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A new outdoor lighting installation can elevated the curb appeal of your home for a relatively small investment. The best aspects of your property can be featured using low voltage lighting, all while improving the safety and security around your home. However, not all systems are designed and installed equally. As a lighting contractor who does a lot of repairs on existing low voltage lighting, I see the same installation mistakes quite often. Let's cover some of the pitfalls I can help you avoid by having me install your new landscape lighting.
When installed with the future in mind, outdoor lighting systems can last you decades without costing much to maintain long-term. However, some common mistakes often made by inexperienced installers can turn into costly repairs just a few years down the road.
Here are the most common mistakes I see on existing outdoor lighting installations.
1. Using The Same Bulbs For Everything
To get the most out of your new low voltage landscape lighting fixtures, thoughtful design is key. Most installers use a one-size-fits-all approach to bulb selection, which ultimately means some features don't get nearly enough light, while other features get far too much light. The end result is an unbalanced look, "hot spots" on trunks of trees, insufficient lighting of tree canopies, and areas that look too dark compared to others.
That's why every outdoor lighting installation estimate I provide specifies the precise bulbs I will be using. Ranging from 3 watts to 7 watts, and from 20º beam-angles to 60º, the bulbs I select are carefully considered on all of my installations. Sufficiently lighting the broad fronds of a Canary Island date palm demands a far different bulb than creating a silhouetting effect on a wall by lighting a small statue.
My aim is creating a perfectly balanced lighting scene that maximizes the full potential of each and every light fixture. This means you'll enjoy more aesthetically pleasing lighting for your money, starting on the very first night.
2. Selecting Low-Quality Fixture Materials That Deteriorate Quickly
Arizona’s climate is absolutely brutal on outdoor lighting fixtures. Extreme heat, intense sun exposure, dust, and monsoon moisture can quickly break down lower-quality materials such as composites and inexpensive metals. I've literally had some lights crumble in my hands when replacing them.
That’s why I only install landscape light fixtures that are made from premium-grade materials, both inside and out. The fixture housings are made to withstand the heat, internal wiring is made to last, and sockets don't degrade with age.
Sure, some lighting installation may have a low price, but that's because these critical details are being glossed over by companies looking to make a quick buck and disappear. These often hard to discern details, when carefully considered, can wind up saving you thousands of dollars in future service calls and fixture replacements.
3. Using Cheap LED Bulbs That Can't Take The Heat
LED bulbs deliver vastly better energy efficiency and longer lifespans than incandescent bulbs. Beware, though, because not all LEDs are created equal—especially when it comes to dealing with the intense Arizona heat on a daily basis.
Those cheap LED bulbs on Amazon commonly fail at a rapid rate when placed inside metal fixtures that get scorching-hot in the sunlight. This is because all LED light bulbs have tiny circuit boards inside of them. These internal electronics are barely noticeable to the naked eye, making it easy for low-cost bulb producers to hide inferior components. On the outside, it might look like the same LED bulb, but it's what's on the inside that counts. When this cheap circuitry fails, the bulbs start to flicker, become progressively dimmer with time, or completely burn out far more quickly than their advertised lifespan.
My decades of experience doing both installs and repairs has educated me on which LED brands and models handle the heat long-term, and which fail fast. This is why all installations by Phoenix Lighting Repair LLC use only high-quality low voltage LED bulbs that boast a minimum 3-year warranty, with some offering lifetime warranty coverage.
Selecting quality LEDs from day one means you'll not only enjoy a higher quality of light output, but less hassle and expense due to frequent replacements over the life of your Phoenix home.
4. Low-Quality Wire Connectors And Connection Methods
Outdoor lighting installation isn't as simple as it seems at first-glance. Some fixtures, such as ones from Amazon or Lowes, come with a "bite engagement" style of wire connector. These pierce the power supply wires using plastic connectors that clip onto one another to everything in place. With time, these always fail, either from corrosion of the metal prongs or degradation of the plastic clips. The result is lights that work sometimes and not others, or multiple lights all being out at the same time.
When it comes to higher-quality installations, I still see a couple of key wire connection mistakes being made when I'm doing repairs on systems I didn't install. One is using wire connectors (wire nuts) that don't have silicone built into them. When there's no silicone inside, corrosion starts to form, causing a loss of power.
The second mistake I see often is installers that simply don't tighten the wire connectors sufficiently. Countless times, I've found bare wires shorting out on one another while silicone-filled wire nuts are scattered in the landscaping. To be fair, the silicone does make it difficult to fully tighten these connectors sometimes...but it's simply unacceptable to leave loose connections in the ground.
Both of the above mistakes are the leading causes for the lighting repair work I do on systems I didn't install. On average, that repair costs about $250 between parts and labor. And that's just finding and repairing one bad connection. If you have 20 lights, that's at least 40 connections across the entire system. Doing a little math can illustrate just how expensive a low-quality installation can be over time.
5. No Wire Labeling Or Final Amp Load Recording In Transformer Enclosures
One of my biggest peeves when working on outdoor lighting installed by other companies is the lack of wire labeling and recording of final load readings inside the transformer enclosure. It might seem like a trivial detail for electrical nerds like me, but for homeowners, it can add up to hundreds in additional repair labor costs.
The reason these things matter is if a wiring issue arises (usually because of a bad wire connection), there's no reference for what the correct load on a run of wire is. So, when I take a reading and see 9 amps of load on a single run, I have no idea if that's due to a wire short or just a bunch of lights working properly. If proper documentation is in place, I could easily know which runs of wire power which fixtures, and what the load levels are supposed to be, saving me hours of troubleshooting time.
Choose Phoenix Lighting Repair LLC For An Outdoor Lighting Installation That Lasts
Outdoor lighting installations can last years with little to zero maintenance costs...but only when done right. Avoiding the above 5 common mistakes made by other companies can give you years of trouble-free lighting. That's why choosing Phoenix Lighting Repair LLC for your low voltage lighting is the smartest investment.
You'll get:
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A custom-tailored design that's unique to the features of your property
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Professional-grade fixture materials that handle the Phoenix heat year after year
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The highest-quality LED bulbs, selected for both their aesthetic qualities and longevity
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Secure wire connections using silicone-filled connectors, made by someone with 20 years of experience
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Properly documented final amp load readings and wire labeling on multi-tap transformer enclosures
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An obsession with getting the smallest detail right, from wire connections to bulb selections
Are you ready to transform your property with outdoor lighting installed to last? Call or text me (Justin) at (480) 604-3528 for a free quote today!
Phoenix Lighting Repair LLC — The smart choice for outdoor lighting installations in the Phoenix area.