What drives landscape lighting cost? A straight answer.
Eco Scapes·Published ·Updated
The short answer
There’s no honest number until someone has walked your yard. Five things decide it: how many fixtures, what they’re made of, the transformer, how far the cable runs and the design behind it. Call us, and we’ll walk it with you and put the price in a free written quote.
What moves the price up or down?
Five things, and you can point to each one in your yard.
Tap a pin to see how each part shapes the quote.
Fixture count
The biggest lever. Each light is a fixture, a lamp, a connection and its share of cable. The plan decides the count: which trees, which wall, which stretch of path, and what stays dark.
Fixture quality
Aluminum fixtures cost less up front. Solid brass costs more and holds up for years against sun, sprinkler spray and wet soil. The written quote names the fixture, so you know what you’re paying for.
The transformer
Every low-voltage system runs from one, and a bigger one costs more. Sized with room to spare, it lets you add lights later without replacing it. More on sizing a transformer.
Cable runs
A run to the back fence costs more than a short one beside the walk, and a far corner sometimes needs its own run so the last light isn’t dim. Crossing a patio or a stone path takes conduit instead of a simple trench.
Design
The plan behind the price: each light’s job, where it points and how bright it runs, settled before anything is bought. With us it comes with the free quote. See lighting assessment & design.
What should a written lighting quote include?
Enough to compare line by line: the fixture count, each fixture’s type and place, the transformer, where the cable runs and how the zones split. A total with no plan behind it can’t be compared with anything.
That’s how we quote lighting. Carlos walks the property with you, and you get the fixture count and the transformer in writing before anything is scheduled. The quote is free. After the install, the system comes on at dusk, each fixture is aimed at its target, and you walk it with us. See how a lighting project runs.
In Sonoma County we do lighting repairs and new installs too. Right now, repairs are what we’re scheduling first there.
3-year warranty on qualifying irrigation and lighting systems.
Came out and appraised free of charge
The landscape lighting completely improved the look of the property at night
They are not the cheapest but its worth it
Before you ask for a lighting quote
Every yard differs.
A number given before anyone has counted the fixtures or measured a cable run would be a guess. Call us, and the free written quote shows the count, the transformer and the runs it’s built from.
Yes, if the transformer has room.
We size a new transformer with spare capacity for exactly that. If an older one is already near its limit, added lights go on a second transformer with their own zone.
Not with LED.
LED lamps use a small fraction of the power old halogen bulbs did, so a yard full of lights adds little to the bill. If your system still runs halogen, moving it to LED is one of the upgrades we quote.
A price built from a plan
We walk the property with you and put the fixture count in a free written quote.
Call for a free quote(707) 803-9734