Freestanding Exterior Lights

by Dave Donovan

You spend a lot of time manicuring you yard. Your entire neighborhood is very proud of the cleanliness that people notice when they drive through your community. However, you may be looking at your yard and have the feeling that it’s not quite finished, or like something seems to be missing. It could be that some landscape accent lighting may be just the thing to set your home apart from the rest of the neighbors.

Landscape lighting can add instant curb appeal to your home, allowing its beauty to be appreciated at night as well as during the day. Your home is your most expensive and valuable possession, and adding landscape lighting to your exterior can improve its re-sale value.

How do you know what type of landscape lights would be ideal for your home? How do they get installed? What are the limitations? We’re going to answer all those questions, and by the end of this article, you should feel comfortable and confident enough to install your own landscape lighting.

As with all installations, planning is the key to success. On a piece of graph paper, do your best to draw an outline of your house and yard. Be sure to include any pathways and all of the trees and foliage. It works best if you can have each square on the graph represent a distance, like 2 or 4 feet per square. Once that is complete, make a copy of it.

This is a pretty easy job and the only tools that you will need are:

Drill and bits
Measuring Tape
Screwdrivers
Wire Strippers
Pliers

Locate where you are going to install the timer/transformer that controls the lights. It can be left outside, however many people like to keep them in the garage or under an overhang. Detail on one of your graphs the route in which the wire will be run. Use one graph to make all of your changes and then copy the final plan onto the second graph.

With the wiring plans drawn on the chart, if you allocated a length to each square on the graph, you should be able to easily determine how much wire you will need. A rule of thumb to follow is: The length of 12 gauge wire can be any length, but the wattage cannot exceed 250 watts on that wire.

With the plans laid out before you, you can decide what types of lights will best suit your desired outcome. A trip to your local hardware store, or a visit to an online shop, will give you plenty to choose from. Most landscape lights come with information detailing what their lighting radius is. That will give you a good idea how far to space out the lights If the lights you’re interested in shed a 4 foot radius, you only need to put one light every 8 feet. Once you find the lights that are ideal for your application, determine how many you can utilize before you reach your maximum wattage.

For example: If you want 8 lights to cover the walkway, 2 spot lights to highlight the trees and 15 accent lights throughout the flowerbed, you will need to do the following calculation. 8 walkway lights x 8 watts a piece = 64 watts 2 spot lights x 50 watts a piece = 100 watts 15 accent lights x 6 watts a piece = 90 watts Add the totals together, 64 + 100 + 90 = 254 watts, and you see that you’ve exceeded your limit. You can remove one of the accent lights, or keep all 15 and reduce the bulbs from 6 watt bulbs to 4 watt bulbs.

After you’ve made the necessary adjustments, you can begin installation. The timer/transformer has a cord with a plug on the end. Leave this unplugged for the time being! If you are leaving the timer/transformer in the garage, you will need to drill a small hole in the side of the garage for the wire to exit. The hole only has to be big enough for the wire to pass through. To prevent the wire from being nicked by the jagged edges, insert a rubber grommet before fishing the wire through, or make your own grommet by filling the hole around the wire with silicon caulk.

After the wire is run, it’s time to lay out and install the lights. I recommend putting the lights in the places that you envisioned them before you do any wiring. Check to see how they look in the daytime and if they meet your expectations.

Most landscape lights are made from a durable plastic and have what resembles tree spikes on the bottom of them. They’re pointed to make installation easy. Just push the light post into the ground, but make sure they’re straight and do this with the bulbs and light covers removed.

The lights should have a “tail” hanging from them. One the end of the “tail” there is a clip. This clip has two little metal teeth on the inside. Snap the clip onto the wire that you ran earlier. This causes the two teeth to pierce the insulation on the wire and makes the connection for the light. You can use the pliers to clamp the connector shut if it is too hard to do it by hand. Connect every light the same way.

Once all the lights are connected to the main feed wire, go back and install the bulbs and place the covers on. If your wire is only passing through a flower bed, you can spread a light layer of mulch over the wire to conceal it. If it’s passing over a grassed portion of your yard, you will need to dig a trench to bury the wire. Try to keep that in mind when running the wire, you may need more slack in that region. A minimum depth of 6 inches is usually best. Remember, if you have to dig in your yard, you need to call your local utility company to have your yard marked so you can avoid cutting anything critical.

Back in the garage, strip away about ¾” of the insulation from the ends of the fixture wire. On the bottom of the timer/transformer you will see 2 screws. Connect one wire to each screw and tighten. Set the timer to the current time and place the color-coded pins on the times you wish for the lights to turn on and off. Plug the timer/transformer into the nearest electrical outlet and you are good to go.

Your sense of accomplishment will only be overshadowed by the sheer beauty that the landscape lights will bring to your home. There’s nothing like driving up to your home and seeing a host of brilliant highlights and sensuous accents, not to mention the improved security aspect that a lighted exterior enables.