| Outdoor Lighting |
Today’s outdoor lighting is more than just a porch light or a security light above your garage. There’s an almost infinite variety of outdoor lighting. With the variety of outdoor lighting products available, from post lights, deck and step lights, low-voltage pathlights, safety/security lights, and more.
Some people add outdoor lighting to their homes for entirely practical reasons, others mainly for pleasure; many installations combined both utility and attractiveness. A well-designed outdoor lighting installation adds beauty and value to your home, and makes your property safer and more secure. It also enables you to spend more hours outdoors, relaxing with friends and family as the heat of the day gives way to a refreshing evening breeze.
Most outdoor lighting begins at the front of your home. A well lit front can help identify the house and to make the approach to it safe and welcoming for visitors. If you live in a rural area, or in a town that has little or no public lighting, you may wish to provide some welcoming lights at the front of your house from dusk until bedtime every evening. A well-lighted entrance allows you to greet guests and safely identify nighttime visitors. If you have a porch, your options include a pendant or recessed fixture above the door. If your home doesn’t have a porch, you can get the same effect with a pair of wall lanterns or flanking post lights.
Outdoor lighting at the rear of the house will make it safer to go out to the trash bin, shed, or garage at night. Suitable lighting can impart a delightful appearance to the nighttime garden at all seasons and in all weather. Viewed from the warm comfort inside the house, a floodlit garden under a sprinkling of snow looks spectacular.
The garage is another common focus of modern lighting. Again you have several options, including security lights above the garage door, or a wall fixture on the face of the garage. Garage lights are typically equipped with long-life high-pressure sodium bulbs. Many garage and security lights also feature either photocells that turn the lights on automatically in the evening, or motion sensors that do the same anytime something moves within their range.
Outdoor lighting also extends to other parts of your property, including steps, driveways, and paths throughout your front and back yard. Post lanterns, low-voltage path lights, or solar powered path lights can all add safety and allow guests and family members to move about your property after dark.
And don’t forget that deck or patio. For many people, these are among the favorite parts of the home during the summer months, and the effective use of low-voltage mini-lights can add a romantic glow to any evening retreat. If you cook outside, just remember to add stronger light over the barbecue and serving areas. And if you have a tree in your backyard, you might consider installing a spotlight in its branches as another source of outdoor lighting.
Outdoor Security Lighting
Often the motivation for installing outdoor lighting is the security aspect of having a well lit home and property. It's been proven that homes that are well lit at night are less likely to be broken into, and most criminals will simply move onto an easier target.
There are a variety of security lights to choose from. Some are switched on from inside the home, either manually or from a timer. Others are completely self contained, and are triggered by motion in a pre-set proximity to the lights, or by a photoelectric switch that turns the lights on a dusk, and off again the next morning.
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