Now that summer is here, the nights are getting clearer and warmer. As you relax with your guests on your backyard deck and the sun goes down, you will want to continue the merriment and remain outdoors. In order to extend your evening outside, a wise investment in deck lights or deck lighting will suffice.

You may think you know what you want in terms of specific deck lights or deck lighting in general but the best thing to do is to plan out your deck lighting system before you purchase any deck lights. Installing deck lights on handrails and in the backs of steps will help improve the safety of you and your guests and prevent serious injuries from occurring. They should be installed in such a way as to illuminate the handrail or step but not interfere with the use of either. The next step in planning your deck lighting system is to avoid putting the lights where they interfere with the vision of your seated guests. This means that the deck lights should not be placed too high (such as on posts) where they blind your guests with their glare.

If you want to save a bit of money, you might try purchasing low voltage lighting for your deck. Low voltage lighting is available in many different models and price ranges. The range of quality and price can run from a basic set of plastic lights with the least cost point to an expensive, commercial grade, artistically beautiful, metal light that is meant to withstand years of outdoor punishment. Low voltage kits can be purchased online with all of the necessary fixtures, wires and transformers.

The low voltage deck lighting will always center around the transformer (of which there are three types). Photocell-eye transformers are the most advanced. These transformers turn the lights on at dusk and then off again at dawn when the sun comes up. Automatic transformers do much of the same thing as photo-cell except that they are not triggered by light or the absence of it and are instead turned on and off at pre-set times. The final type of transformer is the manual type, which means the lights are turned on or off when you physically flip the switch.

Not much is required to install this type of deck lighting. The first step is to place the transformer near an outside outlet that has a weatherproof GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter). The GFCI’s whole reason for being is to prevent shocks when plugging or unplugging anything in the outlet. Once the transformer is attached to a stable surface (deck or the house proper) you can start running the wires from the transformer to the locations of the lights on the deck. To the extent that you can, the wires should be run so-as to not trip or interfere with guests and should be covered with mulch or soil so they will be out of sight. Once the wires are run to the spots where the lights will be, you can simply mount the lights and connect the wires.

After everything is all connected, you can wait for the sun to go down and flip the switch on your new life of enjoying your deck lighting in style!