Splurging on high-quality materials will keep your landscape lighting burning bright.
The purpose of landscape lighting goes far beyond looks. Homeowners install it for security purposes to discourage potential thieves from lurking in the shadows. They also use it for safety, such as illuminating steps that become practically hidden at night.
Of course, well-designed outdoor lighting is also beautiful, and when installed in something as utilitarian as a retaining wall, it can create a work of art. But there are a few things to keep in mind when choosing landscape lighting, especially when buying a landscape lighting kit.
“Most lighting kits have low-quality components,” says David Beausoleil, president of CAST Lighting in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Beausoleil developed the CAST Method of Landscape Lighting Installation 12 years ago as a means to ensure that lighting installation would never fail because of corroded electrical components.
The method, which Beausoleil teaches at Rutgers University and in the CAST Lighting Hands-On Seminars, uses solid bronze lighting fixtures and tin-coated marine-grade wire.
Bronze is Best for Outdoor Landscaping Lighting
Bronze is an alloy that contains copper, tin and zinc. The mixture developed in, you guessed it, the Bronze Age is impervious to corrosion and explains by bronze artifacts date from as early as 3500 B.C.
While brass is also an alloy of copper and is often used in lighting fixtures, it contains more zinc and as a result suffers from dezincification, a process in which zinc is leached from the metal when it is exposed to heat and humidity.
Fixtures made of brass become brittle and eventually crack as they age. However, brass is typically used in outdoor fixtures because the melting temperature is lower than bronze. As a result it’s easier to cast for mass production. Bronze must be cast in sand, which is a more difficult process. (CAST creates a new sand mold for each fixture.)
In the end, bronze is worth it not only because of its longevity, but also for its lovely patina that develops over time.
Tin-Coated Wire Endures for Yard Lighting
While copper is an excellent conductor of electricity and therefore a perfect material for indoor wiring, it oxidizes when exposed to humidity in an outdoor environment. Eventually, this oxidization can completely devastate a landscape lighting system.
Using a marine-grade wiring standard can prevent this from happening. CAST uses tin-coated No-Ox wire, which is copper wiring with a tin coat. The tin will also oxidize, but tin oxides are much better conductors of electricity than copper oxides.
Furthermore, the tin coating must fully oxidize before it can begin to penetrate the copper wiring underneath. In the end, using bronze fixtures and tin-coated wire is an excellent way to make sure your yard lighting keeps burning bright.
