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Nightime lighting is important for safety as well as to show off your landscape.
As fall and the holiday season approaches, the temperatures are beginning to cool off, so it is more pleasant to be outside. As the night lengthens, landscape lighting becomes more important. Now is a good time to check your lights to ensure the system is working properly. Here are the steps we take to check and maintain landscape lighting.
We recommend doing maintenance on the entire system. This includes the wiring, lamps, transformer, fixtures, and timer/photocells. You will first need to turn on the lighting to do this. Usually this can be done in the transformer with an on switch on the timer.
Check each light to make sure it is on. If not, use a tester light you know works and put it in the fixture. If that works, then you will need to replace the LED light. LED lights last thousands of hours of operation, but even they eventually will burn out.
If the tester light doesn’t work, you may have a problem with the power to that light fixture. You can use a volt meter to check if you have power. If not, you can run a new wire from the nearest connection to see if that fixes the problem. If you still have no power, you will have to go back to the last connection that works and fix the system from that point forward.
Fixtures get dirty and don’t shine as brightly.
Use a damp cloth for this step so you do not damage the fixture. Clean the outside housing of the fixture. Use glass cleaner and clean the fixture lens. You may need to do this step 3-4 times a year to make sure dirt and debris don’t cover the light and prevent it from showing.
Animals, people, and lawn equipment can bump the light fixtures and move them. That means the fixtures are no longer lighting what you want to be lighted. Check the aim of each fixture and adjust as needed to showcase your landscape or illuminate dark spaces.
The transformer takes house current and reduces it to the lower voltage that these LED lights require. Too much current can burn out a fixture or reduce its life. Check the terminal blocks and tighten them. Check the internal components and make sure they are clean, do not show excessive wear, and do not show any burn spots. Replace anything that has a problem.
A clock turns on the lights at a set time.
Set the clock or timer for fall so the lights come on at the proper time. If you use photocells to turn on the lights in the evening and turn them off in the morning, clean them with a damp cloth so dirt and dust don’t make them come on and off at the wrong time. We like to use astronomical timers that will adjust automatically for daylight savings based on zip code.
Check any wires you can see for nicks and cuts. If you find any, splice in a section of wire to replace the damaged spots. It is best to run a complete splice from light to light to limit additional connection points. If you must splice in the middle of a run, we suggest installing a box over this splice to easily find it later in case of any issues. Re-bury any wiring that has become exposed over the year. Bury it far enough underground so that it won’t be damaged by equipment in the yard.
Cut back plants blocking lights.
Plants can grow during the year and block lights. Now is a good time to trim those plants back so they do not block the light from showing. Be careful not to remove more than one-third of a plant within two months, or you will damage the plant. You can also move the light slightly if needed. This is one reason why we leave long leads of wire on each light to be adjusted later if needed.
Have you planted a new specimen plant that needs lighting? Has a plant died, so the light is no longer needed there? New and better lights are always coming on the market. Has something new come out that fits your situation better? Don’t be afraid to make changes to keep up with technology.
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can do your lighting maintenance for you. We will check everything and repair and renew it as needed. Call the office at (816) 825-2524 to sign up. Hurry, the schedule is filling up fast.
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