How to Install Landscape Lighting Yourself

Thinking about installing outdoor landscape lighting aka low voltage landscape lighting? A few landscape lights can be a great way to compliment any landscape decor. Outdoor home lighting is becoming more and more popular every year. Here are a few tips on how to install exterior landscape lighting.

Things You'll Need

• Low voltage lights
• Low voltage 12 gauge wire
• Low voltage transformer
• Stakes
• String
• Tape measure
• Phillips head screw driver

Instructions

1. Determine what type of lighting you want. You have regular landscape lighting which is powered by a transformer that sends a 12 volt current through a wire to each individual light. And then you have solar landscape lights that recharge themselves via the sun and require no wiring. Solar lights are a lot dimmer and require direct sunlight during the day to charge. If you plan on installing solar powered lighting all you need to do is stick the lights into the ground and your set. The rest of this article is for installing low voltage lighting.

2. Mark the area in your yard or garden where you plan on putting your lights with wooden stakes. Most people put spot lights on large trees and areas of their house that they want to accent.

3. Starting from your nearest outdoor electrical outlet, take a long string and connect it to all of your stakes ending back at the outlet.

4. Measure the string with a tape measure. You will probably need to measure a certain section of the string and then double it over as many times as necessary. This will help you determine how much wire you will need.

5. Place all of your landscape lights firmly into the dirt where your stakes are. You can adjust the directions of the lights later when you have power. Remove the stakes after you have your lights in place.

6. Find the wattage of each light. The wattage should labeled on the box. Low voltage lights range from 4 watts all the way up to 50 watts and higher. Add all of the wattages together from all of the lights. This is how you will determine which size transformer to buy. A transformer is used to "transform" your typical 120 volt power - used in your home - into 12 volts for low voltage landscape lighting. You will need to purchase a transformer that is rated higher than the total watts of all of your lights combined. So if you have 4 lights at 40 watts each, you will need at least a 200 watt transformer.

7. Lay your low voltage wire out and connect each light to the wire. The lights will have a clamp with teeth inside that when squeezed together, penetrate the wire and form a connection. This can usually be done by hand but pliers will make it a little easier.

8. Bury all of the wires - including the open end - into the dirt. Don't worry, 12 volts isn't enough to start a fire.

9. Connect the end of your wire to the two screws on the bottom of your transformer. This will require a Phillips screwdriver to tighten the wires down.

10. Plug your transformer into the outlet and set the timer. Most timers have two red pins and two black pins. The red pins START the lights and the black pins turn the lights off.