Quick Tips for Troubleshooting your landscape lighting system:

If you have a 12 volt light system you have probably had this scenario happen. You notice one night a light has gone out. It’s just one light so you don’t think much of it. A couple nights later you notice another has gone out and you think, okay I’d better get those changed.

The next night you go out and change the two you noticed were out before and sure enough, everything is nice a bright again. Until a  couple of nights go by and a few more start to burn out. Annoying…..

So here’s what going on. You now have what I like to call the domino effect. When one goes down it triggers a response  from the other lights on the line. That is the non-technical version.

What is actually happening is the the voltage used at the burnout spot is no longer being used so it travels down the line. When it hits the next bulb on the line it increases that bulbs’ voltage. When a bulb operates over 12 volts it will begin to burn at a higher rate (shortening the bulbs’ life).

What to do? First you want to use good quality bulbs, have a regular maintenance program in place (like you change the oil in your car), and pay attention to your lighting so you are able to notice when something has gone out.

My favorite suggestion is for you to consider changing your system to L.E.D. landscape lighting. LED landscape lighting fixtures do not use bulbs and run up to 50,000 hours ( 10-20 years based on how many hours per night you run your system).  Visit other posts to learn more about LED lighting and the many benefits it offers.

Tags: landscape lighting troubleshooting, led landscape lighting, low voltage lighting, maintaining your landscape lighting system