Can You Bury Landscape Lights?

Well-placed lighting can brighten any setting, especially a beautiful and well-thought-out landscape. Landscape lighting is growing in popularity among homeowners for its ability to bring new life to their yards, create ambiance, and protect property, not to mention enhance property value and curb appeal.

But there's one thing that can cause homeowners headaches when installing outdoor lighting -- those ugly wires that hang down and ruin the aesthetics of your lighting design. Indeed, the wiring system required to implement landscape lighting can be an eyesore. Fortunately, there is a way to hide them.

Most landscape wires can be buried in the ground to prevent them from ruining the aesthetics of the lights. However, before you decide to dig up the soil and hide the lighting wires, you need to consider a few factors and determine whether it is suitable for underground burial.

To determine if your wiring systems can be buried underground, you need to determine their rating. Ideally, only direct burial-rated wires are safe to bury, as their thick protective sheaths protect the wiring system from moisture, fungus, and sunlight. They can withstand wet and dry underground environments without the need for additional piping, protection, or sheathing.

Other cables without a jacket, although waterproof, may not be suitable for direct burial. But you can supplement them with trunking or conduit for added protection.

Another thing to consider is the power of landscape lighting. The best solution is to use a transformer to wire up and run your landscape lighting system. You should also choose thicker gauge low-voltage wiring.

10 gauge wire is the thickest option on the market, allowing power to be supplied from greater distances while reducing the risk of voltage drops. On the other hand, 16-gauge fine wire cannot carry current for more than 100 feet.

The thickness of the wire you should choose depends on how many lights you want to install in your landscape. For example, if you are considering 20 LED bulbs, a 12-gauge wire will work. This level of thickness allows the wiring to carry electrical current for distances of up to 300 feet, with each bulb drawing 4 to 8 watts of power.

When burying a landscape lighting system, you will need to dig a trench 6 inches deep in the soil or mulch. You can use a thin, sharp spatula for this, which will create an angled trench more quickly and seal it tighter.

While 6 inches is the safest depth for burying electrical wires, your local authority may have specific regulations stipulating a minimum depth for digging into the ground. Make sure to do your due diligence and contact your local authorities to avoid violating any electrical codes.

Remember that buried wiring systems require extra precautions to prevent them from being pulled out, cut, or damaged by pests and rodents during gardening. You can add protective conduit, preferably metal or plastic, for an extra measure of safety. Also, consider sealing the area where the wire is buried with steel wool, insulating foam, or duct sealer.

Adequate and timely maintenance can also control the quality of underground wires to a great extent. Check your wiring every now and then for any chewing areas, damage from rain or flooding, etc. If you notice any problems, have an electrician check the wiring system. Often, damaged wires need to be replaced.

The above introduces the necessity and precautions of burial landscape lights. If you are looking for landscape lights, please contact us.

TFB Lighting is a professional custom outdoor lighting manufacturer. The company mainly produces all kinds of garden lamps, floor lamps, lawn lamps, wall lamps, underwater lamps, wall lamps, split lights, street lamps, solar energy and landscape lighting, and other products. With various varieties and high quality, it is widely used in decorative lighting in various roads, squares, parks, villas, pedestrian streets, garden communities and other places.