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Walkway lights help illuminate a path, the edge of a flower bed or the boundary of an interesting garden feature. Whether you want to use them to light up your front sidewalk or to surround a garden sculpture that’s several yards away from the nearest power source, walkway lights are adaptable and relatively easy to install and use. You can choose between low-voltage and solar models.
Low-Voltage Walkway Lighting
Low-voltage lights come in kits that contain the necessary transformer, and they can also be purchased separately. If you have a fairly small walkway or area that you want to light then a kit should be sufficient. But if you need to light a long path, you’ll probably need more than one kit or you’ll want to purchase your lights and the proper sized transformer separately to be sure you have everything you’ll need.
You can usually choose between 20 or 30 watt bulbs, so you can choose a softer glow or a slightly brighter pathway. Most people choose 20 watt bulbs. If you’re purchasing your elements separately, choose 12 gauge wire for a small job and 10 gauge if you intend to have a long string of lights. Determine your pathway length in feet and divide that by 5 to get the number of lights you need, as they’re generally spaced 5 feet apart. Then multiply that number by 20, which is the number of watts of each bulb, to get the total wattage you need for that string of lights. Purchase a transformer that can handle that number of watts, but be sure to purchase one that can handle more than you need if you have a long path to light. This will keep the lights on the end from appearing dimmer than the rest.
If you’ve never installed low-voltage lighting before, whether as a walkway light or any other type of light, then a kit is your best bet because full installation instructions are included and you won’t have to figure out which type of wire or transformer to purchase.
The benefits of choosing this type of lighting over solar-powered is that if you want the lights to remain on all night, they’ll glow with the same intensity from dusk until dawn. Solar lights will fade as the charge fades, so if they didn’t get much sun that day, they’re not going to glow very long after dark and you could end up with a very dim path.
Solar Walkway Lights
Solar lights are a great choice if you want to avoid the slightly more complicated installation that low-voltage lamps require. Solar lights are typically just pushed into the ground and they’re ready to go. You need to make sure they’re in full sun for at least a few hours each day to have an hour or two of illumination after dark. The more hours in the sun, the longer they’ll glow at night.
These are a great choice if you’re trying light up an area that’s not close to an electric outlet but gets some sunlight each day. You can light the perimeter of your yard or an interesting garden feature that might be too far from your home for lights that require electricity. Another great benefit of solar path lighting is that it’s easily changed out for something else. You can remove them and use Christmas walkway lights over the holidays and change back to your standard lighting in just minutes because you simply push them into place and go. They last for years, but if one should break or become damaged it’s easy to replace. These are a great choice for people who don’t mind paying a little bit more initially and who don’t want to have to connect wires and worry about an electric hook-up. But if your walkway is along the side of your house and you do have access to electricity, you may also consider outdoor gooseneck lights attached to your house or on light-posts for a more rustic feel.
Whichever way your decide to go, always keep safety first when installing lighting of any type. Be sure all wiring is unexposed and all your wiring connections are secure and there a no trip hazards. And always be sure that all outside lighting is on an electrical source protected with a ground fault interrupter or GFIC for short.
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