The owners of a large home in Las Vegas wanted to replace their existing, aged incandescent lighting system with all new LED fixtures. They were experiencing some inconsistencies with their halogen system, so they contracted Wes Maggard's company, V.I.P. Landscaping, to do a complete renovation.

In the beginning, the clients requested that Maggard and his team simply replace each old fixture with new LED fixtures. As the process unfurled, Maggard offered to install additional fixtures, while keeping all of the present ones, because he felt that the existing fixtures did not adequately emphasize the beauty of the home.

"When we started the process, they (the homeowners) had planned to basically replace their existing system fixture for fixture, which was comprised of spot lights & path lights, predominantly accenting only the trees (up-light) and the walkways. As we got into the design process, we recommended that we accent the beauty of the home, outdoor living spaces, stonework throughout the property and the mature landscape by using a larger range of fixtures, and in multiple different lighting application methods," relates Maggard.

The entire project took a team of four to five people five weeks to complete. The previous incandescent system had approximately 150 fixtures and consumed roughly 5,500 total watts. The new LED system, installed by Maggard and his crew, has about 250 fixtures and only consumes 1,600 total watts.

One of the primary problems encountered on the job was the enormous scale of the property, which was jam-packed with dense, mature foliage, shrubbery and grandiose amenities: gazebo, pool, archway, patio and expansive lawn areas. Thorough planning was done to ensure appropriate loads on the wiring. During the entire project, the crew had to very carefully dig conduit around existing landscape features, trying not to compromise their integrity.

Due to the largeness of the property and the existing electrical connections and conduits, a total of eight 300-watt transformers were installed in convenient locations. The addition of these ensured there was no noticeable voltage drop anywhere in the system and guaranteed that each fixture was able to shine to its full capacity.

Because much of the vegetation was so dense and in relatively shallow planters, Maggard and his team had to angle most of their ground or low-mounted fixtures relatively straight up. For the largest trees, fixtures were mounted high up and angled towards the center of the property, helping to create a nice, even balance of light.

As this is a large residence with a lot of character and beautiful, mature landscape features, Maggard wanted to leave the option to add more fixtures if the homeowner desired. To achieve this, he and his crew intentionally over-planned the wiring for the system and ran multiple home run cables, in every direction, from each of the eight transformers. This will allow future installations to be more easily completed.

After the project was finished, Maggard had this to say, "This was a fun project to work on. The homeowners love their new lighting system and the way it accents the landscape, complements the beautiful hardscape and pool elements, and creates a beautiful nightscape for their property."