Pond lights add a touch of beauty to your water features, and form an integral part of your complete outdoor landscape lighting design.

There are several basic types of pond lights; those which are anchored to the bottom of water features and radiate light up through the water, and those which float on the surface. You can also buy lighting fixtures which are designed to radiate a subtle light from underneath a waterfall. All create a gentle, ambient lighting effect, which captures the beauty of the moving water perfectly. Contrary to what you may think, pond lights are extremely safe. Like most outdoor landscape lighting fixtures, they work on a low voltage system, which is safe in and around water features, consumes very little energy, and radiates a soft, subtle light.

Choosing and installing your pond lights.

It’s essential that you only use outdoor landscape lighting fixtures and cables which are specially designed to be used in and around water features. Most pond lights are designed for a specific purpose, whether to be submerged, to float on the surface, to be used near but not in the water features, or to be used under a waterfall. Make sure you check carefully with your outdoor landscape lighting supplier that you have the right types of fixtures for your purposes.

Pond lights usually come in kits, which are very easy to install yourself. Kits generally contain the fixture itself, mounting brackets, a transformer, a special low voltage cable, and sometimes a selection of colored lenses. Sometimes the transformer will include a timer. You will need an outdoor GFCI receptacle to plug the transformer into; these are available from any outdoor landscape lighting or home hardware supplier. If you want to keep the transformer plugged in at all times, you’ll need some kind of weatherproof cover. The installation of the lighting fixtures themselves depends on the type of fixture, but will generally require drilling a hole into the concrete at the base of the pond of waterfall to anchor the fixture.