How to Install Landscape Lighting

Landscape lighting is one way that you can instantly add curb appeal to your home. Whether you are planning on illuminating a walkway--or your goal is to really show off your well-tended flower garden, landscape lighting may be exactly what you are looking for. With today's easy-to-install landscape lighting kits available at most hardware stores--the job could not be easier. Here is how to install landscape lighting.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• UF cable
• GFCI receptacle (if your outside outlet isn't already one)
• Wire nuts
• Waterproof low-voltage transformer
• Low-wattage landscape lights with spikes
• Screwdrivers
• Wire strippers
• Electrical tape
• Hand shovel

1. The first step to installing your landscape lighting is to determine how you are going to run the lights. How much area are you planning to cover? Is your project answering safety concerns or is it stricly for visual appeal? The number of lights you are planning to use and how long of a run it will require are two criteria you will have to know before you can purchase your materials.

2. The basic rule of landscape lighting is:
   
   
   
   If you have a 100-foot run and the lights you are going to use are drawing less than or up to 150 watts, then you will need 16 gauge UF cable.
   
   If you have a 150-foot run and the lights you are going to use are drawing less than or up to 200 watts, then you will need 14 gauge UF cable.
   
   If you have a 200-foot run and the lights you are going to use are drawing less than or up to 250 watts, then you will need 12 gauge UF cable.

3. Locate the closest outside receptacle to where you are installing your landscape lights. If the receptacle is not already a GFCI receptacle, then you will have to replace it with one that is (see link in "Resources" below to learn how).

4. Position each of your landscape lights where you want them to stand. Attach the ground spikes to the bottom of the lights and drive them into the ground. Make sure that the wire leads remain above the surface of the ground.

5. With all of your landscaping lights in position, use the hand shovel to dig a trench the length of the run, approximately 6 inches deep. Lay the UF cable in the trench (be sure to leave enough behind to reach the place where you are installing the transformer) and clip each light fixture's wire leads to the UF cable. At the very last light in the chain, use electrical tape to cover the end of the UF cable very tightly. Then, bury the cable with the dirt you removed to make the trench.

6. On the base or on the backside of the transformer, you will see two screw terminals. Split the UF cable into two separate wires (about 3-inch lengths). Use the wire strippers to strip away about 3/4 inches of insulation from each wire. Use the screwdriver to secure one wire to each terminal.

7. Hang the transformer under an overhang if possible, near the receptacle you are going to use for power. Open up the transformer's cover and set the clock to the current time. Then use the colored tabs to indicate when the lights will turn on and off.

8. Now all you have to do is plug the transformer in and wait until the time you have the transformer set to turn on your lights. Or if you cannot wait to see your handiwork in action, just hit the "manual test" button if your transformer has one!

Tips & Warnings

• You can find all of the items I've listed in a quality landscape lighting kit or purchase them individually.

[davedonovan]

on 6/10/2008 Yes Fike, there are definitely pros and cons with each type of landscape light. I also have some solar lights around my home and they don't really light up as brightly as I'd like so there is a trade-off for trying to conserve energy :).

[Fike]

on 6/9/2008 Thanks for the article. I've considered switching to this form of landscape lighting, but am relatively happy with my current, solar-powered lights. The drawback is that some of the panels, of course, are unreplenished if they're placed behind shading objects.

[MidniteWriter]

on 6/9/2008 I was thinking of doing this, thanks! Congrats on being the "ehow of the day" for Monday.

[civ2100please]

on 5/26/2008 At a higher level of complexity, you could research and clarify elements of a low-voltage DC halogen lighting system, for either outdoor or indoor use. Cheapest bulbs are 12 VDC (e.g. because of mass automotive market). Most complex part in terms of lowering costs and balancing components is the 12-volt basic supply (time-clocked battery charger and a regular 12-volt battery?) and pulse-modulated controller (electric train market) to make one or more lights capable of being dimmed without lots of wasted energy. Small halogens are not nearly as efficient as CFLs or LEDs, but are more efficient than regular AC bulbs and flexibly used.

[sdearing]

on 5/26/2008 Mr. Donovan's article was very informative and basically correct with a couple of exceptions. UF stands for Underground Feed and is used for 120V AC circuits and with the cost of copper these days is very expensive. UF cable also must by code be buried at least 12" deep to avoid being cut by digging which could be fatal in the right conditions (like if the ground was wet). UF wire does not require a transformer and is used with 120V fixtures. If you are using a transformer you must use low voltage landscape wiring of the same gauges listed in the article but it does not require being buried at all. It can be run on top of the ground and covered by mulch or a light layer of dirt if you prefer. If it is accidentally cut into the only thing that would happen is that the lights after the cut will stop working. The light kits described in the article come with a transformer, the low vo