Low-voltage landscape lighting may improve your home’s curb appeal at night and provide a sense of protection and safety. Usually installed beside roads and sidewalks, these exterior-grade lamps are also perfect for lighting stairs, trees, stonewalls, fences, and other noteworthy landscape elements. Additionally, outdoor cable-type current transformer is entirely safe for do-it-yourself installation because it just requires 12 volts of power to function.
Overview of Landscape Lighting
An easy upgrade that may have a big impact on your home’s appearance after nightfall as well as its safety and security is low-voltage landscape lighting. A transformer, low-voltage electrical line, and lights are the only three parts important for a standard low-voltage lighting system, which is installed along sidewalks, stairs, and roads or pointed up toward trees, walls, and fences.
It’s not a requirement to be professional in wiring or even have any experience installing this kind of system. The 120-volt household electricity normally reduce to merely 12 volts by the transformer. It has to be plugged into an outdoor electrical outlet protected by a GFCI that has an oversized plastic box that shuts over the power cable and a “while-in-use” cover.
Organize the Elements of Lighting
The route light lamps should space 8 to 10 feet apart on the ground where you will place them. As you follow the line of light fixtures down the concrete pathway, lay the low-voltage cable. If the total power of your lighting system is 200 watts or less, use a 14-gauge wire; if it’s more than that, use a 12-gauge cable. When you encounter a barrier, such as a hedge or bushes, weave the cable beneath or around it.
Tip
The first fixture should be at least ten feet away from the transformer.
Flip the Grass Over
Approximately 12 inches from the walk’s edge, place a flat-bladed shovel beneath the top layer of grass. After separating the grass from the earth by lifting on the handle, fold over the sod that has been scalped. Proceed along the path in this fashion. Where the wire is going to be placed, make a 3-inch-deep trench in the ground using the shovel’s blade corner.
Place the Electrical Cable Underground Lighting
Place the electrical cable with low voltage in the trench. To facilitate the connection to the light fixtures, leave a small amount of extra cable at each fixture location. Although the trench’s surface should be smooth, the cable should still be visible near each fixture. With the cable for each fixture above the grass, cut a slit in the detached sod where the fixture will be positioned and fold the sod back over the soil.
Turn on the Transformer
Connect the indoor cable type current transformer to the outside power outlet. Next, cut the cable with wire strippers and remove ½ inch of rubber insulation. Under the two terminal screws on the transformer’s bottom, slide the stripped wires. To firmly secure the cable in place, tighten the screws all the way. Next to the outlet, drive a wooden stake into the earth.
Swap out the Sod
Even out the sod surrounding the light fixtures when they are all mounted and operational. In other words, use the shovel to remove any sod surrounding the light fittings if needed. Apply pressure firmly on the sod, and then saturate the area with water using a garden hose.