Today’s landscape lighting has come a long way! Low-voltage exterior LED systems are the top choice for outdoor illumination, and for good reason. They’re economical, efficient, and durable – perfect for anyone looking to give their home a touch of personality after the sun goes down. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at what exactly makes LED landscape lighting so special – and why it’s quickly becoming the go-to choice for homeowners all over St. Louis.
There are four primary parts of this type of exterior lighting system:
- Transformer: the power source.
- Wiring: carries power from transformer to fixtures.
- Fixtures: many sizes, many styles.
- Bulbs: energy-efficient, long-lasting LED bulbs.
This type of exterior lighting system is safe, versatile, and long-lasting when properly designed and installed. And there are so many options — you can create a polished look for your home, add visual interest to every part of your yard, and set up outdoor living spaces that you love spending time in.
Have fun with color
Want to have more fun with your outdoor lighting? You’ve got to have color-changing LEDs you can control from a smartphone app. Our customers love being able to adjust the lighting for different events and times. You can change the colors for different holidays and seasons to match your outdoor decor. And you can finetune the look for different activities — brighten up the lights for a party, or go dim for a quiet dinner. Even if the weather doesn’t allow for outdoor time, you’ll enjoy the variety of looks through the windows.
Get the right transformer first
The transformer is the power source for the lighting system. There are different sizes of transformers, which have smaller or larger power capacities. A transformer with more capacity can provide power for a larger lighting system. It’s very important that the size of the transformer is adequate for your system — otherwise, you’ll quickly burn up your transformer. And it’s a smart idea to think about other lights you might want to add or projects you might want complete in the future that would expand your system even more. If you plan to add more lighting load to the system, it’s usually a smarter idea, and more budget-friendly, to purchase the larger transformer now. Otherwise, you might have to add another transformer to run your system.
Plan the system in projects
When we install an exterior LED system, we separate it into projects. For example, the house uplighting is one project. The spotlights on the trees in the front yard are another project. The bistro and rail lighting for the deck is another project, and so on. Sometimes our customers want to install an entire lighting system and do all the ‘projects’ at once. Other times, they want to do one or two of the projects at a time. When the budget allows, they’ll move on to the next project.
This is a great way to take a cohesive approach to the low-voltage lighting system for your home’s exterior, yard, and all those outdoor living spaces. When the design is cohesive, the whole effect is much, much better. But there’s no rush to get it all done at once. You can move at your own timeline without losing the overall look.
Try Out Your Ideas
If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that what you imagine may not look at all how you’d expect. That’s why we’re always ready to come out and set up a demo for these landscape lighting systems. Sometimes, homeowners have certain ideas or expectations but when they see those actually set up, it’s not quite what they wanted:
- They need more fixtures than they thought.
- They notice areas that need lighting.
- They’re not sure of the best tone or intensity.
Take the time to lay out lighting at night and see what it really looks like. Better yet, give us a call for a free consultation and demo!
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