Should you use a landscaper to install landscape lighting?
If you’re looking for the best professional to install landscape lighting on your property, you have a couple of options (or so it seems). Although it would seem that a landscaper would be perfectly capable of installing landscape lighting, having a name in common does not mean that landscapers know what they are doing. Given the technical knowledge necessary to install electrical equipment in your yard, having a landscape lighting technician is the better choice. The following guide will help you to understand why you should go with a landscape lighting specialist rather than a landscaper for your outdoor lighting needs.
What do landscapers do?
Although landscapers and landscape professionals can embrace a range of responsibilities, the general theme is that they are working to shape and maintain the outdoor space to fit client specifications. Landscapers will typically maintain your front and back yard by mowing lawn grass and edging boundaries. They can also weed, clean out beds and apply mulch. Some landscapers can offer more technical design work and will install plants, hardscapes, and paths. Some may even offer more specialized, structural services such as installing ponds or installing gazebos, benches, and even decks. The general theme, though, is that landscapers are typically working with the physical aspects of your backyard to create an enjoyable and functional space for people, plants, and physical objects.
Generally speaking, landscape professionals are not typically trained to do any sort of electrical work, which is central to installing outdoor landscape lighting. Given the potential hazards involved in electrical work, such as short circuits, ground faults, and improperly buried cable that creates a tripping hazard, only qualified, certified landscaping lighting professionals should be installing any outdoor lighting on your property.
How are landscape lighting professionals different?
Landscape lighting professionals are trained to install, maintain and repair outdoor lighting that uses low voltages. Low voltage systems reduce the risks of shock if the cable becomes unburied or cut in any way. In addition to understanding the safety of how to properly install landscape lighting, lighting technicians must be able to properly gauge the electrical load necessary to properly power an outdoor lighting array. Sufficient knowledge is necessary to be able to properly install a transformer that reduces the voltage for the outdoor lighting system, how many lights can be placed on a specific run, how many circuits can be installed, and what types of bulbs work best and would be efficiently powered on a specific circuit. Understanding these elements can allow a lighting technician to avoid some of the many mishaps that can occur with landscape lighting while ensuring that a properly installed outdoor lighting system works well for as long as possible. Given that low voltage lighting is a very niche field with little standardization, CLVLT training and certification provide some assurance that the person installing your outdoor lighting knows what he or she is doing and can install a safe and effective system.
Wondering if Mike’s Landscape Lighting can help you?
As the top outdoor lighting specialists and professionals in the Chicagoland area, we make sure to take care of all aspects of your lighting needs. Outdoor landscape lighting needs to be properly designed so that it will meet your illumination desires while also safely and effectively transmitting electricity so that all circuits function properly and all lights are properly powered. We take care of all wiring needs by installing all necessary transformers and additional circuits in order to accommodate the various outdoor lighting possibilities we can install. Finally, we take care to properly install all aspects of every lighting project, whether it’s downlighting from the eave of your house, burying cable to light a path along an entrance walkway, or properly fixing lights in a pool deck. There’s no project too big or too small for us and no project that doesn’t receive our commitment to safe, quality lighting.
There is a range of possibilities when it comes to outdoor lighting. In addition to the lighting possibilities already mentioned, we offer tree lighting, flag lighting, accent lighting, and security lighting. We even install outdoor audio systems! Making sure to use the proper materials that are properly positioned for optimal performance is one of the many reasons we were a 2021 Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals (AOLP) award winner for lighting design. With our AOLP-certified design team, we make sure that all of our lighting technicians working for us take the time to make sure every detail is right for your lighting installation. Calling Mike’s Landscape Lighting ensures that your outdoor lighting project will be completed professionally.
While it may be tempting to hire a landscaper who says that he or she will be able to take care of your lighting needs for a good deal, there’s not much saved when lighting is properly installed. Landscapers won’t be able to properly wire a transformer and run buried cable underneath your yard, nor will they be able to wire fixtures to your house or to a tree; if anything, they just might cut down the tree! Chances are, you’re looking for lighting to improve the value and appeal of your home, not to make it more dangerous. If you’re looking for an award-winning outdoor lighting design and installation company that can create the outdoor landscape you’ve always dreamed of, please contact the lighting professionals at Mike’s Landscape Lighting. so we can get started on bringing some light to your landscape.