Insight To Help You Illuminate Your Outdoor Area With Decorative Lighting Features
Adding outdoor lighting to your yard can illuminate a walkway, patio, or other area in your landscaping. There are several methods you can use to install outdoor lighting with various types of decorative and themed lighting sets, such as antique gothic style lights, to match your home's decor. Here are some ideas to help you plan and install your outdoor lighting features.
Place Solar Landscape Lights
An easy way to add illumination to your yard's landscaping and to illuminate a pathway or edges of a patio seating area is by installing solar landscape lighting. This type of lighting is easy to install because you don't have to lay and protect any electrical wiring, as the lights each work on individual solar panels. Solar landscaping lights usually come attached to metal stakes that you can push into the soil in your yard. The top each of solar light has a small solar panel that charges from the sun during the day, then power the light to illuminate when the sun sets.
Decide where you want to position each of the solar landscaping lights and push each one into the ground. If you want to move them and re-position them later, just pull up each light and press it into the ground in its new location.
Install Electrical landscape Lights
Electrical outdoor landscaping lights are similar to install as solar lights and provide a bit more illumination, but you need to consider the electrical wiring. Make sure the individual lights come with enough length of electrical cord to reach around the landscaping area in your yard. You also need an outdoor GFCI outlet to provide electrical power.
Place the lighting's electrical control box and plug next to your outside power outlet. Set each landscape light in your yard where you plan to install, running the electrical cording between each one. Now you can install each light into the ground with its stake.
You will need to dig a small trench into the soil between each light to bury the electrical cable, but the trench only needs to be a few inches deep. Make a cut into the soil with a shovel or garden trowel and press the line into the cut, pushing the soil or lawn back over the top of the cut. Plug in your lighting at the outdoor outlet.
Add a Single Light Post
If you want to add one or more single light posts in your yard, you will need to install underground wiring housed in a PVC conduit or underground feeder cable to protect the wiring. It is recommended to hire a licensed electrician to make all the connections and install the conduit properly to prevent electrical problems and fire risk.
Share