The perfect way to fully enjoy the ambiance of your garden at night is some well placed outdoor lighting. Appropriate outdoor lighting can not only help you move around your garden safely and enhance its beauty, it can also create an atmosphere for you to socialize or dine with your friends and family. However, this option might get hazardous as the rainy season starts to set in. Although outdoor wiring might seem easy to do, it is fraught with danger. To avoid any accident or danger, you should contact a professional electrical services contractor like Rock Electric. Rock Electric is a family owned business that offers a range of electrical services, such as outdoor lighting and wiring for homes all over King, Pearce, and Snohomish Counties. Our value for your safety is only rivaled by our resolve to give you excellent service, pre, and post-sale.
Garden lightings come in a lot of different designs, such as floodlights, landscape lighting, motion sensor lighting, and spotlights, and choosing the right one might make the difference between a beautiful garden or an ‘over-exposed’ one. The same goes for outdoor wiring where you can either have concealed underground wiring or overhead wiring. Luckily, the expert electricians at Rock Electric can help you in this regard by advising you on what type of outdoor lighting would sit right in your garden or outdoor living space and what type of outdoor wiring you should go with, in our initial evaluation.
Types Of Outdoor Lighting & Wiring
Landscape Lights
These are the most common type of outdoor lighting for homes, parks, offices, and many other public or private spaces. These lights can take many forms such as handing led lamps, wall mounted capsules, soft spotlights, globes, pathway lights, wall sconces, led lit alphabets, illuminated pots, and many others.
These fixtures are best suited to set accents, light driveways, alleyways, and gardens. They help viewers focus on floral architecture and garden etiquette.
Rock Electric’s professional electricians can install these fixtures quickly, efficiently, and without causing any hassle. Our electricians have installed such lights to illuminate decks, walkways, walls, and many other places! It is recommended that when installing landscape lights, you conceal your wirings.
For example, when lighting a pathway:
- Our electricians would first see where the relevant socket is. If there is none available, they can install one for you quickly and cleanly.
- The pathway is then lined with light fixtures as per your requirements.
- A shovel is used to dig a trench, usually 3 inches deep. We might have to call 811 to make sure there are no utility lines where we’re about to dig.
- An electrical cable is then laid in the trench, leading from the fixtures towards the socket.
- The connection is then made, and the lights are tested one by one to ensure all of them are functioning. The lights are stress tested at the end to ensure the connections are safe and strong.
- Once the connections are made, the wires are then concealed again. If they are under or around a garden, our electricians can water-proof it for you as well to ensure safety.
Floodlights
Floodlights are more common in the industrial sector than at homes. However, many homes with a large garden also use them to illuminate the whole garden. They are much brighter than landscape lights and therefore ensure maximum visibility.
There are two types of floodlights; high-pressure sodium or metal halide. Or to put it in simple terms, warm or cold. You can choose either one depending on your theme.
When installing floodlights:
- Our electricians will first look for a socket. Although they can be installed in a regular socket as well, it is highly recommended to install them in a load-bearing socket, through an LED driver. If there is none available, we can install one for you.
- Floodlights need to be installed at a height. This means your light will either have to be mounted on a high wall or you’d need to buy a post.
- A hole will be dug where your post will be installed.
- The electrician will then make the relevant connections and test your flood light to ensure a steady connection.
Motion Sensor Lights
These lights are much like normal spot or landscape lights but with one key element: a motion sensor. The motion sensors rely on shifts in infrared waves. When things move, they shift those waves due to heat radiation. The important point to note here is that infrared is directly related to heat radiation, meaning your lights won’t go off if a leaf flies past the sensors at night.
Our expert electricians can preset these lights to remain on between 1 to 20 minutes after the movement. They can also be programmed to work only at night or specific hours.
Motion sensor lights can be installed in garages, alleyways, or porches. They can be mounted on walls or be in the shape of lamps to be wedged into the ground.
When installing a motion sensor light:
- Our electrician will connect the light to the socket and mount it at height. This is so that the detector doesn’t accumulate moisture (from dew).
- They will then adjust the field-of-view angle to set the sensitivity and range of the motion detector, as per your instructions.
Spotlights
Spotlights can focus light on a certain area, perhaps a fountain, your door, address, or a special floral arrangement you’d like viewers to focus on. Spotlights also need a load-bearing socket, but unlike floodlights, they do not spread light over a large area.
Spotlights come in various sizes and colors. There are some “disco” spotlights as well that dance and change colors.
Our highly experienced electricians will install your spotlights by first looking for an outlet nearby or installing one for you. The spotlight is then wedged into the ground and rotated to focus on what you want. It can also be hanged or mounted on walls.
Installing a spotlight is fairly easy. However, complications arise when mounting spotlights in the middle of gardens or fountains. They need to be protected from water and moisture. To do so, Rock Electric’s highly trained electricians can cover the wiring with a water-resistant material.
Other Lighting Options
Outdoor Recessed Lighting in Soffit
Outdoor recessed can lights are the perfect way to light up your outdoor space. They are low profile and provide a ton of light. With (4) 4 inch can lights you could easily light a space of about 16 x 16. The can light can rotate to spotlight certain areas, such as an outdoor kitchen, or can just face straight down to give consistent light through your entire space.
Uplighting
Uplighting is a beautiful way to light up your home or yard. You can highlight different portions of your home or property in a way that showcases the beauty of your property. You can use uplighting to outline a pathway or show off landscaping. Uplighting allows you to creatively showcase your home and property in a way that you want while providing the necessary lighting to get around safely.
Sports Court Lights
Sports courts are a excellent way to get outside especially in the summer months when the days are long and the nights are warm. During the winter evenings though some lights are extremely beneficial when trying to capitalize and utilize your space. Sports court lighting is easy to install and provide an abundant amount of light for any activities.
Outdoor Wiring
Wiring is an essential part of outdoor lighting. Improper wiring with loose connections can result in flickering lights, to say the least. This also presents a fire and electrical hazard. Lights may be low (12 volts) or line (120 volts) voltage. The 12 volt lights may be easy to install, but they aren’t as bright, or reliable, in some cases. These lights can be connected to any outdoor socket. However, the line voltage lights require load-bearing electrical conduits to protect you and your electrical system.
Rock Electric’s certified team of electricians has installed many outdoor lights, and in most of these cases, there was no outdoor socket, load bearing or normal. To install these sockets neatly, a wire needs to be extended from the electrical panel in such a way that either it remains concealed or if it shows, it is presentable. To run these wires underground, a pipe with all your wires is usually fed into a trench all the way to your new socket. The pipe is then covered to conceal it. The function of the pipe is to safeguard your wires from water or digging damage. If you wish, the wires can also be concealed within your walls. If you opt for the overhead wiring service, electricians will install masts to support the propagation of your wires. To cover these wires up better, people often choose to install string lights over them.
Why Rock Electric
As the number one electrical services provider in King, Pearce, and Snohomish Counties, Rock Electric strives to give its clients the best quality of service at all times. Our team is always ready to do whatever it takes to ensure maximum customer satisfaction.
Rock Electric has a vast variety of options based on your budgetary requirements. All the options are then given to you to choose from. This way, we can give you the most premium service for your outdoor lighting and wiring needs!
Contact Rock Electric now for a quote and beautify your garden or outdoor space!
