If you want to install landscape lighting on your property you have three different options. You can install solar garden light fixtures, which depending on the model that you get can be unreliable and finicky, hire an electrician to run wires and install the lights for you, or you can install low voltage garden lights yourself. Low Voltage garden lighting is more reliable and less expensive than the other two options, but it does come with its downsides.
The electrical current that comes into your house off the power line is a shockingly dangerous 120 volts. If you want to run these wires outside your home, you have to dig deep trenches and have certified electricians come in to do the installation to make sure nobody is electrocuted. However, with low voltage lights you simply install a transformer that steps down the lights from the high voltage to a shock-free 12 to 24 volts. This seems simple, but you still need to place the transformer in a central location to your lights and you may end up having to hire an electrician to run the wires to the transformer anyways. But, aside from this, installing low voltage lighting is completely do it yourself and they’re more reliable than solar lights, which are easier to install.
However, that’s not to say that installing low voltage lights is a no brainer. You need to figure out how many lights are on each line that you run, because each light eats up some of the electricity that runs through the line, and try to keep the power lines that you run as short as possible. The longer you run your power lines, the dimmer your lights will be at the end because each foot of line also eats some power.
If you want to know more about landscape lighting and how to install low voltage garden lights, visit the Garden Lights Guru.
Tags: garden lighting, landscape lighting, low voltage outdoor lighting, low voltage transformer, solar lighting