How to Install 12-Volt Landscape Lights

Enhance your garden with landscape lighting.

Low-voltage landscape lights operate on 12 volts provided by a lighting transformer that decreases the 120-volt current down to the lower current. Installing low-voltage landscape lights requires no special electrical skills or tools. The most difficult part of the installation is deciding on exactly the right location for your lights to enhance the appearance of your landscaping. Low-voltage landscape lights can be installed wherever you require additional lighting and have an outlet to plug the transformer into.

Things You'll Need

• Trenching shovel
• Utility knife
• Wire cutter/stripper
• Phillips or slotted screwdriver
• Wood or masonry screw
• Drill

Instructions

1. Assemble your landscape lights according to the manufacturer's directions. Some lights may need the entire fixture snapped together while others may only need the stake screwed into the bottom of the fixture.

2. Position your landscape lights in your garden, yard, along walkways or drives. Move the lights around until you are satisfied with their placement.

3. Lay the low-voltage landscape cable on the ground next to each light. Start at the light fixture farthest from where you plan to install your transformer and work your way back, making sure the cable is next to each fixture.

4. Attach the cable connectors from each landscape light to the low-voltage cable. Place each half of the connector over the cable and firmly push the connector halves together. The connectors have sharp copper spikes on each end that pierce the insulation when you push them together.

5. Dig a shallow trench along the path of your low-voltage cable with a trenching shovel. Lay your cable into the trench and cover it with the dirt you removed from it.

6. Create a two-to-three-inch slice through the membrane of the low-voltage cable that connects the two wires of the cable together using a utility knife. Remove 3/4-inch of insulation off both low-voltage wires with a wire cutter/stripper.

7. Wrap one wire from the low-voltage cable around one terminal screw on the back of the lighting transformer. Wrap the remaining wire from the cable around the remaining transformer terminal screw and tighten the screws.

8. Mount the transformer to your wall near an outdoor receptacle. Attach a wood or masonry screw to your wall with a drill and hang the transformer on the screw. Plug the transformer's power cord into the outdoor receptacle.

References

• This Old House: How to Put in Landscape Lighting
• The Home Depot: Installing Low-Voltage Lighting
• "Wiring 1-2-3"; Steve Cory; 2005