How to Install Low Voltage Lighting in the Garden

Use low-voltage lighting for accents.

Garden lights make your garden look more dramatic as dusk falls, and they also extend the hours during which you can enjoy it. If you like entertaining in the garden on summer evenings, or you just want to sit and relax, lights will add another dimension to the space.
Low-voltage lighting supplied from a transformer indoors is perfectly adequate for most lighting jobs in a small garden.

Things You'll Need

• Low-voltage lighting kit Drill Waterproof filler

Instructions

1. Decide where you want the lighting positioned in the garden. When illuminating your garden, you are not attempting to fill the garden with floodlights but rather to use accent lights to pick out a particular tree, highlight an ornament or bring to life the droplets of a cascade or fountain.

2. Purchase a low-voltage lighting kit. Most garden centers have a wide assortment of designs and styles available. A low-voltage lighting kit will come with a transformer. This must always be positioned in a dry place indoors or in a garage or outbuilding.

3. Drill a hole through the window frame or wall, just wide enough to take the cable. I suggest drilling from the inside out to ensure that the inside hole is as inconspicuous as possible. Feed the cable through the hole and then fill any gaps after the lights are installed by using bathroom caulking or other waterproof filler.

4. Conceal the cable. Although the cable carries a low voltage and you will not be electrocuted, it is still a potential hazard if left lying on the surface where someone might trip over it. Unless the lights are to be positioned close to where the cable emerges from indoors, run it underground in a conduit.

5. Position the lights. Most low-voltage lighting systems are designed so that the lamps are easy to position and to move around. Many of them can just be pushed into the ground wherever you choose to place them.

6. Make the lighting blend with the surroundings. The best garden lighting is not obtrusive or unattractive during the day, and throws off white light when illuminated.

7. Call an electrician if you have questions. Low-voltage lighting is designed for DIY installation, but 110 to 120 AC/DC demands special care. If in the slightest doubt, use a professional electrician.