Outdoor Lighting Installation in Central Ohio Landscapes

I’ve been installing and maintaining landscape lighting across Pickaway, Franklin, and Fairfield counties for more than ten years, and June is when these projects move from “wouldn’t it be nice” to actual budget conversations. The days are long, people are spending evenings on the patio, and the realization hits that everything they paid to plant disappears at 9 p.m. when the sun drops. Good news: low-voltage LED landscape lighting is one of the highest-return landscape investments you can make for the dollar, and the technology has gotten genuinely good in the last five years.

Here’s how I plan and price a typical residential lighting install, and what I want clients to understand before they sign a quote.

What is low-voltage LED landscape lighting and why is it the standard now?

Low-voltage LED lighting runs on 12 volts stepped down from your home’s 120-volt service through a transformer. The fixtures pull a fraction of the wattage of old halogen systems, the LEDs themselves last 30,000-50,000 hours, and the low-voltage cable is safe enough that homeowners can dig and rebury it without needing an electrician for every fixture move.

Five years ago, LED color quality was inconsistent. The early bulbs ran cold and bluish, especially the cheaper imports, and washed out plant material in ways that looked clinical. That’s a solved problem now. The 2700K-3000K warm-white LEDs I install today render greens, browns, and warm stone tones accurately and look closer to candlelight than to a parking lot.

On a Columbus property I retrofitted last fall, the homeowner had a halogen system from 2014 that was running about 280 watts across 14 fixtures and burning bulbs every few months. We swapped to LED fixtures at the same 14 locations, pulled total load down to roughly 38 watts, and added two additional uplights without re-pulling cable. Same coverage, an eighth of the electricity, and we haven’t replaced a lamp since.

What’s the difference between path lights, uplighting, and wash lighting?

Path lights, uplights, and wash lights solve different problems, and most well-designed systems use all three together.

Path lighting is the short fixture, usually 14-22 inches tall, that lines walkways and bed edges. The purpose is functional: safe footing in the dark. Good path lighting throws a soft cone downward onto the path surface without glare back into the eyes of someone walking it. I space path fixtures about 8-12 feet apart on residential walks, alternating sides for visual rhythm.

Uplighting is the in-ground or low-profile fixture aimed up into a tree, shrub, or architectural feature. This is where landscape lighting earns its money visually. An uplit river birch or sugar maple from the street view at night is what makes a property look intentional and finished. I run two to three uplights per significant specimen tree, positioned to bring out trunk texture and canopy shape, not just to flood the leaves.

Wash lighting is broader, lower-intensity light that pulls a whole bed or facade out of the dark. Stone foundations, brick chimneys, and large shrub masses respond well to wash lighting. The fixture is usually mounted in-ground or on the structure itself, aimed across the surface at a shallow angle.

On a Lancaster property we lit last August, the owner originally wanted only path lights along the front walk. We talked through it and ended up with five path lights, three uplights on a mature maple, and two wash lights on the stone facade. The result transformed the front of the house at night. The path lights alone would have looked like an airport runway.

How do I size the transformer?

Transformer sizing is where DIY installs most often go wrong. The transformer’s watt rating needs to exceed total fixture load by at least 20-25 percent to leave room for cable losses and future fixture additions.

Add up the wattage of every fixture. For a system running 12 LED fixtures at 4-7 watts each, you’re looking at roughly 60-90 watts of fixture load. A 150-watt transformer is the right call for that system. Undersized transformers run hot, fail early, and cause noticeable dimming on the fixtures furthest from the unit.

Cable run length also matters. Long runs over 100 feet on a single home-run cable will drop voltage at the far end, and even an oversized transformer can’t fix that. The fix is hub-and-spoke wiring with multiple shorter runs from a central junction, or stepping up to 14-gauge or 12-gauge cable for the long pulls. I run 12-gauge on every install regardless of run length. The cable cost is trivial relative to the labor of replacing it.

Should I use a timer or a photocell?

Both, in most cases. A photocell turns the system on at dusk and off at dawn, which is the simple set-and-forget approach. A timer can do dusk-on / midnight-off, which is what most of my clients actually want once they realize they’re not awake to see the lights running at 3 a.m.

The transformers I install have both built in: photocell for the on time, astronomical timer for the off time. Dusk-on / 11 p.m.-off is the most common setting I program. The lights are on when people are awake to enjoy them, off through the deep night, and the electricity bill reflects that. With LED loads under 100 watts total, a full dusk-to-dawn schedule still costs only a few dollars a month, so the timer is more about life cycle and light pollution than electricity.

OSU Extension publishes energy efficiency guidance for residential outdoor lighting that aligns with this: lower wattage, warmer color temperature, and time-limited operation reduce both energy use and light trespass onto neighboring properties. Worth following even if your electric bill isn’t the main driver.

What does outdoor lighting installation cost in Central Ohio?

Residential landscape lighting installs in our market generally run in three tiers based on scope and quality.

Entry-level DIY-grade systems from the big-box stores can be installed for $300-600 in materials, with the homeowner doing the work. These systems usually use plastic fixtures, stamped-aluminum stakes, and lower-quality transformers, and they typically need significant repair within 3-5 years. They work, just not for long.

Mid-tier professional installs with brass or cast-aluminum fixtures, a quality transformer, 12-gauge cable, and a proper design generally run $1,800-3,500 for an average front-yard system of 10-15 fixtures. This is the sweet spot for most residential clients and where Lawn Harmony installs most of our work. Components last 10-15 years, the LEDs last most of a quarter-century, and warranty support is real.

High-end installs with extensive uplighting, hardscape integration, downlighting from trees, and color-tunable fixtures can run $5,000-12,000 or more on larger properties. We do these less often, usually on commercial or estate-style residential, but the visual result is on a different level.

On a Pickerington property I quoted in May, the homeowner had a $700 DIY estimate from her own materials list and our $2,400 professional install quote. She went with us, and what she got beyond the brass fixtures and the actual design work was 25-year LED life, a 10-year fixture warranty, and a system she will never touch herself. The DIY system would have been pulled out and replaced inside a decade.

Common Central Ohio landscape lighting mistakes I see

• Aiming uplights so the source is visible from common sight lines (glare)
• Spacing path lights too far apart and getting dark gaps between fixtures
• Skipping the transformer-load calculation and undersizing the unit
• Using kit-grade plastic fixtures in beds where mowers and string trimmers reach
• Running cable on the surface without burying it 4-6 inches
• Lighting everything at the same intensity (no visual hierarchy)
• Forgetting to plan for plant growth (an uplight on a 4-foot boxwood becomes wrong when the boxwood is 8 feet)

The hierarchy one matters. Good landscape lighting has bright accent points, mid-range fills, and darker negative space. A system where every fixture is the same brightness reads flat and tired at night.

Quick outdoor lighting checklist

• Design with path, uplight, and wash combinations
• Use warm-white 2700-3000K LEDs only
• Specify brass or cast-aluminum fixtures for longevity
• Size the transformer at 20-25 percent above total load
• Run 12-gauge cable, hub-and-spoke if needed
• Program dusk-on / 11 p.m.-off with photocell and timer
• Bury cable 4-6 inches, mark with flags during install

Want a written quote?

If you’ve been looking at the front of the house at 9 p.m. and wondering where everything went, Lawn Harmony Landscaping designs and installs low-voltage LED landscape lighting across Pickaway, Franklin, Fairfield, Ross, and Fayette counties. We’re locally owned and operated, licensed and insured, with a 5.0-star Google rating.

Call 614-425-9789 or email Lawnharmonyohio@gmail.com for a free written quote. You can also request a fast residential estimate at free quote.

Service area: Circleville, Columbus, Grove City, Bexley, Upper Arlington, Pickerington, Canal Winchester, Groveport, Lancaster, Baltimore, Chillicothe, Washington Court House, and Jeffersonville.

Related services: mulch install, hedge trimming, and lawn mowing to keep the property looking sharp by day as well as by night.