7 Landscape Lighting Maintenance Tasks To Keep Your Residence Glowing This Summer (and Winter)

Believe it or not, the Aussie weather does affect your landscape lighting. However with the prevalence of energy efficient LED lighting, frigid temperatures actually play into your lights’ favour promoting true performance and an even longer life.

Outdoor lights are built for the elements, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a little care once or twice a year. To get the most out of your landscape lighting, follow these seven helpful tips.

1. Clean Lenses

Removing hard water deposits from a bulb lens is critical for maximum performance. Simply wipe them with a dry cloth or tissue.

2. Bury Exposed Cables

It’s not uncommon for cables to work their way to the surface and become exposed, especially in high traffic areas, near lighting fixtures or at sites where the weather has been particularly unkind. Making sure everything is back underground will reduce trip hazards around your property.

3. Remove Fallen Leaves

Fallen autumn leaves can end up anywhere and everywhere — especially in outdoor lighting fixtures with recessed bulbs. When leaves pile on, say, a halogen lamp, enough heat is generated from the light source to scorch leaves and possibly create a fire risk.

4. Adjust Lighting Fixtures

Watching a tree grow is a lot like watching grass grow, but much, much slower. That said, trees can still present a sneaky problem to your outdoor lighting by encroaching light fixtures if you’re not paying attention.

That’s why adjust the downlights position or angle in trees once a year. This includes backing the hanger bolts out a couple turns as the tree grows and resecuring any loose wires to the tree’s trunk.

5. Replace Bulb Burnouts

Thanks to the lengthy life cycle of an LED light, bulb replacement isn’t that much of an issue anymore. With LEDs, we are more concerned with their brightness. Are they shining as brightly as they were on the day of the installation? If not it’s time to replace them.

6. Cut Back Plant Growth

Plants fight for space. That’s what they do. And sometimes your landscape lighting gets overtaken by an aggressive plants that cover them.

Cutting back foliage around fixtures will keep your lights unobstructed until next season.

7. Brush Off Lights

While LEDs are known for maintaining a touchably cool temperature, halogen lights are quite the opposite, a light broom is the perfect tool to loosen up and gently brush away the dust accumulation.

Are You Up For A Little Outdoor Lighting Maintenance?

Your landscape lighting is a lot like your car. If you don’t keep up on the basic maintenance needs, you’re setting yourself up for bigger, more expensive problems when you least expect it.