Illuminate With Landscape Lighting

The installation of landscape painting light is wanton — too easy , I think . Although the lighting might be sold as a unfailing product , I ’ve slay more than a few scheme that were wrecks , doom from the start by poor ironware and inferior installation . If you invest in quality material , choose durable fixtures , and take care during the installation process , your low - voltage organisation will front great , perform reliably , and be easy to modify .

Choose between line voltage and low voltage

landscape painting - light systems are separate into two character : line voltage and low voltage . Line - voltage systems operate at 120 V ( v ) , the same voltage discover in a typical paries wall plug . Low - voltage systems habituate a transformer to step down the voltage from 120v to a safer 12v .

Because the code requirements for installing 120v inflammation are sometimes tough to follow , even for the professional , I favour to gravel to 12v systems for landscape painting firing . They are a mint easier to instal and are safer and more flexible for home owners to set and maintain on their own . Low - emf cables are safe enough to be concealed with only a few inches of stain , mulch , or other ground back . As a result , it ’s easy to move around scant fixtures and wiring as the landscape matures or is altered .

Of of course , depleted - voltage systems have some disadvantages . Because the transformer put out a circumscribed amount of major power , you ca n’t place dozens of Christ Within on a low-pitched - potential tour . And although effectual lighting can be accomplished with 10 - James Watt ( w ) , 15w , or 20w lamp , down - voltage setups do n’t lend themselves to mellow - electrical power fixture . Also , if farsighted distances are ask — more than 100 feet between the transformer and the farthest repair — the wire ’s resistance can cause a significant reduction in the potential drop attain the distant fixtures . This melodic line loss make the light from those lamps dim and yellowish . It ’s not hard , however , to design and install a organisation to have the best voltage drop-off .

Lighting kits have limitations

Low - emf visible light are often sold in kit that include a transformer , a transmission line , and several fixtures . Kit price can be as low as $ 100 , but you end up buy a system that ca n’t be expatiate or easily falsify . The minimal degree of the lighting and the short life duet of steal light-colored fixtures can be ( condone the pun ) a real negative stimulation .

I grease one’s palms my components individually : a high-pitched - calibre transformer , 10 - gauge cable ( heavier obligation than the 12 - gage cable television service that comes with many outfit ) , well - made metal ( not plastic ) light-colored fixtures , and good cable connectors . Although a premium low - potential drop kindling packet be quite a bit more , you ’ll be capable to power more lights and wo n’t be limited by the fixtures that total with the kit . you’re able to , alternatively , quality mending from different manufacturers , getting just the feature and styles you want . The fixtures I used in the project feature here are from Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting ( www.vistapro.com ) .

I ’ve line up that if the voltage reaching a modest - voltage lamp falls below 11v , the output of the lamplight will be reduced and the light will appear to be dim and yellowish in colour . timbre transformer have outputs that are above 12v ( usually 13v , 14v , and 15v ) . These outputs — call “ taps”—allow the tour to be feed with a voltage above 12v so that even after the electromotive force is thin out by the impedance in the electrical cable television , the farthest fixture still will run above 11v .

For frame-up like these , I follow a few rules of thumb : I keep the lamp load to about 70 percent of the rated transformer capacity ; I elevate to 10 - gauge cable system or else of the lighter , more mutual 12 - calibre cable ; and I try hard to keep the cable length on case-by-case circuit 200 feet or less . If the cringle is between 125 feet and 175 feet long , I use a 13v tap ; if the run has to be longer than 200 metrical unit , a 14v or 15v tap is the best stake . Some transformers also have an 11v tap , sodding for tour that are load softly or have short cable runs . move a lamp at a snatch less than 12v extends its animation considerably and is hardly noticeable in brightness or unclouded color .

Cables typically are covered, not buried

Low - voltage cable can be left aboveground safely , but for appearance ’s sake , hide the cable and the splices with some case of mulch or flat coat screening is a good idea . If the cables are run through an expanse where they are likely to be damaged by a garden shovel , an edger , or a lawn aerator , they should be buried about 6 inches deep . Otherwise , leave the cables near the surface , where they will be easier to move . As plants mature or as design predilection convert , being capable to uncover cable easily and move it are big advantages .

Of course , Murphy ’s Law says that there will be at least one spot where you want to run cable that is blocked by a walk , driveway , or concrete slab . If there ’s a control joint or an expansion joint in the correct place , I will sometimes enter the joint by using an angle grinder equip with a baseball diamond wheel , then only tuck the cable system in the groove before resealing the join with concrete sealer .

If there are no enlargement joints to work with , often the only way to get past a panoptic slab or walkway is to go under it . One choice is to ram a pipe through the soil , leave behind it in place , and operate the cable through the pipe . It ’s an effective solution , but it involves lots of hard body of work . Plus , rocky territory can make this method acting nearly unimaginable .

It ’s easy and tempting to use a garden hose and needle nozzle to shell a hole under a walkway , but you want a path to get disembarrass of the weewee and mud return by this method , and it unremarkably leaves a much bigger space than is needed for the cable . Plus , I ’ve never regain a really adept way to backfill this type of tunneling , and leaving the underside of a wide and heavy surface unsupported can lead to heavy surface quip and sinkholes .

A good light system require a footling attending to keep working well . Burned - out lamps or damage fixture have to be exchange . In accession , break up secureness should be sort out of parting and grime at least once a calendar month . As the landscape matures , fixtures might demand to be relocate . This maintenance is quick and simple-minded , and keep the landscape illuminated as nicely as when the system was new .

Clifford A. Popejoy is an electric contractor in Sacramento , Calif.

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