Fantastic Light
It’s the time of year when gardens are in the spotlight. And as the evenings warm and with busier-than-ever schedules, many people want to extend their garden enjoyment into the dusk and twilight hours.
Installing low-voltage uplights is a safe and relatively simple way to enhance the night-time landscape, said Chris Lindula, a representative of Phoenix Lighting.
Uplights are aptly named. They shine upward, drawing attention to shrubs, trees or whatever is in their paths. Low-voltage transformers, which plug right into 110V outlets and drop the working voltage to a less shocking 12V, are much safer to install than line voltage runs, Lindula said.
Gem Curry, an electrical sales representative at Eagle Home and Garden Center in Coeur d’Alene, agrees.
“If your cat or dog bites into it (the cable) or if the cable gets frayed, it’s not enough to kill you,” Curry said. “It’s more like putting your tongue on a 9V battery.”
As always, the first step in a landscaping project, said Lindula, is design. John Trevethan agrees. Over the past two years, Trevethan has designed and installed a low-voltage system for his Spokane home that contains several uplights.
“For me, it was primarily a combination of aesthetics after dark — and safety,” he said. “The house looks neat when you’ve got some uplighting.”
While many people install lighting as a safety against theft prevention, he highlighted his sidewalks for personal safety.
“It starts with a concept of where am I trying to get light,” Trevethan said. “Do I need to overlap those circles of lights? The farther you pull it (the light fixture) back from a tree or house, the bigger area you light up.”
When deciding where to place the lights, consider where you will most enjoy the light, how many seasons they will shine on foliage and how much shadow play you want to create, Lindula said.
Once you’ve laid out a design, you can begin to assemble components.
To install one or several uplights, the basic components are: light fixtures, electrical cable and a transformer.
“It’s a very modular system,” said Lindula. “We have found that the Kichler line is the best and most versatile,” which means flexibility of design and durability for the homeowner.
Eagle, on the other hand, carries more kits, usually designed to light a path or sidewalk, than individual components. Prices range from $19 to $79.
“The light you choose depends on the distance from the fixture,” Lindula said. “The farther from the feature, the bigger the circle of light. Lights range from wide floods to narrow spots.”
A wide flood generally provides more of a wash of color, he said, while a narrow spot can highlight a specific feature.
If you want to install more than one uplight, or think you might add on later, it’s a good idea to get a larger transformer than you immediately need, Lindula said.
The main thing to keep in mind is that you need to use at least half the wattage of your transformer and never exceed its maximum wattage, he said.
For example, if you plan to use two 40-watt lights, you need at least the standard 90-watt transformer, while a 150-watt transformer would work fine. But, in this scenario, you would not want to get a transformer that’s less than 80 watts.
Phoenix transformers are rated for wet locations so they can be easily mounted under a deck or to the side of a house without concern about inclement weather.
Cable choices seem to vary among the experts.
According to Curry, 14-gauge cable is sufficient for up to 150-feet circuits, but Lindula recommends 10 gauge for up to 100 feet and 8 gauge for longer runs. Trevethan used 10-gauge cable on his system.
Cable numbers are, well, backward: the smaller the gauge number, the heavier the cable. The advantage of heavier cable is a more-even distribution of power along the circuit. This is not an issue with one light, but on a long run with several lights, you may experience a voltage drop if the gauge of your cable is light. That is, the lights farthest from the transformer will be dimmer than those closest to the transformer.
To reduce the voltage drop, minimize the length of wire to the fixtures, he said.
To combat voltage drop, Trevethan uses lower wattage lights close to the transformer which evens out the look down the line.
Lindula suggests using voltage enhancers, changing the circuit design, or splitting the load between two transformers if voltage drop becomes a problem.
Trevethan said he could have done more book work to lessen the time of his project, but part of the joy, for him, was to try out various things.
“I looked through the books and said, `I think this will work,”’ Trevethan said.
He tested a variety of light bulbs which allowed him to see the effects they created.
And, his nights are full of light.