Good outdoor lighting shows off your landscaping and architecture, gives your home or business a welcoming glow and helps people see steps and path edges after dark. Keeping it that way takes regular attention.
Here’s how to maintain outdoor lighting all year, from the checks you can handle yourself to the signs that it’s time to call a professional.
Why Maintaining Your Outdoor Lights Is Crucial
Outdoor landscape fixtures are built for wet locations, but they aren’t indestructible. Each season brings its own wear, from spring pollen and summer storms to humidity, strong sun and the occasional freeze. Over time, finishes fade, seals dry out, connections loosen and metal corrodes.
Regular care catches that wear early and helps your lights last longer. Whether we’re caring for lighting that welcomes residents home or guides customers through a shopping center, our goal is the same: fixtures that come on every night and look the way they were designed to.
How to Maintain Your Outdoor Lighting: Seven Helpful Tips
Experts recommend cleaning and maintaining outdoor lights twice a year at a minimum. However, diligent property owners and managers may choose to adjust this schedule based on factors such as climate, frequency of use and the surrounding environment. If you’d like a seasonal version, our fall outdoor lighting maintenance checklist walks through a daytime inspection and an after-dark test.
The seven maintenance tips below cover the routine care you can handle between professional outdoor lighting maintenance visits. Work in dry conditions, keep the system off while you handle fixtures and leave wiring and electrical repairs to a professional.
1. Trim Plants and Branches
Vegetation that is located too near your outdoor lights can obstruct light and damage fixtures. For example, high grass surrounding pathway lights can dim their shine, while strong winds can cause branches to hit elevated outdoor lights.
Schedule regular trimming sessions with a trusted gardening or landscape contractor to prevent these issues. A professional will employ pruning techniques that keep greenery at bay while avoiding harming the plants.
2. Check the Wiring
Look over any visible cable and the fixture bases it runs to. Watch for cut insulation, exposed copper, pinched or chewed cable and fresh digging along the lighting run. Don’t pull on cable or dig up buried connections.
Any repair to damaged, exposed or buried wiring is a job for a professional. Mark the spot and keep people, pets and mowers away until it’s repaired.
3. Clean Outdoor Lighting Fixtures
Turn the system off before you clean outdoor light fixtures. Brush away leaves and debris, then clean each lens following the fixture manufacturer’s instructions. Mild soapy water and a soft cloth are the gentlest choice, including for hard-water spots left by sprinklers. Avoid harsh chemicals and abrasive pads, which can scratch a lens or wear away metallic finishes.
Clean from the outside and leave fixtures closed, since their gaskets and seals help keep water out.
4. Replace Burned-Out Bulbs
Promptly replace burned-out bulbs to maintain the efficiency of your outdoor lighting system. Always use the correct wattage and type of bulb recommended by the manufacturer.
5. Adjust the Light Fixtures
Growing plants and bumps from mowers gradually pull beams off target. Re-aim a spotlight by turning its head the way it’s built to pivot, and straighten a leaning path light from its stake or base rather than the shade. Check the result after dark.
If a fixture won’t stay put, wobbles at the base or looks damaged, stop and have it repaired instead of forcing it.
6. Check the Timers and Controls
Make sure your lights still come on and shut off when you want them to. After a power outage or a daylight saving time change, check the timer’s clock and its on and off times.
If your system uses a photocell, keep the sensor clear of leaves, dirt and decorations, since a blocked sensor can switch lights at the wrong times.
7. Check for Water Damage
Many outdoor fixtures carry an IP rating for how well they keep out dust and water, but even a well-rated fixture can let water in once a gasket dries out or a lens cracks. Look for fogging or droplets inside lenses, rust, corrosion and water pooling around in-ground fixtures.
If you find any, keep the fixture closed and the system off, and contact us. We diagnose and repair outdoor lighting, including systems another provider installed when their condition and scope support the work.
Year-Round Outdoor Lighting Care From Lights Over Atlanta
Once you’ve made your rounds, you’ll know which jobs you’re comfortable handling and which ones to hand off. At Lights Over Atlanta, outdoor lighting is our dedicated field, backed by more than 10 years of service, and we care for homes and commercial properties across Metro Atlanta and North Georgia. Our maintenance plans include a yearly cleaning and aiming visit. If one of your checks turns up a problem, we diagnose it and repair or restore the system when its condition and scope support the work.
To set up a plan or get help with a fixture that needs attention, contact us today for a free quote.
