Garden Lighting: What’s Actually Involved (And Why DIY Solar Lights Aren’t the Same Thing)

Garden lighting is one of the easiest ways to transform how you use your outdoor space — but there’s a big difference between a few solar spikes from the garden centre and a proper, wired lighting scheme installed by an electrician.

If you’re thinking about upgrading your garden lighting this year, here’s what’s actually involved, and why it’s worth getting it done properly. Take a look at our lighting installation services for more on what we offer.

Solar Lights vs. Wired Garden Lighting

Solar lights are cheap and easy, but they’re inconsistent — dim on cloudy days, dead by winter, and limited to wherever the solar panel gets direct sun. They’re fine for a quick accent here and there, but they’re not a lighting scheme.

Wired garden lighting, run from your consumer unit through a dedicated outdoor circuit, gives you reliable, consistent light exactly where you want it — spotlights on planting, path lighting, up-lighters on trees, festoon lighting over a patio — all on a switch or timer, and all working every night of the year regardless of the weather. Our garden and outdoor lighting installations cover all of this.

What’s Involved in a Proper Installation

A dedicated outdoor circuit. Garden lighting should run on its own RCD-protected circuit, separate from your indoor sockets. This is what keeps it safe — outdoor electrics are exposed to damp, temperature changes, and general wear that indoor circuits never see.

IP-rated fittings. Anything outdoors needs to be rated for the job — IP44 as a minimum for covered areas, IP65 or higher for anything exposed to direct rain. This isn’t optional; it’s what stops water getting into the fitting and causing a fault.

Proper cabling. Outdoor cable needs to be armoured or suitably protected and buried at the correct depth, not just run along the surface or through a fence panel. Done properly, it’s invisible and permanent.

Certification. Any new circuit — including garden and outdoor lighting — needs to be tested, inspected, and certificated to 18th Edition wiring regulations. That’s not box-ticking; it’s what confirms the installation is actually safe.

Why Get an Electrician Rather Than DIY

Running a new circuit outdoors, working near damp ground, and tying into your consumer unit isn’t a weekend project — it’s notifiable electrical work under Part P, and it needs to be done and certificated by someone qualified. Get it wrong and you’re looking at a fire risk, a shock risk, or work that simply doesn’t survive its first winter.

It’s also worth having someone who can plan the lighting itself, not just wire it in — where the fittings should go, how many circuits you need, and how to avoid a garden that’s either underlit or looks like a runway.

Get It Done Right, Fixed Price

At Wesparx, we install garden and outdoor lighting the proper way — dedicated circuits, IP-rated fittings, fully certificated — with a fixed price agreed before we start and no call-out charge if you decide not to go ahead.

We cover Sutton, Surrey, and South London. Get in touch for a free quote and we’ll come out, take a look at your garden, and tell you exactly what’s involved.