The Lighting Geek

These guys are great — they do high quality work, on time, in a professional and friendly manner. They will make your nighttime-​lighted home the pride of your neighborhood.
First, what not to do: We hired our gardener to improve our existing lighting. He added some lights, along with one bad splice that shorted, started our bark cover on fire (not smoldering, real flames!) and resulted in about $ 3000 damage, limited to $ 3000 only cause we put the fire out while waiting for the fire department.
Second, what to do: Anyway, Tom and Michelle (and others) from the Lighting Geek came over and installed not just a gorgeous looking light system, but also a safe system as well. They recommended a design and walked us through it. They did their work during the day (of course. When we wanted some minor changes, after seeing the lights at night, they came back and took care of it. They insisted that they wanted the quality of their finished product to actually ‘delight’ us and it has.
We highly recommend the Lighting Geek.

Kudos and well done to Tommy, Michele, Felix and the entire crew at the Lighting Geek. We just completed our second phase of landscape lighting and the result is simply beautiful! The crew is always prompt, if not early, and always professional. The night time reviews and adjustments are a necessary part of the process and result in the kind of fine-​tuning we would NEVER get if we tried to do our own landscape lighting. Beautiful, yes. Professional, yes. Expensive, yes. Worth it? Absolutely! We will be calling again once we’ve saved up for phases 3 and 4!

I felt compelled to write a review on The Lighting Geek because of how satisfied we are with their work, not to mention how impressed we are. Not only with the quality, efficiency, and outcome of the project, but also because of how friendly, professional, and helpful Tommy and his crew were. They listened to us and without any pressure, they were able to give us their input, keeping our budget in mind, to ensure that we were educated and happy in the decisions we made. I can’t imagine how anyone could give them less than 5 stars-​I mean, these guys were so nice and honest, and it was the least painful home improvement project we have ever experienced. And if you’ve ever had any work done in your home, you probably understand how rare that is. We would have given them 10 stars if it were possible!

I initially found The Lighting Geek at the Sacramento Home and Garden Show at Cal Expo. Since then I have had two large installations by The Lighting Geek. In each case the work was professional and the results spectacular. I highly recommend them.
For the record, their warranty service is equally satisfactory.

I met The Lighting Geek at the Alameda County Homeshow to discuss some lighting options in my backyard. He also gave me a quick ballpark quote. Although I did not use his services, I found him very friendly and personable.
Thanks for the advice!

LOVE THEM!
I hired Lightning Geek to come out and fix my low voltage in my yard, and the fountain in my backyard. Better than expected! Over and above! Easy to schedule, flexible and professional!
They converted everything to LED — which is a money saver for me… but they also re-​wired the pre-​existing power to my fountain which didn’t work! They were professional and courteous and absolutely worth the call. I love my new backyard, thanks to the Lighting Geeks!

Needed a repair to lighting wire chewed by squirrels. Also needed to add a couple of lights to my system. Tommy stopped by to have a look, then got one of his crews to stop by on their way back to the shop. All fixed, and new lights installed same day in a couple of hours.
Thanks for the great service!
Michael

Initially impressed when Tommy came over to walk over my lighting project. Seemed knowledgeable but admitted he could not start job for a week or so. Said he would drop off flags so I could mark existing lights, etc. Never dropped off as stated. Called and talked with him again and still, never dropped off flags as stated. It has been a couple weeks now and I have never heard from him or his company. Initially, a «red flag» did go up when I asked if we could get something on the schedule but he was too busy with a TV home improvement show, etc. to commit to a time.
Very unprofessional not to follow-​through as stated or a least a phone call to update, schedule a time or decline the job. It put me in an awkward position as we are having two large events (175 – 250 people) on our property starting the first week in September.

My experience with «The Lighting Geek» wasn’t good. First they took over a week to follow up on my sales inquiry, then when he came out to give an estimate… well, GEEK is an accurate description. The owner seemed like Cliff Claven from the TV Show cheers — a know it all.
He didn’t want to listen to some ideas I had about up-​lighting, he insisted that down-​lighting in some areas would be better. Having been a professional photographer I was fairly sure of that. I could have explained that I knew what I was talking about and that I had tested it at night with a basic lighting kit, but I was starting to feel like he either had too much coffee that morning, or simply had a listening problem. He certainly didn’t remember that even when the customer is wrong, the customer is right.
He also threw in some unsolicited advise about a tree I had, televisions, furniture, parenting and a few other topics that had nothing to do with lighting my landscape… I kind of quit listening when he started on some parenting advise, instead of an estimate for an outdoor lighting project.
All in all — the prices seemed reasonable, but I had a hard time imagining putting up with the owner for a few days of installation. What finally did it was the contract — the ridiculously long contract. Way too long winded, kind of like the owner.
Your experience may vary. He might be genuinely good at lighting. He is certainly good at marketing, advertising and free advise. I had my General Contractor do the work, which turned out OK. It’s a shame, I really had intended to hire «the Geek», I just couldn’t.
Side note — it always smells a little bad when a small business has a lot of filtered reviews and most other reviews are from new users.

I sent an email to schedule me for a light bulb replacement and within 15-​minutes I looked out the window and there was the Lighting Geek pickup truck and trailer. Not only was that incredible same day service, but the crew noticed an exposed wire and fixed it and gave me a upgraded timer!
Superb service and attention to detail!
Way to go!
Dave

tommy herren &the lighting geeks did a great job at our home in eldorado hills. it was nice dealing with someone who did exactly what they said they were going to do ! the beauty the landscape lighting has added to our home is remarkable. thanks dave handler

From start to finish our experience with Tommy and The Lighting Geek as a company was top notch! We have dealt with many contractors and this was a very different experience. Tommy has great vision for lighting. After our first consultation the initial job was completed the following day! We had him back twice because we wanted additional lighting and a few tweeks. They were always prompt and thorough. Also not too many contractors will take time out of their evenings to come to your home at 9:00 PM (twice) to make sure all the lighting looked great. They are very fair with their pricing and work very hard to meet your budget. What was the most impressive though is their follow up. They have a high sense of urgency to complete their work in a timely manner to their customers satisfaction. Our yard is so beautiful now and we have extended the amount of time our lights are on because we love to look at the gorgeous landscape we now have.
Thanks Tommy and crew! The Schaffner’s 7÷29÷13

FIAT LUX
Tommy and his crew are the best in the business as far as we are concerned. I give him five stars for quality, creativity, accountability, personalty, professionalism and value. (Maybe it should be six stars!) He magically transformed our front yard and backyard with just the right lighting features, all perfectly placed. Tommy even came by after dark to make sure the desired effect was attained. It was a pleasure dealing with The Lighting Geeks, and I highly recommend them.

After trying to have my outdoor lighting system fixed locally (Bay Area), I turned to The Lighting Geek. He made the trek from Sacramento and within 1 week my system was repaired and up and running. These guys know what they are doing and are upfront and honest. Instead of recommending a whole new system, they worked with what I had and added only what was necessary, saving me money. My only complaint is that I never received a written estimate, but the job was within the budget we discussed.

Tommy Herron, known on DIY and HGTV, and everywhere as «The Lighting Geek» responded to my very first call, personally and within hours! Needless to say, I was impressed. He rode up on his fancy motorcycle, assessed my backyard within an hour and emailed me an estimate the same day. After discussing my budget, Tommy made some suggestions regarding adding lighting in phases.
OMG! The lighting was professionally installed the next week and Tommy came to our home after dark to be sure the lights were installed for the best effect. It looks FANTASTIC! I love it! The lights are subtle enough that they do not bother my neighbors but create a serene ambiance! Instead of a dark black hole, we can entertain in our beautiful backyard and pool! Tommy made us very happy with phase one and I look forward to phase two, which may come sooner than later!!! Can you tell I’m really excited? I plan on sharing The Lighting Geek with my whole neighborhood!

We are delighted with our backyard, Tommy, and his whole crew. We bought a house that needed substantial landscape work After spending a significant amount on the hardscape, turf, etc. we had a great place for the kids to play and adults to hang out, but it was not well lit and thus we could only enjoy during the day. Seeing as how we work and the evenings are our main time to enjoy the yard, we weren’t able to utilize it fully during the free time we had. We talked to a few lighting companies and quickly realized Tommy had a passion and an eye for this (as well as many other areas we came to know). Plus, they used more current products.
Tommy was responsive and knowledgeable from the first phone call, came out the next evening to walk around the yard and discuss options, gave us a fair estimate, and left so we could discuss. We called back the next business day and Tommy was able to have a crew at our house to install the system over a 2 day period, stuck around in the evening to fine tune placement, and we were done. Was very easy, turned out great, and now we’re enjoying our evenings outside and entertaining.

Tommy did a fabulous job lighting up my backyard. It looks awesome. He came on time, he did what he said he would and he did not jack up his price. I would highly recommend him to anyone wanting a well lite, beautiful backyard!

First contact was suppose to call within 24 – 48 hours… nothing for weeks. Came out on second contact a month later set up an appointment to do the work and never showed or called. Never heard from again… don’t waste your time!