Outdoor lighting does three jobs at once: it adds beauty, it provides safety, and it improves security. The best landscape lighting installations accomplish all three without the homeowner ever having to think about them. The lights come on at dusk, illuminate the path to the door, accent the architecture and the garden, and switch off automatically as the sun rises. They use a fraction of the energy of older incandescent systems and require almost no maintenance for years.
The wrong lighting installation produces glare, light trespass into neighboring property, harsh shadows, premature fixture failure, and electrical hazards from improper splice connections in wet locations. Outdoor lighting is one of those projects where the difference between good and bad work is enormous, and the price difference is usually small. This page covers the major categories of outdoor lighting, what proper installation requires, and what you should expect to pay on the Eastside in 2026.
Low-Voltage Versus Line-Voltage Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor lighting divides cleanly into two categories with different installation requirements, different cost profiles, and different best applications. Most projects use both.
Low-voltage 12V landscape lighting
Low-voltage systems run on 12V DC power supplied by a transformer plugged into or hardwired from a 120V GFCI outlet. The wiring between transformer and fixtures is direct-burial cable, typically 12 or 10 AWG, run on the surface or shallow-buried. Splice connections use weather-rated waterproof connectors, and individual fixtures can be added or removed without trenching the entire run.
Low-voltage is the right answer for path lighting, garden accent lighting, tree uplighting, downlight wash on building features, and any decorative landscape installation. The total available wattage per transformer is limited (typically 150W to 900W), which sets the project scope per transformer; large properties use multiple transformer zones.
Line-voltage 120V outdoor lighting
Line-voltage systems are wired identically to indoor lighting — Romex through walls, conduit through exterior runs, dedicated breakers, GFCI protection. Fixtures are designed for outdoor environments (wet-location-rated, often with sealed gaskets), and splices live inside weatherproof junction boxes rated for damp or wet locations.
Line-voltage is the right answer for security flood lighting (motion-sensor halogen or LED), wall sconces flanking entry doors and garages, post lights on driveway entrances, deck lighting integrated with the building structure, and high-output downlights for large patios. Line-voltage produces more lumens per fixture and supports larger projects without transformer limits.
The standard you should expect
Every fixture sits level and aimed correctly. Cable runs follow garden edges and disappear under mulch or shallow burial; you should not see exposed wire anywhere visible. The transformer mounts on the exterior wall with a clear label identifying the zones it serves and the timer schedule it runs. Every splice in a low-voltage system uses a sealed waterproof connector, not a wire nut wrapped in electrical tape. Every line-voltage outdoor splice lives inside a wet-location junction box with a gasketed cover. Photocells and timers operate reliably across the seasonal sunrise-and-sunset shift. The system pays for itself in curb appeal and safety the first time you arrive home after dark.
Landscape Lighting Categories
A well-designed landscape lighting installation combines several fixture types serving different functions. Most installations include at least three of the following.
- Path lights. Low fixtures along walkways, garden edges, and the perimeter of patios. Light downward to mark the path without creating glare. Typically 2 to 4 watts each in LED.
- Uplights. Ground-mounted fixtures aimed upward at trees, columns, or architectural features. The single most impactful fixture type for evening landscape character. 4 to 12 watts LED depending on feature height.
- Downlights and wash lights. Mounted in trees or on the building, aimed downward to wash light across a large area. Provides general ambient light without point sources visible from a normal sight line.
- In-ground markers and step lights. Recessed fixtures in pavers, deck steps, or hardscape. Highlight the path edge or stair tread.
- Accent lights. Adjustable spot fixtures used to highlight specific garden features, water features, or sculptural elements.
- Underwater lights. For ponds, fountains, and decorative water features. Special low-voltage installation with bonded grounding.
Security and Safety Lighting
Security lighting is functionally distinct from landscape lighting. Where landscape lighting is decorative and ambient, security lighting is functional, motion-triggered, and high-output. The principles are different and the design considerations are different.
- Motion-sensor floodlights. Mounted at the garage gables and along the perimeter of the house. Triggered by passive infrared sensors. Modern LED versions throw 4,000 to 7,500 lumens with adjustable sensor range and time-on settings.
- Dusk-to-dawn perimeter lighting. Sconces and post lights that run from sunset to sunrise. Photocell controlled. Provides baseline visibility around the house without motion triggering.
- Smart-controlled security lighting. Tied into the smart home platform for scheduled or scene-based control. Can be set to brighten automatically on motion, integrate with security cameras, or follow a vacation schedule that mimics occupancy.
- Driveway and gate lighting. Post lights flanking the driveway entrance, especially important on long driveways and in dark-sky neighborhoods where the entrance is hard to see from the road.
Smart Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor lighting integrates with smart home platforms the same way interior lighting does. The control point can be the transformer, the wall switch inside the house, or the smart fixtures themselves.
Philips Hue offers a strong outdoor product line — Hue Lily uplights, Hue Calla path lights, and Hue Outdoor Strip — all controlled through the Hue Bridge and integrated with every major platform. LIFX outdoor floodlights and bulbs operate over WiFi with no hub required. Govee offers a budget option with broad fixture selection. For lower-glamour installations, the simplest smart approach is to put a Lutron Caseta or Leviton Decora Smart switch on the indoor circuit feeding the transformer, which gives platform-controlled on/off and scheduling without paying the premium for smart fixtures.
Dedicated GFCI Outdoor Circuits
NEC 210.8 requires ground-fault circuit interrupter protection on all 15A and 20A 125V outdoor receptacles, and most jurisdictions extend this to outdoor lighting circuits. We install dedicated GFCI-protected outdoor circuits as part of every significant outdoor lighting project so the lighting load does not compete with patio receptacle loads on the same breaker.
A typical dedicated outdoor circuit includes a new 20A breaker in the panel, conduit run to the outdoor location, a weather-resistant in-use cover GFCI receptacle, and a hardwired connection to the transformer for low-voltage systems. The receptacle is sized to allow other outdoor uses (string lights, holiday lighting, patio pumps) without interfering with the landscape lighting transformer.
Wet-Location Wiring Standards
Every electrical splice and junction in an outdoor system must accommodate the wet environment. The two failure modes — water entering a connection and corroding it, or water entering and creating a fault to ground — are both addressed by proper splice methodology.
- Low-voltage splices. Silicone-filled or grease-filled waterproof connectors rated for direct burial. No wire nuts inside electrical tape, ever.
- Line-voltage splices. Inside weatherproof junction boxes (PVC or metal, rated for damp or wet location), with gasketed covers and proper conduit termination.
- Direct-burial cable. UF-rated cable for line-voltage where conduit is impractical. Buried at code-required depth (typically 12 inches under driveways, 18 inches in other locations).
- Exposed conduit transitions. Where conduit emerges above grade, use PVC schedule 80 (not schedule 40) or rigid metal conduit to provide physical damage protection.
What Outdoor Lighting Costs on the Eastside
Project pricing scales with fixture count, the complexity of wiring runs, the number of transformer zones, and the integration scope. The ranges below cover typical Eastside residential conditions.
| Project scope | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Dedicated outdoor GFCI circuit installation | $650 – $1,400 |
| Starter landscape package (8-12 fixtures, one transformer, timer) | $1,800 – $3,500 |
| Mid-sized landscape package (15-25 fixtures, uplights and washes) | $3,500 – $6,500 |
| Full property design (30+ fixtures, multiple zones, smart control) | $6,500 – $14,000 |
| Security lighting package (4-6 motion floodlights, dedicated circuits) | $1,400 – $3,200 |
Pricing assumes existing 120V power within reasonable reach of the transformer or fixture locations. New dedicated GFCI circuits add to the project total. Projects involving long trenching runs across hardscape, multiple transformer zones, or full smart-home integration with custom scenes are quoted individually.
Design Considerations
Good outdoor lighting design follows a few principles that distinguish a professional installation from a hardware-store DIY kit.
- Layer the light. Combine three or four fixture types at three or four heights: low path lights, mid-height accent fixtures, high uplights into trees, and downlights from building features. Layered light produces depth; single-source light produces flatness.
- Shield the light source. Aim fixtures so the lamp itself is not visible from common sight lines. Glare destroys the effect of every other design decision.
- Color temperature. 2700K to 3000K warm white is standard for residential landscape. Cooler color temperatures (4000K+) look industrial and harsh on most home exteriors.
- Respect neighbors. Aim fixtures so light spills onto your property, not theirs. Use shielding, glare guards, or proper fixture orientation.
- Plan for dusk-to-dawn vs scheduled operation. Some homeowners want lights running all night; others prefer a midnight cutoff to reduce light pollution and save energy. Both are easily configured through the timer or smart-controlled transformer.
Get an Outdoor Lighting Quote
Call our 24/7 dispatch line at 425-900-3610 to schedule a free in-home outdoor lighting consultation, or send your project details through the contact form. We walk the property with you at the site visit, sketch out a fixture plan, and provide a written flat-rate quote within 48 hours. For larger installations, we offer an evening walkthrough to demonstrate fixture placement before committing to the final plan.