Pro Answer to: Lighting

[Ozzello]

The BEST way to light a palm or 3 and add a couple pathway lights: (if DIY)


1- Have an electrician add an outdoor GFI outlet on the side of your home, opposite the driveway side, close to the front corner. $100-300.

Go to Lowes or Home Depot-

2- Pick out lights- Get LED, METAL powder coated low voltage. Spots for sylvester/Queens/tall growing palms, Wide angle for Euros or Robis (if you have foxtail or Christmas palms, don't bother, they will be dead from the cold in a winter or 2)
The highest power is always better. "Adjustable Color" means adjustable BRIGHTNESS, these work well, turn the knob to high)
Pick out a few pathway lights you like the look of.
Add up the ACTUAL wattage (some show a pre LED "like a xx" note), add about 50% so NOW:

3-Pick your TRANSFORMER. The one with a number higher than the total wattage+50%. Bigger is never wrong, Smaller will cause issues.

4- WIRE, for most home 18 Gauge will be enough. For longer runs and lots of lights, get BIGGER. 16, 14 or 12. Smaller number, bigger wire. (like shotgun guages)

READ THE DIRECTIONS. I like setting the transformers to come on when the sun goes down, and off at 11PM. Is a little tricky to set the first time, but the little "quick reference" card is all you should need to getter done.

DO NOT:
Run power chord across concrete at the entry and plug in there.
DO NOT:
Stuff very thin lighting wire in driveway crack.
DO NOT:
Add the plug in on the light post.

Some with lesser experience or integrity may disagree with my DO NOT list. I have been installing these systems in TV for decades, there are more reasons than I care to type out as to what can happen, what has happened, etc.

Good luck! If you don't feel up to the task, most of us landscapers install these systems, but if they disagree with my DO NOTs... I suggest calling another installer.

[pikeselectric]

Hi there! Landscape lighting is a great investment to spruce up the curb appeal of the front of your home or set a nice atmosphere to the backyard as well. A lot of our customers on corner lots also take advantage of LED soffit lighting which will emit and flood the light on the sides of the home. Cannot go wrong with LED products, especially LED integrated landscape lights (this way you never have to worry about changing pesky bulbs). We recommend a licensed electrician to install these systems, of course. On our flyer attachment below is a photo of a Villages home we installed soffit lighting to.
FREE Estimates, always. Give us a call if anyone finds interest in these installs! We offer a Talk of The Villages discount if mentioned.
(352)748-6251

[villagetinker]

OP, not sure of some of your "don't" suggestions. You are suggesting adding a new outlet on the side of the home, why are you against adding the outlet at the post light? The post light tends to be much more convenient than other outlets as the post is already in the landscaping, and IMHO should cost less than adding a new outlet on the outside of the house, both are protected by GFCI.

I do not understand your concern about running the wire (landscape rated wire) in the stress crack cut in the driveways. I have done this several times after completely cleaning out the stress cut and taking appropriate precautions at each end to avoid having landscapers cut the wired with string trimmers. Is there another concern you have found?

I also use crimped connections with liquid tape and heat shrink tubing as I have had the insulation piercing type connections fail too often, these are then completely sealed connections.

I agree with most of your comments, but for the slightly higher cost, I tend to use the larger conductors to allow for future additional lights. I have also found that leaving additional cable at each light location allows for the future relocation of the lights as the landscaping grows.

Thank you for you comeents.

[Ozzello]

OP, not sure of some of your "don't" suggestions. You are suggesting adding a new outlet on the side of the home, why are you against adding the outlet at the post light? The post light tends to be much more convenient than other outlets as the post is already in the landscaping, and IMHO should cost less than adding a new outlet on the outside of the house, both are protected by GFCI.

I do not understand your concern about running the wire (landscape rated wire) in the stress crack cut in the driveways. I have done this several times after completely cleaning out the stress cut and taking appropriate precautions at each end to avoid having landscapers cut the wired with string trimmers. Is there another concern you have found?

I also use crimped connections with liquid tape and heat shrink tubing as I have had the insulation piercing type connections fail too often, these are then completely sealed connections.

I agree with most of your comments, but for the slightly higher cost, I tend to use the larger conductors to allow for future additional lights. I have also found that leaving additional cable at each light location allows for the future relocation of the lights as the landscaping grows.

Thank you for you comeents.

You didn't understand the last part... Not here to write a complete how-to guide.
I agree larger conductors allow for future expansion (if the transformer supports) but many of the "EZ clips" are no longer EASY at 12GA, sooooo since I was trying to make this post a couple of minutes out of my day to help folks decide if they were up to the task or needed a pro, and apparently as a free advertising opportunity for another company (but not mine), I will let you do your lighting your way and I will do my installs mine.
I do wonder, how you get that oversized wire you're using to fit in the driveway stress cut? Also, the outlet added at the lightpost, actually costs more than adding one to the outside wall of your home (by an electrician), and has a LOT of down the road possible issues (As well as being unsightly right in front of your entry). I inspected several types of electrical installations for many years, along with just paying attention to the thousands of landscapes I have been in close contact with.

[Topspinmo]

Why not just use solar lighting?

[Ozzello]

Why not just use solar lighting?

Talking spotlights for a sylvester palm. Solar would be pretty underwhelming at the height and width of most sylvester canopies. With the light post light often shedding too much light in the area making the solar light looking very dim, or even turning the lights off because of the light sensor.