How to Install an Exterior House Light

Outdoor lights can be used to add ambiance to your garden or light your front door.

The dark in the country or in well-hidden spots of your garden may be all encompassing and a little intimidating. Installing exterior lights will bring whole parts of you home to life in the evening. Outdoor lighting will also add ambiance to your yard, extending shadows or highlighting architectural features of the home or garden. You will need an outside outlet for the project, so outdoor lighting is best planned when the house wiring is being done.

Things You'll Need

• Chalk line
• Spray paint
• Mattock
• Post hole digger
• 1/2 metal conduit
• Sledgehammer
• 1/2 inch coupling
• 1/2 inch coupling cap
• UF wire
• Wire cutter
• PVC pipe
• PVC cutter
• Extension box

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Instructions

1. Plan the location of your lights in the yard and mark the area for the cable route using a chalk line or spray paint. Make a mark from the power source to the lights.

2. Dig a trench from the power source that is 12 inches deep using a mattock.

3. Make a hole that is 3 feet deep for the light post using a post hole digger to remove the dirt.

4. Pound a 1/2-inch metal conduit under any sidewalks along the path of the wire using a sledgehammer to pound it under the sidewalk. Put a 1/2-inch metal coupling and a coupling cap onto each end of the conduit while pounding the conduit under the sidewalk.

5. Run a UF cable along the bottom of the trench from the power source to the light post hole. Cut the cable with 3 feet of extra cable length at the post hole area for the light.

6. Turn off the circuit break to the outside outlet. Cut a piece of PVC pipe to a length that lets it fit from the bottom of the trench to the site of the outside outlet using a PVC cutter. Attach another short piece of PVC pipe to the long piece using a PVC elbow. Attach the PVC pipe to the extension box and attach the extension box to the wall.

7. Feed the UF cable up the PVC pipe and use the wire cutter to expose the wire. Wire the switch from your light kit to the outlet according to the instructions. Install your light post and attach it to the wiring according to the instructions.

References

• Family Handyman: How to Install Outdoor Lighting and Outlet
• Bob Vila: Installing Exterior Lights