Sep 30 2009
Installing Pathway Lighting
When you are looking for a simple way to prolong the time that you spend in your outdoor spaces, there’s great news. You can actually achieve this with some simple landscape lighting that will brighten and liven up your pathways, stairs, shrubs, patio devices, architectural elements, waterscapes, and decks. In this article we will talk about the most popular type of low voltage lighting which is pathway lighting.
Landscape lighting has three main portions: light fixtures, a transformer, and low voltage electrical cable. The transformer must be plugged into an outdoor GFCI wall socket fitted with a while-in-use cover. This cover is an wide plastic device that blankets the wall socket and has a notch for the power cord to go through. These are budget friendly, easy to install, and can be bought from Your local hardware store. The transformer allows you to step down the 120 volt electricity to a safe, usable 12 volt system that we will be using. First, you must the areas that you wish to light and the effect you would like to achieve. Before you do anything, you must the areas that you wish to illuminate and the result you would like to attain. Each light fixture is different. For all intents and purposes, we will assume you have done The homework, shopped for The light fixtures, and purchased the appropriate size transformer to handle the cumulative electrical power of those fixtures. With that done, lets begin.
Your first step is to lay out the components. Leave the cable loose as we will be encircling each fixture with a small loop of wire before burying it.Use fourteen gauge cable for jobs totaling less than two hundred watts, and 12 gauge wire for systems that exceed two hundred watts. The lights are typically around six to ten feet apart and your 1st light should be at least 10 feet from your transformer.
Your second step is to dig your trench. Move the outdoor light fixtures away and, using a shovel, fold back a part of grass all along the track about 12 ins wide. Use the edge of the flat-blade shovel to make a trench about 3 ins deep where the wiring will lay. You may need to set something heavy on the turf to keep it from flopping back into the trench you are trying to produce.
Sinking the wire is the 3rd step to installing landscape lighting. You have to use the proper gauge of low voltage wire in order to ensure proper use. Always leave some slack in the wire before you place it into your newly dug ditch.
Your fourth step is to make holes for the fixtures. Check to make sure that you have equally spaced all the lights before driving them in. Make sure that you use stakes rather than a hammer to secure the fixtures.
Wiring the lights in is the fifth step. Each individual light is different so check with your manual first. But with most lights you just take the connector at the base of each light and slip it around the electrical wire until you hear a click. Remember to make sure that your wires are water proof and sealed off before finishing installation.
And finally it’s time to enjoy your hard work. Anyone can enhance their night-time curb appeal with attractive, functional landscape lighting with a little hard work and advance preparation. low-voltage lighting requires very little maintenance. Just remember to change the light bulbs shortly after they go out or you will shorten the life of the remainder of bulbs. Other than that, just sit back and enjoy a job well done!
