• A halogen globe is a type of compact incandescent globe that has been used in indoor and outdoor areas for many years.
• Halogen lights have a high light output but they also generate a lot of heat; they can be very hot to touch.
• A halogen globe still has a superior level of light output compared with a commercially available LED (light emitting diode).
• It's only recently that LED lamps have become suitably powerful and cheap enough to use in outdoor settings.
• LEDs are massively more energy efficient than halogens.
• LEDs can last for 15 years plus - that's up to 100 times longer than other types of globes.
• LEDs do not generate high levels of heat.
• As LED fittings draw less power, they can be used on much longer cable runs without suffering from a light-level drop-off.
• You can mix LED and halogen fittings on a single transformer line.
• Globe-conversion kits are available to switch a variety of halogen lights to LED. You'll find them at most hardware stores.

Installing low-voltage lights

• Lighting (pre-packed kit or parts, including transformer, cable and lights)
• Cable clamps, nails and clips
• Cable joiners
• Spade
• Tape measure
• Pliers
• Screwdriver
• Power drill and bits
• Galvanised garden wire

Lay out your cable around the desired area from the point where it will connect to the transformer. As low-voltage cable is quite thin it's easy to mouse it through cracks and crevices for a concealed run. But when the cable runs over exposed areas, you should fix it in place with a cable clamp or a few cable nails.

Where cable needs to cross lawn areas you can simply dig it into the lawn. Low-voltage cable doesn't need to be deeply buried in trenches as mains voltage lines do. Lay out the cable along the desired line and, using a spade, cut a line to spade-blade depth. With each cut, lean the blade back to create a slightly V-shaped trench.

Push the cable into the trench and stand on the side of the trench to close it back up.

To attach lights to the cable, undo clips on the end of the short cable attached to the light. These clips vary in appearance, but they all tap into power in the same way (conductive metal spikes concealed in the clip pierce the cable). Put cable inside the clip and close it up. This causes the spikes to bite into the wire and pick up current.

Connect the cable to the transformer, ensuring you follow any directions on the transformer and its packaging.

Plug transformer into a suitable power point, here a weatherproof exterior point, and switch on. At twilight, you can adjust the position and angles of the lights, if required.