03-01-04 | News

Daylight savings time is near and the official start of spring. It is time to unload all the stress of this past year and enjoy the awakening of Mother Nature: the fragrance of the flowers coming to life, filling the air with their lovely scents, birds singing while building their nests, butterflies making their presence.

As the sun sets, this enjoyment doesn’t have to end. By installing low-voltage lighting, you can provide enjoyment for the homeowner well into the evening and night. For those of you that have installed landscape lighting you already know about this. For those who haven’t, you don’t know what you are missing. Low-voltage lighting is to landscaping what icing is to a freshly baked cake?EUR??,,????'??+it just isn’t complete without it.

Planning outdoor lighting can become quite involved, as there are many options available. Following is some information to help in your planning.

Low-voltage occurs when you reduce the household current of 120 volts to 12 volts. This is accomplished by using a transformer to step the voltage down at a 10-to-1 ratio, thus 120 volts becomes 12 volts. Low-voltage is very safe to work with and can produce stunning effects.

Many people are concerned that 12 volts won’t be bright enough, but keep in mind that the headlights of your car are 12 volts.

On the other hand, most people don’t want their homes lit up like a runway, which can happen with 120-volt lights. A properly designed low-voltage lighting system, however, will not produce that effect. The secret with low-voltage lights is the selection of light bulbs. There is also a selection of wattage, beam spread, candlepower and lamp types. You can find every type of fixture imaginable to install this selection of light bulbs.

There are different effects of lighting such as uplighting an object, downlighting (moonlighting is an affect of downlighting), path lighting, underwater lighting, back lighting, specialty lighting of focal features and decks. The list goes on.

A good example of the utilization of different types of lighting techniques is a residential project we just finished. The project started from a simple back yard of lawn and trees. After completion, the area became a resort-like mini estate, complete with a swimming pool and spa. The new yard also features such enhancements as a 12-ton waterfall; 4,000 sq. ft. of tumbled paver decking and walks; a stone fireplace; an outdoor kitchen; sitting arbor; a rear entrance pergola with flagstone sitting area; a stone entrance with a custom iron gate; stone walls surrounding the entire area, incorporating a wall fountain into a raised pool; raised planters; landscape plantings; and the icing, low-voltage lighting.

From the master plan design to completion, including the swimming pool and construction of all elements of the design, covered a span of eight months and as many as 18 men on the job site at a time. The low-voltage lighting was planned so the wiring for the system would coincide with the installation of the sleeving, irrigation, and drainage systems. The lighting layout was drawn on the plan, which is critical to do when a project of this magnitude is undertaken. The crew size for the final installation was four men, working in harmony to tie the loose ends together.

We used stainless steel multi-tap transformers by Rockscapes, which enabled us to compensate for the long wiring runs and voltage drop and to use just more than 12 volts that most transformers are configured. Light fixtures close to the transformers were placed on the 11-volt terminal to create voltage drop; other runs were placed on 12, 13, and 14-volt terminals to compensate for too much voltage drop. We also used 12, 10, and eight gauge low-voltage, multi-strand wiring.

There are constants to be used in figuring voltage drop based on the size of the wiring. The length of the run times the watts used divided by the constant will give you the voltage drop. We try to keep our voltage drop in the 85 percent to 90 percent range. This doubles the life span of the bulbs and you do not have a noticeable dimming of the light if kept in this range. If you go below 75 percent, major dimming occurs.

On all of our uplights, moonlights, and underwater lights we use MR16 halogen bulbs. The wattage available is 20 watts to 50 watts, and different beam spreads ranging from seven degrees to 42 degrees. This helps in planning distance, candlepower, and the amount of illumination that you want on an object. I prefer sealed beam glass bulbs by General Electric. We have had better life and the reflective material inside has a longer life which keeps the light white longer.

We used heavy duty brass fixtures with an aged copper finish by Rockscapes for all of our uplights and moonlights. The quality is the best that I have found with all of our lighting suppliers. They are a little more expensive, but just hold them and compare to others and you will see why that is my fixture of choice. Our underwater lights were by Hadco with a weighted base. This is important for stability. Our down lights in the arbors were my special design and manufactured by Vista Lighting.

We try to conceal all of our fixtures when possible so you see the effects of the lighting, not the light bulb. When choosing a path light you want something that is visually appealing, especially in the day. I used a low solid copper and brass light fixture in a natural finish. That way, it will broadcast the light out and not to catch the eye. In areas that were away from the pool and in paths in planting beds, we use a taller path light so as not to be obstructed by the plants. In this case, we were careful to select a smaller bonnet that was not intrusive to the eye. This fixture was also copper and brass in a natural finish by Rockscapes. Both fixtures came with t-3 halogen bulbs.

The low-voltage lighting system was zoned for the area by using six different 900-watt transformers. A combination of more than 200 fixtures accented the many different features of this project. The underwater pool lights reflect up the waterfall and to the plantings behind. Path lights were kept to a minimum to keep unwanted light glare from the eyes of swimmers. Well disguised moonlighting was used for illumination and up lights on the stone walls surrounding the pool. Path lights were confined to the walks and step areas. Backlighting was used to silhouette landscape plantings in front of the wall and behind the pool. Downlighting for the pergola illuminates the stone sitting area below. Up lighting highlights the stone entrance, gate and stone walls, casting shadows and reflections off the different sizes of stone.

Designing low-voltage lighting systems is an expression of art that brings landscape gardens to life at night. An educated contractor with knowledge of all the light bulb charts would be helpful in selecting the proper bulbs to use for each application.

He should also calculate the voltage drop created by the watts used, plot out the wiring runs for the selected fixtures, size the transformers for the job, and design the system to complement the outdoor garden.

Many contractors have discovered the benefits of low-voltage lighting: better selection of lights and a fraction of the cost of line voltage.

You have selection, great looks, and an affordable cost. Spring would be a great time to start enjoying your “outdoor rooms” in the evenings with all that Mother Nature has to offer, even if it is dark when you arrive home.