryway, and the creative brickwork.

Also, be careful not to place pathway lights too close together. They need to be six to eight feet apart to pull guests along the path from light to light and avoid creating a runway effect. A professional can help you find the right balance of light and shadow. Consider using low-voltage lighting options to reduce the overall cost of your project.

Fixtures

Landscape lighting can highlight trees, bushes, flowers, walkways, lawn statutes, and other elements of the outdoor environment for safety and aesthetics. This helps to create a warm and inviting atmosphere for family, friends, and guests after dark.

Many homeowners will purchase a box of lights from their local hardware store or big box retailer thinking they can do the installation themselves. However, these types of fixtures are usually made of plastic or cheap aluminum and will degrade over time due to exposure to the outdoors.

It’s important to select a fixture with the right lumen output and beam spread for the desired effect you are trying to achieve. Examples of this include highlighting, silhouetting, shadowing, moonlighting, and spotlighting. Brass is a great high-quality fixture that can last for years, even when exposed to the outdoors. It will naturally patina over time and is more resistant to corrosion than other metals. Some lighting designers also use copper to produce a similar effect.

Wiring

Landscape lighting is a great way to showcase the beautiful features of your property. It also offers safety and security by illuminating walkways and stairs after dark. It can also increase your curb appeal and make your home more attractive to guests and potential buyers.

The wires that carry electricity from the transformer to each fixture are buried up to 3 inches deep in the ground or in mulch. The thickness of the wiring determines how bright your lights will be. Thicker 12-gauge wires are able to carry more power, while thinner 14-gauge wires are ideal for low-power projects under 200 watts.

Once you have the electrical connections made, it is time to connect your lights to the wires. Most fixtures come prewired with easy-to-use snap-on connectors. The sharp prongs inside the connectors pierce the cable to easily attach the fixture to the wire.

Installation

Landscape lighting highlights trees, bushes, flowers, lawn statues, and patios. It can make your home look more welcoming after dark and help you safely navigate around the yard with family or guests.

An electrician can install a landscape lighting system, or an experienced do-it-yourselfer can follow the steps below to complete the job. A permit may be required to dig trenches for electrical conduits, and a GFCI outlet must be installed to prevent fire hazards.

Each light in your landscape lighting system needs a transformer. It takes 120v power from the house and reduces it to a lower voltage that’s safer for outdoor use. When purchasing a transformer, choose one that is slightly higher than the total number of lights and their combined wattage in your landscape lighting design plan. Long runs of wire can lose voltage over time, so a high-wattage transformer ensures the lights are always receiving enough voltage. When laying out the wires, leave several feet of slack by the transformer and a couple of feet by each fixture. Continue reading the next article.