Landscape lighting adds a whole new dimension to your home’s outdoor spaces after sunset. It illuminates tripping hazards and makes your garden glow, making it perfect for entertaining guests or just enjoying the view.
Lighting techniques such as uplighting, downlighting and cross-lighting showcase the beauty of hardscape and softscape features. These lighting options are also energy efficient and easy to maintain. Click Here to learn more.
If you’ve put a lot of time and effort into making your home and property look its best, why let it disappear once the sun goes down? Thoughtful landscape lighting accentuates architectural features, highlights prized plantings, and spotlights focal points to create a visually stunning environment that’s equally appealing day or night.
Illuminated walkways, driveways, and entryways add safety for guests as they enter or leave the property, reducing trip and fall hazards. A well-lit exterior also enhances security by deterring intruders and providing peace of mind for homeowners.
Landscape lighting is a versatile design element that can be used to set a festive tone for special occasions, such as a wedding or graduation party. Special effects like transitioning light patterns can add a one-of-a-kind ambience that makes your event truly memorable.
Water features can be a beautiful addition to your property, and highlighting their beauty with landscape lighting adds a magical touch both day and night. Reflective lighting techniques like uplighting and cross lighting highlight a feature by illuminating it from multiple directions, helping to reduce shadows and increase clarity.
Other lighting methods, such as downlighting or moonlighting, create a more subtle and natural effect by illuminating an object from above to highlight its silhouette. This technique is perfect for accenting a statue, gazebo, or trellis.
The materials used to construct landscape lighting fixtures play an important role in their overall aesthetic appeal. Fixtures made of brass, copper, and stainless steel offer a classic, timeless look that will only get better with age. While these fixtures are more expensive upfront, they will last longer and require less maintenance than cheaper options, saving you money in the long run.
For a truly mesmerizing visual, underwater lighting can be used to illuminate ponds, fountains, and other water features. This method of illumination can double the visual impact of these water features by creating a mesmerizing reflection both day and night. Another great way to enhance the beauty of water features is through refraction lighting, which utilizes strategically placed light fixtures to create an illusion of movement in fast moving water.
Safety
Aside from creating beauty and value, landscape lighting also offers safety benefits. Well-lit pathways, stairs and entrances minimize the risk of slips or falls after dark, while illuminating potential hazards like uneven terrain or tree roots. In addition, if your home is visible from the road when it’s dark, landscape lighting can act as a deterrent for criminals who are less likely to target homes that are brightly lit.
There are several ways to incorporate landscape lighting into your design to achieve the safety results you want. For example, accent lights can be positioned to highlight walls of your house or architectural features of your property, while floodlights can be used to illuminate sidewalks and driveways to improve visibility. You can also use a combination of different techniques to create a safer walkway through your yard, such as lighting up a path with multiple fixtures instead of just one or two.
Another important consideration is the quality of the wiring that runs your lighting system. You’ll want to invest in a solution that can withstand the elements, such as a marine-grade tin-coated wire, which is resistant to corrosion and rust. Aside from ensuring long-term performance, this type of wire helps reduce electrical costs by increasing the efficiency of your lighting fixtures.
Regardless of what style of lights you use, the most important factor in maintaining the safety of your landscape lighting is regular upkeep. Keeping your lights clear of leaves and other debris is essential to avoid fire risks, while regularly checking the bulbs for signs of wear or burnout will help keep them functioning properly.
When you have a professional landscaping team on hand to provide upkeep services, you can rest assured that your landscape lighting will always be in good working condition. Not only will this prevent costly repairs, but it can also save you on utility bills and legal fees in the event of accidents. Contact us to learn more about our landscape lighting installation, upkeep and maintenance services. We proudly serve clients throughout central and west Florida, including Tampa, Bradenton, Lakeland and more.
Energy Efficiency
The yard and garden of a home represent a huge investment of both time and money. Adding landscape lighting creates an enchanting atmosphere for evening gatherings, enhances safety along walkways and accentuates architectural features of the home. However, many homeowners are concerned about the impact of landscape lights on their electric bills. This guide will shine a light on the best power-saving ideas for landscape lighting.
ECO-EFFICIENCY
Landscape lighting uses the least amount of energy of any exterior lighting, making it one of the most environmentally friendly options available. LED technology offers unparalleled energy efficiency. It also reduces maintenance costs and extends the life of the bulb. Moreover, LEDs offer the same luminous feel of traditional incandescent bulbs. With these benefits, it’s no wonder that this type of lighting is rapidly becoming the most popular among homeowners and businesses.
A properly designed landscape lighting system can reduce your electricity bills significantly. Lighting experts will work with you to create a layout that maximizes the use of natural lighting and highlights the features of your home or business. They can also help you save on energy expenses by incorporating motion sensors, which will activate only when there is movement in the area. This will prevent the lights from staying on all night, which will lead to significant savings.
There are two main types of landscape lighting: line voltage and low-voltage. Line voltage landscape lighting requires licensed electricians to install. It runs on 120 volts, which can be dangerous for anyone coming into contact with the wires. Low-voltage landscape lighting runs on 12 volts, which is safer for people to touch and less likely to cause shock. It’s also easier to install, as it doesn’t require buried wires.
Another great benefit of low-voltage landscape lighting is its flexibility. It can be mixed and matched on one transformer line. However, it’s important to carefully calculate the wattage of each fixture to avoid overloading the transformer.
Up-lighting accentuates dark shadows that contrast with the bright lighting, down-lighting creates a gentle, “moonlit” effect, and cross-lighting is used to show off non-uniform shapes in a landscape feature or building. Using a combination of these techniques is often the best way to highlight the most impressive aspects of your hardscape or softscape.
Maintenance
Landscape lighting is more than just an aesthetic improvement for your property, it can also boost your home’s value. However, to reap these benefits, your lighting system must be properly maintained. Fortunately, this is fairly simple and easy to do.
Maintenance typically involves checking for damage, replacing bulbs and cleaning fixtures. Depending on the style of lighting, this may include cleaning internal reflectors and lenses to prevent dirt buildup or fading. It also includes cutting back plants, trees or shrubs that are too close to the lights. This helps ensure proper illumination, avoids damage to the fixture and, in some cases (especially with older fixtures that give off a lot of heat), reduces fire hazards.
During an inspection, a professional can also make sure that the lights are pointing correctly. This is important because, over time, the weather and even the smallest of movements can change where the fixture is aimed. This can result in a light that isn’t casting its intended effect, or worse, one that could be a tripping hazard for you and your guests.
While it is a good idea to perform some maintenance on your own, an experienced residential landscape lighting contractor can provide more comprehensive service and a deeper level of expertise. They can help you maintain your investment in the long-term by identifying issues before they become problems and by providing advice on how to fix them.
A quality lighting company will also be able to offer you energy-efficient options like LED bulbs that can last up to 10 times longer than halogen bulbs, so you won’t have to replace them as often. They can also advise you on how to choose the right bulbs based on their lumens, color temperature and beam spread. Plus, they can show you some of the other features that are available, such as motion detectors, timers and smart integration. These can all make your lighting system more efficient and versatile. Then you’ll be able to enjoy your outdoor lighting for years to come.