FX Luminaire Landscape Lighting Installation Contractor in NC
Licensed, Insured and Hunter University Certified
Lawn Panther is a Hunter University certified Lighting Designer and Lighting Specialist installing FX Luminaire and Luxor landscape lighting systems in Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Apex, Cary, Garner, Angier, Willow Spring, Lillington and South Raleigh, North Carolina. FX Luminaire is the premium outdoor lighting line from Hunter Industries — solid brass and architectural-grade aluminum fixtures, app control through the Luxor controller, and 30,000 colors on the Luxor ZDC. We design the layout, install the system, commission the app, and service it afterward.
Holly Springs · Apex · Cary · Garner · Fuquay-Varina · Angier · Willow Spring · Lillington · South Raleigh
Every Lawn Panther lighting plan is drawn and installed by a Hunter University certified Lighting Designer and Lighting Specialist. We install FX Luminaire and Pro-Trade brass systems.
What We Install — FX Luminaire, Luxor and Pro-Trade Brass
FX Luminaire fixtures — path lights, up lights, tiered path, ledge and down lights, and in-grade well lights in solid brass or architectural aluminum. Luxor and Luxor ZDC controllers for phone-app control, zoning, dimming from 1 to 100 percent, scheduling and color. Pro-Trade solid brass for homeowners who want a lifetime brass warranty at a lower entry point. We are an FX Luminaire installation contractor, not a reseller — we design, install, commission and service the system.
Local Service
Why Homeowners Choose Lawn Panther for the Technical Side of a High-End Property
This is our niche, and it is worth being plain about it. The clients we do our best work for own properties where the systems are the hard part: a lighting system with a controller and a schedule, an irrigation system that ought to be running from an app instead of a dial, turf that is expected to look finished all season, and ornamental trees and shrubs that need somebody who can prevent disease or insect damage before it happens. Those are four different specialists on most properties. We do all four, and we would rather be judged on that than on mowing — mowing is the easy part and there is a good local crew on every street who can do it.
We Problem-Solve, and We Make the Billing Invisible
What these clients are really buying is not having to think about it. You give us access to the lighting controller app and the irrigation controller, we monitor and maintain them. You pull up your driveway to a beautiful lawn with ornamentals, irrigation, and lights that work. When something needs doing you get an estimate by email, you accept it, and the invoice goes to the card on file. No paper, no phone tag, not endless invoices from different contractors. We are detail people — that is the entire value here. A high-end install becomes a headache the moment there is nobody around who understands it, and being that person is the job we want.
Already Have FX Luminaire? FX Luminaire Repair, Upgrades and Add-Ons
You do not need us to have installed it. We service existing FX Luminaire systems every week (see our landscape lighting repair page) — diagnosing a transformer that will not hold a schedule, re-addressing zones after somebody added fixtures, chasing voltage drop at the end of a long run, repairing splices, and getting the app talking to the controller again. We also do the upgrade path: if you have an older Luxor or a plain transformer and you want zoning, dimming and color, we swap the controller and re-address the system rather than starting over. Adding on is the easy one — new fixtures, new zones, color boards on the fixtures you want to change color, all folded into the themes you already use. New to lighting altogether? Start on our landscape lighting page, or read how the lighting brands compare.
Smart Control
The Luxor and Luxor ZDC Controller
Luxor is what separates an FX Luminaire system from an ordinary low-voltage install. It runs the whole system from your phone: zones for the front, the beds, the patio and the trees, dimming from 1 to 100 percent on any zone, schedules that follow sunset, and holiday and game-day scenes. The ZDC version adds 30,000 colors on any fixture carrying a color board. We size the transformer, wire the zones, commission the app and walk you through it before we leave.
The Fixtures Are the Easy Part — Luxor Is Where the Skill Lives
Adding brass fixtures to a yard is straightforward. What decides whether you actually enjoy the system a year later is the controller. Luxor is a full lighting platform, not a timer — zones and groups, dimming curves, schedules that follow sunset through the year, color boards addressed fixture by fixture on the ZDC, and saved themes you can fire from your phone for a holiday or a game day. Commissioning one properly is closer to systems work than to landscaping: transformer load and balance, wire runs sized to the last fixture, every fixture addressed, then the app built out so it makes sense to the person using it. That is the technical end of this trade and it is the part we like best — it is why we hold the Hunter University Lighting Designer and Lighting Specialist certifications instead of just stocking the fixtures. A Luxor transformer that needs diagnosing, a zone that needs re-addressing, or a color theme that needs building is our favorite kind of call.
What ZDC Means — Zoning, Dimming and Color Changing Landscape Lighting
ZDC stands for zoning, dimming and color, and those three words are the whole product. Zoning: Luxor addresses up to 250 independent lighting zones in any wiring configuration, so the oaks, the walkway, the facade and the patio are each their own group regardless of how the wire was run. Dimming: every zone adjusts from 0 to 100 percent in 1 percent steps — you set the front of the house at 60 and the beds at 25 and it looks composed instead of floodlit. Color: the ZDC controller drives 30,000 color options per zone on RGBW fixtures, saved as themes you trigger from your phone. Orange and purple in October, red and green in December, your school colors on a Saturday, warm white the rest of the year.
Scheduling, Themes and the Part That Saves You Calling Anyone
Luxor runs on built-in astronomical timing, so it follows real sunset through the year instead of drifting a month behind like a clock timer. Event-based schedules handle the rest. The iOS and Android app runs the whole system, and for larger properties Luxor Linking ties satellite transformers together as one point of control — up to nine hardwired satellites, or over wireless radio out to about 3,000 feet when the back of the property is too far to trench. FX backs the controller with a 10-year limited warranty. We size the transformer, wire and address the zones, build your themes, and set the schedule before we leave.
Large Properties: Linking Controllers Without Trenching Again
One controller covers most yards. Larger properties do not work that way. The front elevation, the pool surround, and the back acreage each need power close to the fixtures, which means more than one transformer, and a system built out of separate transformers usually behaves like separate systems — different schedules, different apps, lights coming on a few seconds apart. Luxor links them so the property still behaves like one system: one app, one set of zones, one schedule, and themes that fire everywhere at the same instant. FX also builds a wireless linking module, which matters most on a property that is already planted and hardscaped, because the controllers talk to each other without trenching a communication line between them. That is the difference between adding lighting to a finished property and tearing up a finished property to add lighting. It is also why we ask about the next phase before the first transformer goes on the wall — sizing the first controller for what you plan to add in three years costs nothing today.
Smart Landscape Lighting Compared: Ordinary Low-Voltage Against FX Luminaire on Luxor ZDC
Capability | Standard low-voltage transformer | FX Luminaire on Luxor ZDC | What that means on your property |
|---|---|---|---|
Zones | All fixtures on one circuit, on or off together | Up to 250 addressable zones | Light the oaks, the facade and the walkway independently |
Dimming | None, or one dimmer for the whole system | 0 to 100 percent, per zone | A wall wash stops overpowering the trees behind it |
Color | Fixed white only | About 30,000 colors, per zone | Warm white all year, holiday color for two weeks |
Control | Timer or photocell on the transformer | Luxor app on a phone or tablet | Change a scene from the couch, not the side yard |
Scheduling | Fixed clock times, reset by hand each season | Astronomical timing that follows real sunset | It never drifts as the days shorten |
Scenes | None | Saved themes recalled in one tap | Everyday, party and holiday looks without reprogramming |
Control wiring | A separate control wire, where it exists at all | Rides the same two-wire cable as the fixtures | No trenching a finished yard to add control |
Large properties | Extra transformers behave as separate systems | Controllers link, by wire or wirelessly | One app and one schedule across the whole property |
Clear Communication From Start To Finish
We keep it simple — clear updates, dependable scheduling, and a crew that calls ahead and answers the phone, from the first call to the final walkthrough. Licensed and insured — for the purrfect lawn.
One Local Landscape Lighting Contractor, Certified on the Line We Install
Landscape lighting is one of several services we provide across Raleigh’s southern suburbs. Beyond lighting, we also handle weed control and fertilization, lawn mowing, landscape maintenance, tree and shrub planting, hedge and bush trimming, and lawn aeration — one local team instead of separate services. See all the towns we serve on our service areas page.
Landscape Lighting FAQs
A few things homeowners ask before getting started with landscape lighting, smart and color systems, and service on an existing setup.
See Your Yard on FX Luminaire Before You Decide
Request service online, call, or text and we’ll set up a free evening demo — we light your front yard at night so you can see exactly what it’ll look like before you commit. Landscape lighting for homes, HOAs, and commercial properties across Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Apex, Cary, and the South Raleigh area. Lawn Panther also offers weed control and fertilization, lawn mowing, landscape maintenance, and tree and shrub care — one local team for your whole property.