Landscape lighting

[Jsf721]

Currently using solar lights. They all **** to varying degrees. Own and have owned expensive and super cheap lights over the years.

I’m going to have an electrician run lights.

So I’m going to run the disk to dawn so I’m interested in lights that operate economically. I want to up light some trees and mark the drive way entrance.

What is the good the bad and the ugly about what’s available.

Thanks !

 

[nadogail]

I have not bought new lights for years, but Malibu was the best ones I knew at the time.

 

[dave*99]

I had Malibu. It's was plastic and not great.
Kichler makes some better metal stuff. But you won't find it at the big box store.
Build.com, Lightingdirect.com, electric supply, Amazon etc.

 

[kj_mustang]

You can spend a whole lot on some brands. I have 2 sets of the below linked lights that I have been using everyday on a dusk to 5 hour runtime timer for the last 2 years. They work great and no failures yet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RC454NC/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Jsf721]

anyone hear of siteone.com landscape super store?

Protrade seems to be their house brand- anyone have any experience?

 

[Quick240]

I've used landscape lights (LED) and transformers from https://www.voltlighting.com/and been very happy with them. All their stuff has a lifetime warranty, even the bulbs.

 

[starquestMM]

Does anyone have a dimmable system? There are some transformers available that dim, just curious what the issues were?

 

[Jinks]

I've been using Portfolio from Lowe's & H.D. for years. I got over the solar, & bought Portfolio LED. No electrician needed, it was all DIY. In probably 5 to 8 years I've had one light fail, but 2 or 3 destroyed by careless service people. They're easy to replace. The transformers mount outside, are weather proof, & include several settings including dusk to dawn.

 

[mrVanagon]

I have a small business selling, installing, fixing landscape lighting systems on mostly residential properties. The company that owns VOLT Lighting is my primary supplier. If you're going to go to the trouble to install a system, I recommend VOLT products. Their transformers, fixtures, and lamps are good quality and, as mentioned above, they have a lifetime warranty. Pro-tip: when you make connections, twist the wires together and use a wire nut with some white lithium grease squirted into it ahead of time. Normally no need for special connectors or even the silicone grease that comes with some fixtures. We bury a ton of splices this way and virtually never have an issue and lithium is easier to wipe of hands and tools than silicone.

Oh, and we almost never use integrated LED fixtures in favor of fixtures with replaceable LED bulbs. This lets me spec specific color temp, beam angle, and brightness while only having a handful of fixture SKUs on-hand.

 

[mrVanagon]

Does anyone have a dimmable system? There are some transformers available that dim, just curious what the issues were?

VOLT Lighting and a few of the other pro suppliers have dimmable options. On very high-end stuff they use a smart transformer and addressable fixtures and the brightness and color of each fixture can be changed individually by the transformer and the software that runs it.

I don't use dimmable options in favor of just getting a lamp that is the right brightness for the application. In my experience, if I leave the customer with a programmable fixture I will probably have to come back to reprogram the fixture in the future.

 

[infinkc]

I installed a Ring low voltage transformer in my front yard. It powers all my lights. I have to setup in the app to turn on at dusk and off at night. Bought a spool of the low voltage wire off Amazon also.