Can Lightning Damage Your Landscape Lighting System?

In Florida, lightning isn’t just a weather event — it’s a constant threat. When a bolt strikes nearby, it doesn’t have to hit your transformer or home directly to cause damage. A surge from a nearby strike can travel through the ground and fry your entire landscape lighting system in an instant.

Here’s what you need to know about how lightning affects low-voltage lighting, what damage to look for, how insurance typically handles it, and what (if anything) can realistically be done to prevent it.

How Lightning Affects Low-Voltage Lighting Systems

Even though your landscape lighting system runs on just 12–15 volts, lightning surges can introduce thousands of volts into that line. It only takes a fraction of a second to destroy:

  • Transformers

  • Timers and smart controls

  • LED lamps

  • Integrated fixtures

  • Low-voltage wiring buried throughout your yard

Unlike a power surge from inside your home, lightning doesn’t just overload electronics — it cooks everything in its path.

Why the Damage Often Means Full Replacement

In many cases, we find that all fixtures, wiring, and the transformer must be replaced after a lightning strike — even if some components appear functional.

Why? Because:

  • The wiring insulation may be damaged internally

  • Fixtures may flicker or fail prematurely

  • Timers and smart modules often stop responding

  • Transformers may still output voltage but do so erratically or noisily

It’s not just about “what turns on” — it’s about long-term reliability, and lightning compromises that.

Don’t Rely on Surge Protection Alone

At Ecotek, we install transformers with built-in surge protection, and we often add inline fuses for further safeguarding. But these devices are designed to protect against residential surges — like when a power company cycles your grid or a faulty appliance causes a spike.

BUT, Lightning doesn’t follow those rules. 

When a nearby strike sends a bolt through the ground, it bypasses normal pathways and overwhelms everything — even grounded systems.

Even inline fuses may trip after the damage is already done.

What to Do After a Suspected Lightning Strike

If your landscape lighting system stopped working after a storm:

  1. Don’t attempt to reset or repair it yourself.

  2. Call us to inspect the system. We’ll test voltage, check wiring integrity, and identify all points of failure.

  3. Document visible damage (burnt fixtures, fried timers, melted wires).

  4. Submit an insurance claim if the damage is extensive.

We often assist clients by:

  • Writing up professional damage assessments

  • Providing itemized quotes for full system replacement

  • Including inspection notes for insurance adjusters

Our Recommendation

In Central Florida, there is no bulletproof defense against lightning. But here’s what we do for our clients:

  • Use transformers with built-in surge suppression

  • Isolate high-risk zones with their own transformer/fuse loops

  • Document the system for future reference in case of claims

  • Educate you on what to look for after a storm

Ultimately, insurance is your best fallback when lightning strikes — and a clean, professional paper trail helps get it paid.

Suspect Lightning Damage?

If your landscape lighting system suddenly stopped working after a storm, don’t wait. Lightning damage isn’t always visible — and trying to reuse compromised equipment can cause more problems. Ecotek Outdoor Lighting provides full-system inspections, insurance documentation, and professional replacement across Central Florida. Use the form below to schedule your inspection.