By flooding your yard with light, you can enjoy outdoor gatherings after dark or simply admire your well-designed garden in the evening hours. When it comes to landscape lighting, one of the most important benefits is the ability to extend your outdoor living spaces into the night. Get more information about outdoor lighting fixtures.There are many benefits that come along with investing in a quality outdoor landscape lighting system for your home. These get expensive when decorative fixtures such as sconces and carriage lights are used and when motion sensors are required. These are mounted on the house for security or subtle ambient illumination to highlight specific elements. Cost of simple functional fixtures is minimal compared to finely made artistic lights designed for certain styles.Īrchitectural lights. Often called "mushrooms", these freestanding lights highlight an entry walk to provide a safer approach. Mount these small high intensity light fixtures on overhead structures to highlight points beneath. Note that 110 volt flood lights may be required for very high applications such as palm trees. Use these to shine up into taller trees that the typical fixture can't reach. Avoid uplights you cannot adjust since changes will be required as plants mature. Locate these in planting areas at each subject tree or focal point.
Volt landscape lighting install#
This fixture requires more labor to install because it sits in a metal cylinder underground that must be set precisely so the mower can glide freely over the top.Īdjustable uplights.
Typically installed in lawns or groundcovers. Fixture Types and Their Applicationsįlush ground uplights. Soil type for buried wire - Beware of sites where excavation is hindered by rock or hardpan because higher labor costs may result due to difficulties in trenching. Time clock or remote operation - The addition of a time clock or the integration of landscape lighting into a remote control on/off system operated by smart phones or tablets. Transformers vary according to the proposed size of the system from about $350 to as much as $1500 for larger homesites. When contractors design an extensive system, the long runs of wire may lose voltage due to resistance, so a larger transformer is required to keep all lights on the same circuit. Unusual long runs of wire for larger sites - Every light system requires a transformer.
Any time you must hire an electrician there will be significant increases in cost. If existing outdoor outlets are not GFI protected, they must be upgraded, which also requires an electrician to change it safely. In order to install an outlet for the light system an electrical contractor is required to lay conduit and install the sockets. Installations in existing landscaping is far more time consuming since the contractor must work in narrow gaps between plants to lay wiring to all the new fixtures.ġ10 volt outlet existing or to be installed - Older homes are notoriously short on exterior GFI outlets essential for powering a low voltage system. retrofitting existing one - Lighting is installed after the new plants are placed into a landscape and before surface mulch is applied. A general rule of thumb for a preliminary estimate of your future lighting is to allow about $325 per fixture to cover product and installation.
Volt landscape lighting professional#
For example, a top of the line retail fixture may sell for about $30 while the professional quality versins, which may look identical, run about $80 apiece.
These high quality light fixtures last far longer and cost substantially more due to their lifetime warranty. Quality contractors use professional quality fixtures that are all metal in copper, bronze, aluminum and steel featuring powder coated colors or unique finishes. To light projects these experienced contractors will insist on higher quality fixtures to ensure they function perfectly over many years in a wide range of weather conditions. While plastic and low end fixtures are still available at home improvement stores, these are not the materials used by quality landscape contractors to create beautiful nocturnal illumination. While today's systems are conceptually the same as the originals in terms of function, the light fixtures have come a long way. Low voltage lighting has come a long way since the first plastic Malibu Light sets were introduced in the 1970s.
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