Outdoor Lighting of Colorado's Blog

After a long hard winter this year in many parts of the country, many homeowners are only now beginning their spring yard clean up. That work may include raking up leaves and fallen tree branches, trimming dead tree branches, re-seeding the lawn, and removing general dirt and  grime that accumulated during the winter. When it comes to wintertime dirt and grunge, the source of this mess is truly global. I’ve read that the prevailing winds have carried sand from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and ash from forest fires in California to Colorado; and that Colorado returned the favor by sending its soot and ash from the forest fires last year to Iceland where it is now blackening the glaciers.

However, in the midst of all this outdoor spring cleaning, many homeowners overlook the need to clean and service their landscape lighting systems as well. Whether these homeowners elect to do this maintenance themselves or hire a professional lighting contractor to do it, a comprehensive servicing of the landscape lighting system should be done at least annually. The following checklist provides the required tasks to keep your lighting system looking as good as the day it was first installed:

• Clean all fixtures and lens covers
• Replace all halogen bulbs with new ones to provide maximum illumination; for LED systems, replace only those LEDs that have failed during the winter
• Re-anchor and straighten all fixtures as needed
• Cover any exposed wiring
• Check transformer and all connections
• Check and reset/reprogram timer or control system as required
• Trim or lightly prune plants and bushes as required
• Selectively relocate fixtures due to changes and/or overgrowth of landscaping

Your low voltage landscape lighting system performs nightly and is subjected to every environmental extreme that mother nature can throw at it. The good news is that it can and will provide you years and years of service as long as it receives regular and routine maintenance.

Filed under: Architectural Lighting, Landscape Lighting, LEDs, Lighting Control Automation, Maintenance and Service, Residential Lighting | Tagged: annual maintenance for outdoor lighting, landscape lighting system maintenance, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Colorado, regular relamping of landscape lighting systems, spring yard cleanup checklist |