Q. Why Low Voltage landscape lighting and not 120volt or line voltage landscape lighting?

A. 12 volt or low voltage landscape lighting systems offer many benefits over high voltage landscape lighting systems.

1. Low voltage landscape lighting fixtures if properly deigned and installed can produce high levels of illumination. This usually surprises our clients
2. Quality low voltage lighting can provide very bright illumination. I can over light with low voltage lighting, unlike the low voltage lights system such as Malibu lights sold in large home improvement stores. Low voltage lighting does have it limits. If trying to illuminate  very large trees or buildings, HID lighting may be more appropriate for this use.
3. Low Voltage landscape lighting is more energy efficient, up to 30% more energy efficient than 120v outdoor lighting fixtures
4. Low voltage lighting fixtures offer 1000s of styles choices
5. Low voltage landscape lighting is very safe around people and pets.
6. Low Voltage lighting is extremely flexible in the installation process. Low voltage cable can be run underground with out conduit and also be run in many  places that would impossible or impractical with 120v landscape lighting.
7. Installation of low voltage lighting causes very little disruption to the existing landscape. With 120 volt landscape lighting it is necessary to dig 16″-18” trenches for the electrical conduit. This disruption will cause much damage to the existing landscape.

Q.What about LED lighting?

A. LED lighting has made many advances over the last few years.

LED lighting , is a very exciting area for all lighting applications. A common misconception is that LED lighting produces a blueish light. This used to be the case a few years back but now LED fixtures can produce a variety of  color temperatures , from warm white, with amber tones to cool white, which is a more bluish daylight color temperature.

The Pros. LED lighting only uses about 20%-30% of energy that of a typical Landscape light . That’s an 80% energy savings and over a long period of time that could be a substantial savings in energy costs. Also LED lights have a very long lamp life, up to 30-40,000 hours plus. That’s more than 10 times the lamp life of typical  bulbs used in outdoor lighting systems. Other benefits are LED lights produce much lower heat heat, use less cable and smaller transformers.

Cons and you knew there would be some did’t you? LED landscape lighting fixtures are quite a bit more expensive than normal landscape outdoor lighting fixtures. So this increases the upfront cost. Also there is limit to the lumen levels for LED landscape lighting. Lighting larger trees and facades of buildings smaller LED landscape lights might not be the best choice. There is however commercial LED outdoor lighting fixtures that can even change to any color imaginable and would do a great job but the cost is quite expensive. You see this type of LED lighting In Las Vegas and other large commercial buildings that want creative architectural lighting effects.

I believe that LED outdoor lighting is the future of landscape lighting.

Q. How about solar lighting?

A.. Solar has its place and that is out in the boondocks away from civilization and far from the electrical grid. I think the selling of residential solar lights is a big scam perpetrated by the home improvements stores. Whole sections of isles are lined with these useless solar light fixtures. They look good in the store and easy to install but what do you really get? A little blue dot, and if you have a lot of these solar light fixtures lining a walkway you now have created “the runwayeffect” This is a term used by landscape lighting professionals. 

Sorry I had to say that. It think it is such a waste of money! However there are some commercial solar lighting systems that work well and it’s only practical when electrical supply is impossible or very costly to get to a location. This type of solar lighting is used for city signage in the middle of mediums of the roads. But for residential where electrical is accessible DON’T DO IT. Sorry about my rant I hate to see people waist there money. The solar money waster looks like this guy on the right .

Q. Will my new 12v lighting system make my electricity bill go way up?

A. Compared to 120v outdoor lighting, a low voltage lighting system will consume about 30% less energy. A nice front yard system can cost only pennies an hour to operate. Let say you have 25 lights at 20 watts each (some lights will be more like 35 or 50 watts) but for this example your system will be consuming 500 watts. If your utility rate is let say 12 cents / Kw hr. (that’s .12 per 1000 watts per hour) and lights are on for 4 hours per night, the monthly increase would be only $7.20  This is only and an example of a medium size  system and the true electricity costs all depends three things:

1. The number of fixtures and watts per fixture.
2. Utility electric rate
3. The number of hours of operation per night.

In this example if you choose the LED lighting option the enery cost will be approximately %80 less. WOW that would be a whopping $1.44 to operate a LED outdoor lighting system per month.
These are only estimates of electrical cost and will vary due to design and individual usage.

Q. What is the landscape lighting installation process?

A. The lighting designer will go over the whole design with the installation crew and place colored flags where each outdoor light fixture is to be installed.

1. Then we must determine the most efficient and effective way to run the underground cable. Most times we have to run cable under drive ways, side walks and patio decks and we use special electronic wire finders to find existing sleeves and conduits.
2. We remove the old existing lighting system at NO CHARGE. If we can reuse the old fixtures we will, and refubish them. Then we  remove most of the old cable . We will not tear up all cable from underground that would cause unnecessary damage to landscape.  The crew then then buries the all the cable.
3. Install transformers and connect fixtures.
4. With a digital volt meter we check to ensure all the lights have the proper voltages.
5. Focus lights
6. Receive  excited comments  and compliments from our clients
7. Get a referral of a friend who could benefit from custom landscape lighting system.
8. In 6 months we will provide a FREE  maintenance on the landscape lighting system.

Q.  Will my home look like Disneyland with the new landscape lighting?

A. I hear this all the time “ I don’t want my house to look like Disneyland.”  When I hear this I assure my customer that I wont happen. Their system will result in an elegant and sophisticated look. When I come up with a design and present it to a clients and if they still have this fear and delete fixtures from the plan they usually add the light fixtures back and tell me you were right Chuck we really do need those lights. We should of listen to you.

Q. Will the installation of the new outdoor lighting system cause damage to my landscape?

A. The systems we install cause minimal if any damage to existing landscape and structures. A small slit is put in the soil or lawn and the direct burial cable is inserted 6 to 8 inches below the surface.