How to wire outdoor lighting
| Outdoor lighting can serve a real functional purpose and add ambiance to your property. If you are about to start a new project or update your existing lighting you may want to add new lights and wiring and may be wondering how to wire outdoor lighting. There are a few things that you may want to know. |
How to wire outdoor lighting
- Safety First
First things first, before you get your project started you may want to keep in mind that
you should have some basic wiring experience if you are considering wiring your own outdoor
lights. Since electricity is dangerous you shouldn’t consider doing this alone if you have no
previous experience to safely complete the wiring. Also, even if you have some previous
experience you would still need to figure out where your gas,electric and any other utility lines
are before you begin. With that being said, you may decide that you need the help of a
professional to get this done safely and complete all the necessary steps prior to starting the
project such as permits and etc that may be needed depending on your area and scope of your
project. - Plan Your Wiring Route
Starting your project you would want to plan the route of your wiring that will be installed,
this is very important and some may even say a tedious step because of the utility lines. You
may want to use spray paint or use markers of some sort to map the route where the wiring will
run from your home to the light box and make sure that you won’t overload the circuit. - Trenching
You will need to dig a trench along your planned route before you can install the requisite conduit. When digging you can use a spade shovel or rent a trencher from a local tool store.
The depth of the trench is recommended to be 18 inches. The width should be 6-9 inches to ease any installation issues by giving you enough room to work within the trench.
Then run cantex gray conduit through the trench. If you have any
walkways you would need to use cantex gray conduit. Then install the light box and run the
cable to your outlet box, from there your lighting will be ready for installation. Be sure that you
follow the steps from the manufacturer that you choose because connecting and installing the
lights can vary from one fixture to another. - Laying Conduit
All LV lighting wires should be housed within a cantex conduit. This protects the wires and the surrounding environment. It also drastically increases the longevity of the install and decreases the likelihood of frequent repairs. If you have any walkways you would need to use cantex gray conduit.
You’ll need to measure and cut your conduit to fit the path of the wiring. It can be cut with a hand saw and different shaped pieces for turns and angles are available from your local hardware store. - Installing the Lightbox
Remember to check that the power supply to the wiring is off. The danger by working with electricity cannot be understated. While much of the manual work of planning and digging can be performed yourself, working with the wiring and the lightbox would be best left to a professional.
Installing the lightbox consists of two processes; mounting the box itself, and connecting the wires. Before attempting either of these steps you should consult the manual of your lightbox. It will guide you through this step with more precision than we can offer here.
