Ten Tips Regarding Your Outdoor Lighting System

Outdoor lighting for your home is a wonderful way to illuminate your landscaping and home décor with a soft, beautiful glow that comes to life at the close of the day.

One of the goals of adding outdoor lighting to your home landscape is to create a feeling of continuity between your home and your yard. Other purposes to be accomplished include:

• Increasing the safety of people in your yard and the security of your home
• Lengthening the amount of time you can spend in your yard
• highlighting special architectural and design features on your property
• Increasing the property value of your home.

In order to achieve these goals, follow some tips from the experts.

1. Plan the outdoor lighting system to operate with minimal maintenance and cost.

You’ll want your lighting to achieve the goals that you established. As you work to achieve those goals, however, plan how you can get the results you want while also keeping your mind on how well the lights will be able to run according to that plan.

2. Talk often with the lighting professional about the amount of electricity necessary to run the lighting system.

Different light fixtures will have separate voltage requirements, so you may end up installing multiple transformers. You also want to be sure that your system is being set up with high quality wiring, connections, and fixtures.

3. Design your outdoor lighting system to be flexible.

An outdoor lighting system is actually made up of several smaller systems. The separate types of lights and the different areas of your yard will have their own needs. As you recognize how those different areas will interact with and affect other areas, you can also be aware that this separateness will allow you more control over when and where lights are set to turn on and off.

4. Keep your lighting schemes subtle.

It is very easy to add too much light to your landscape. If, after installation, you find that you have more light that you hoped for, you can often use filters or landscaping tricks to correct. The best plan, however, is to work closely with an experienced professional who should be able to help you predict the end results.

5. Think of adding safety to your landscape with outdoor lighting.

Your outdoor lighting system can offer a great deal of increased safety. You can include brick lights in your steps, walkway lights along the paths, or overhead motion detecting lights to deter criminals. Adding a porch light or using deck lights around a pool or play area, you can make your yard a safer place for your family and everyone who comes to visit.

6. Include some creativity in your planning.

It can be simple to line the driveway with lights or to place a spotlight under every tree. However, by adding a spark of creativity to your planning, you can add a great deal of aesthetic value. Carefully thought out lighting systems can increase the value of your property as well as please viewers. You may want to consider adding fancifully shaped lights or use lights in unconventional ways.

7. Plan your lighting with plants and people in mind.

If you plan to have evening barbecues, you’ll probably want to include some lighting over the grill. If the majority of nighttime use will come from children playing, then lights placed lower may be most appropriate. You should also consider the effect of lights on the plant life. Sometimes landscape lighting can disrupt the growth patterns of the plants. When this is the case, you’ll want to plan your lighting system to have the smallest impact possible on the plant life.

8. Beware of adding to light pollution.

While you want to enjoy the beauty of your yard lit up in the evening, you can also take steps to use your lighting responsibly. You can plan your outdoor lighting so that the night stars are still visible. Some communities have begun to create ordinances governing the amount of light used at night.

9. Plan your lighting system with room to grow.

The size of your yard probably won’t change much, but the type of lights or the quality of your system may be able to improve. If you plan for improvements as you put your lighting system in, then you can save yourself a lot of hard work later.

10. Finally, don’t be too afraid to take risks.

Today’s landscape lighting offers so much in options. You can use patterns of light or use the lights to make patterns in the darkness. The lights designed for your outdoor lighting systems come in many new and exciting varieties. You can stick to the ordinary or you can create something truly extraordinary!