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Becoming
Enlightened by Connecting Landscape Lights
Connecting landscape lights is easy with new lighting designs.
Outdoor lighting used to require a lot of electrical knowledge and
specially designed tools, but that’s no longer true. Most landscape
lights are sold as expandable kits and come with everything you need
to create interesting and useful lighting in your yard or around
outside features and structures.
Connecting Landscape Lights
Landscape lights are used in a variety of ways:
 Light pathways
Spotlight trees
Light driveways
Illuminate gardens
Decorate decks
Light outbuildings
Decorative lighting
The first step to connecting landscape lights is to make a drawing
of light placement. Once you know where the lights will be placed,
you can determine the best place for the transformer. The
transformer will obviously have to be near an outdoor outlet. All
the lights will eventually be connected to this transformer for
power.
Using the plan you have drawn for the lights placement, begin
installing the lights. Landscape lights can take many different
forms. There are electric torch lights, string lights, underground
cable lights and spotlights to name a few. Connecting most landscape
lights involves attaching the lights to an electric cable and then
attaching the cable to the transformer.
Once the lights are attached to the cable, the cable must be buried.
This protects the cable from possible damage and also makes the
installation more attractive. Because landscape lights are low
voltage, the cable doesn’t have to be buried very deep. Most people
also connect their yard lights to a timer so they come on
automatically at dusk and go off later in the evening.
Connecting landscape lights isn’t difficult but the job goes a lot
easier if you do some preplanning. You can save yourself a lot of
problems by drawing your landscape lighting plan before you start
installation. Too many people make the mistake of connecting the
lights and burying cable only to discover they have to be moved or
uncovered for one reason or another.
Landscape lighting adds a beautiful touch to any yard, but they
don’t just accent the foliage and plantings. They provide a valuable
safety feature on walkways and illuminate dark areas. Once you get
the lights connected, you can move any that don’t work out as you
planned. By learning to connect your own landscape lights, you can
create a professional looking outdoor area at half the cost a
professional would charge for the same service. |
