Lighting Design Solutions

Outdoor Lighting

Outdoor lighting makes your home safer and more secure by providing necessary illumination for walkways, steps and entrances. The use of outdoor lighting, in conjunction with timers and photo cells, can add even more peace-of-mind by providing a lived-in look while you're away from home and insuring the area around the house is well lighted when you arrive home after dark.

The most common type of outdoor fixture is a brass wall lantern, although materials such as cast aluminum have gained popularity due to their rust-resistant qualities. Generally, a light mounted to one side of every exterior door is the minimum lighting for the exterior of a house, however it is recommended that lanterns be on both sides of the door and a pendant or post light should be used near driveways and walkways for additional safety and security. Be sure to select the appropriate size fixture—one that isn’t too small or too big for your home.

Landscape Lighting

Landscape lighting can be used to improve the beauty of your home’s exterior while providing security and safety. Enhance the ambiance of your property at night with low-voltage landscape lighting of trees, shrubs and flowers, plus increase safety by lighting up stairs, driveways, walkways and grounds with post lanterns and tier lights. Low voltage lighting uses only 12 volts of electricity and is safe to install.

You can easily create a lighting plan by choosing one or two points of interest and make these the centerpiece of your landscape lighting display, then build the rest of your lighting plan around your focal point. Unique landscape features, such as sculptures and shaped shrubbery, can be highlighted using spotlights, or a sequence of spotlights can create an interesting mosaic of colors and textures. In addition, up-lighting adds visual interest to objects such as trees, bushes, statues and fountains.

Other techniques include the use of path lighting to illuminate the areas where people walk or drive, which adds an element of safety and beauty. Floodlighting is also a versatile technique used for illuminating a wide range of features including walls, garden ponds or gazebos. This lighting can also be used to make a path attractive and safe.

Use silhouetting to provide dramatic effects on a broad surface, like a wall, behind a landscape feature such as bushes. Wall lighting can be incorporated into a wall bordering a building, pool or walkway area for added visibility.

For maximum light output, light fixtures should not be covered by foliage, tree branches or bushes. Check the fixtures periodically to see if nearby foliage needs pruning. Also, for maximum safety, light and cables should be installed at least five feet from the edge of a swimming pool.

Remember to regularly clean the lenses and fixtures of your landscape lighting and take the time to readjust ground level fixtures if needed.

Utility Lighting

Always select a lighting alternative that will provide the right amount of lighting needed for an area. Using motion-activated lighting will ensure that front and rear entrances to your home are secure, will welcome guests and startle intruders. For added security, choose a motion light with an indoor alarm module so that you know what's going on outside.

Choose a motion detector light with a sensor that best suits your needs: A sensor with a broad range of coverage would be better suited to a yard than to an entrance. Since motion detectors and utility lighting come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, it's easy to choose fixtures that are well suited for your home.

Remember, heat from light bulbs can cause false triggering of motion detector lighting, so be sure not to position them too close to the motion detector. Trees, swimming pools, and other reflective surfaces can also cause false triggering.

For complete protection, mount your lights so that the coverage areas overlap. For safety and security, always light up steps, driveways, walkways, and yards with floodlighting. Also, consider using quartz halogen motion lighting or floodlighting to save energy.

Always be sure to read all instruction manuals carefully before attempting installation of any light fixture. For maximum safety always turn off the power before servicing your light fixtures.