Your home looks great during the day — but what happens after the sun goes down? In Newmarket and across the GTA, that's about 4 p.m. for half the year. Landscape lighting is what turns a property from "invisible after dark" into the home people slow down to look at on the street. Here's how it actually works, what it costs, and the four techniques that do most of the heavy lifting.
What landscape lighting actually does for a property
The decorative payoff is the obvious part. The less obvious part is everything else:
- Curb appeal that extends past sunset. Properties with quality lighting are visible — and recognizably "the nice house" — to anyone driving by at dusk or later. In a real-estate market that increasingly does evening showings in winter, this matters.
- Real security, not just the appearance of it. Strategic uplighting on the front facade, lit pathways and motion-aware downlights eliminate the dark corners that make a property look unoccupied.
- Usable outdoor space after dark. Patios, walkways, deck stairs, BBQ zones — all become functional well past 6 p.m. in November when otherwise nobody's going outside.
- Property value lift. Real-estate agents we work with consistently call out professional landscape lighting as a 1-2% appraised-value uplift on residential properties — a meaningful number on a typical York Region home.
The 4 techniques that do 90% of the work
Most great residential lighting designs combine these four. Mix and match — they all play together.
Path lighting
Low fixtures along walkways and garden borders that wash light downward. Shows people where to walk, defines the property edges, and adds visual rhythm.
Uplighting / accent
Ground-mounted fixtures aimed up at trees, columns, or feature walls. The single technique that produces the most dramatic visual impact for the dollar.
Downlighting / moonlighting
Fixtures mounted high in trees or under eaves that wash soft light downward — mimics moonlight. Creates layered, natural-feeling lighting across patios and lawns.
Deck & step lighting
Recessed fixtures in stair risers, deck posts, and retaining walls. Practical (preventing falls) and beautiful (defining the architecture at night).
The LED revolution — why landscape lighting is suddenly affordable
Ten years ago, a residential lighting package was largely halogen — high heat, short bulb life (1,500-3,000 hours), high power draw. Today's professional-grade LED fixtures pull about 1/8th the power, last 25,000-50,000 hours (literally a decade of nightly use), and produce light that's warmer and more pleasant than halogen ever was.
What this means in practical terms: a 12-fixture residential install adds about $4-8 per month to your hydro bill running 5 hours a night. A decade ago that same setup was $30-50/month. The math finally works.
The catch — and this is where corner-cutting installers fail — is that cheap LED fixtures from the box store aren't engineered for Canadian winters. The fixtures we install carry IP65+ marine-grade ratings, sealed connections, and 10-15 year warranties. Spend an extra $40 per fixture and don't worry about replacements for a decade.
"We get called in every spring to replace homeowner-installed big-box-store landscape lights that didn't survive the winter. Cheap fixtures, exposed connections, the works. The 'savings' from going DIY usually evaporate after one freeze cycle. Buy quality once."
Smart lighting and app control
Most of our recent residential installs include a smart transformer — the device that powers and controls all the low-voltage fixtures. From your phone you can set schedules ("on at sunset, off at midnight, dimmed to 30% from 11 p.m. onward"), zone-control different areas separately, integrate with home automation, and even tie lighting to motion sensors for security.
For customers with a Hunter Hydrawise sprinkler system, we typically run lighting on a parallel control system — different needs, but same install crew, same trenching, same wire pathways. Saves time and money to do them together.
Free landscape lighting consult.
We come out at dusk, walk the property with you, identify the 4-6 lighting opportunities that produce the biggest visual impact, and quote on the spot. No commitment.
Book the consultWhat landscape lighting actually costs in Newmarket
- Starter package (6-8 fixtures, transformer, basic timer): $1,400 – $2,200 installed.
- Standard residential (10-14 fixtures, smart transformer, app control): $2,400 – $3,800 installed.
- Premium architectural (18-25 fixtures, full design, multi-zone): $4,500 – $7,500 installed.
- Estate-scale (25+ fixtures, perimeter coverage, security integration): Custom quote, typically $8,000+.
All packages include 3-year full warranty on fixtures and labour. We don't sub the install — same PJL crew that handles your sprinkler system handles your lighting.
FAQ
How long does an installation take?
Most residential packages are 1 day on site (10-14 fixtures including trenching). Larger installs run 2-3 days.
Do you handle the design too?
Yes — included. We do an evening walk-through, sketch where each fixture goes, and explain the look you'll get. Plenty of homeowners change their mind after seeing the spots we recommend versus what they originally pictured.
Can lighting be added to a property mid-summer?
Absolutely. Trenching is easiest when the ground is workable, so the active install season is April through November. Through the deep-frost months we book consultations and design work — install slots fill in early spring, so winter is the right time to plan and lock in your timing.
The bottom line
Landscape lighting is the single highest-impact-per-dollar improvement most GTA homes can make. The LED economics finally make sense, the smart-control layer is genuinely useful, and the right installer makes the difference between something that lasts 15 years or 15 months. See more on our landscape lighting service or book a free dusk consult.