A Grand Welcome

Putting lighting fixtures on your house’s entrances would definitely earn you both beauty and functionality. By doing so, you are enabled to identify visitors and greet guests easily even at the middle of the night.

Putting wall lanterns on both sides of the door attains a welcoming and warm look for your home. It also gives a classy feel since the wall lanterns resemble torches, which were used in the medieval days to light up castle entrances.

If you want a single light for your entrance, you can put an over-hang light on your porch. Lighting your entrance can also be very helpful especially, if you’re always having a hard time fitting your door key.

Home Sweet Home

If you have family members that arrive late at night and use the garage, placing a lighting fixture in the outer wall of the garage can be very helpful. It is somewhat a safety measure for them.

A lot of accidents happen even when people park in or pull out from their very own garages. That’s why it wouldn’t hurt if you put some sort of lighting, so that it could serve as a guide for them.

Security Purposes

You can also put lighting fixtures in areas in your house that are commonly looked over and are covered by shadows. Areas like backyards and sides of the house are included here.

If you want, you can even install motion-sensitive lights or heat-sensitive lights for added security. You also get to conserve energy with these types of lights because they only switch on when they sense movement or changes in temperature.

Take The Lead

You can also install lighting to guide walkways and pathways. This is very nice to look at especially at night, where you can see a path of light on the ground leading to your house. It gives a somewhat magical effect on the view.

Putting leading lights on walkways and paths can also ensure the safety of your family members and visitors, especially if they are not familiar with the path they are taking.

This also highlights nearby plants and flowerbeds. The view can be very romantic, especially if you are actually walking down the pathway with a special someone.

Driveways can also be lined with leading lights. By doing this, you can define the limits of the driveway, and in effect, there would be a lower risk for accidents to happen.

Instant Romance

By lighting up patios, decks, and porches, you instantly have a romantic evening getaway spot. You can do this by hiding mini-lights with low-voltage under railings, benches and steps. It doesn’t only serve as a guide for the steps, but it also gives a romantic aura to your place.

These are just some of the ideas on how landscape lighting can be used functionally, and aesthetically. Your money spent on lighting installation should not be wasted, that’s why you should learn to aim for both effects to get the best out of your lighting!

Light is just like paint. It is your paint, and the whole environment is your canvas. You can add and subtract color on any surface with the simple use of light. If you want to achieve great effects, get to know some of the basic techniques on how you can design by the use of landscape lighting.

Uplighting

This is the most common technique used to illuminate walls, trees, fountains, waterfalls, and other objects. All you have to do is ground-mount a lighting fixture and direct it upwards. You also have the choice of putting the light in front or behind the object you are illuminating.

You should remember though, that you should direct the light away from the viewer, so that glare would be prevented. With this simple technique, the ambience of your place becomes, oh so glamorous in an instant!

Moonlighting

So you dream of walking in your garden, with romantic moonlight shinning down on you? With landscape lighting, you can no achieve this effect! This is undeniably one of the most beautiful techniques used in landscape lighting. It rouses the natural light of a full moon, as it filters through tree branches.

You should take note that in this technique, lighting fixture is put on the tree itself. That’s why extra care and caution should be taken, especially if you’re the one to install the lighting yourself.

Mirror Lighting

This is one of the techniques that creates a whole new image altogether. Mirror lighting is used with still bodies of water, like pools or ponds.  All you have to do is simply light plantings and trees on one side of the water, and then when you go to the other side, you’ll instantly see a reflection, on the water surface, of the objects you lighted up.

This technique is really nice, since it’s like capturing a whole new picture and putting it elsewhere in the environment. You get instant hologram effect on your environment. The beauty of your place is doubled up just by the use of light!

Downlighting

This is the most natural technique used in landscape lighting. This can be accomplished easily by: simply hiding the lighting fixtures up in trees; then directing the light down through the leaves and branches. You can also acquire this effect by attaching fixtures on trellises, walls, pool houses and garden structures.

You can also downlight your plant and ground covered, along with pathways, with the use of taller fixtures that are mounted on the floor.

High Lighting

This technique is commonly used to light up focal points in your landscape. Focal points can be anything from pergolas, shrubs, statues, fountains or any other feature in the place that you want to put attention to.

These are just some of the common ways in which you can design with light. What’s good with designing with light is that you are free to experiment without damaging the natural beauty of the place. So go now, and see for yourself the natural wonders light can bring!

There are various types of landscape lighting fixtures available. Get to each of them, so that you can use each appropriately for your lighting needs.

Bollards

These lights are usually not more than 42″ tall. Bollards are usually used for lighting sidewalks and walkways. They are available in cast aluminum, spun aluminum, cast iron, fiberglass and concrete.

In-Ground Lights

In-ground lights are usually mounted flush into the ground. They are usually put in areas where you don’t want anything to stick out above ground level. They can be put in concrete or soil.

Bullet Lights

These are actually floodlights that come in a bullet shape. They usually have a threaded knuckle with integral 1/2″. The mount and can be available with a broad diversity of lamp types and sources to answer any of your lighting needs.

Floodlights

These are just like bullet lights. The only difference is that they come in rectangular shaped bodies. These usually come in a focused, strong beam of light. They also usually have HID lamp types.

Floodlights are hi-powered lights, that are used to light large objects.  It can also be used to light objects from a long distance away. It is also ideally used to showcase areas like walls and trees.

Festoon Lights

Festoon lights are similar to Christmas tree lights. However, unlike Christmas tree light strings that have small lamps in low wattages, these come in larger lamp globes with higher wattages and are usually for heavy-duty use.

String Lights

String lights are now used to have that festive Christmas through out the year mood in your very own place. This style of decorating has been used through the years. These however are different from Christmas lights. String light lamps have a longer lifespan than those used during Christmas.

Pathway Lighting

As the name suggests, this type of light is used in lighting walkways and small pathways. These usually come in low-level lights, from six to eighteen inches tall. Pathway lights supply a very fine lighting job, and are very cost effective.

Some pathway light fixtures have uplight and side components. With this, you can direct the light towards shrubs and plants near the fixture.

Underwater Lights

This kind of light is especially designed to be totally submerged in water. They are usually used in to light fountains and water jets to add more effect. They can also be used in fishponds, or in mini waterfalls in the garden.

Solar Powered Lights

This type of lighting is great for areas where it is difficult to run electrical wirings. However, since they are solar powered, they need regular exposure to the sun, so it would be best not to place them in permanently shaded areas.

The downside of solar lights is that they can only be bright up to a certain point. They can’t compete with high voltage lighting, and they also have limited time of being illuminated.

These are just some of the commonly used lighting fixtures in landscape lighting. In choosing what kind of fixture you need, always keep in mind what effect are you expecting from installing the lights. In this way, you can pinpoint which fixture to use on your design.

Most probably after spending too many hours of coordinating with your gardener and landscaper, and of course shelling out several hundred dollars, you have your yard all green and spiffy, and ready for some serious ogling and appreciation.

As the sun shines brightly, at the new green spread set before that tiny patch of land you call your backyard, you value the amount of effort, love, and attention you have given this little endeavor. This picturesque statement of accomplishment goes on throughout the day. Everything is wonderful until twilight comes around.

When Darkness Comes Around

As soon as darkness falls, your emerald lawn becomes indiscernible as it succumbs to the shadows of dusk. You start to wonder how you could still repeat the romantic feeling of your lime-covered lawn and pitch it against the deepening blackness of the night.

Of course there is no other way but to reproduce the light that allowed you and the world to behold its beauty and serenity. The only way to continue the beauty is to provide lighting for your lawn.

Accenting is the way

Lighting up your lawn is not just as simple as it looks. Well, if your objective is to flood the whole yard with light and just drown everything in one big flash, then by all means just prop a big floodlight in the middle of your lawn and just let it shine.

Of course this time, you would be able to see everything until the corners of your compound, but you wouldn’t be able to appreciate the “curves” and enhance the design of your landscaper. Your lawn would look more of a stadium or a prison because of the high intensity light that falls on every nook of your territory.

If you want to justify the love that your landscaper has dedicated to it, then you might start envisioning it to look like more of a park. Accenting areas with subdued lighting is the way.

The placement of the lights is important. Placing them on the broad side of the landscape curve will drown out the little spaces that it converges with the rest of the land design. A subdued effect is best achieved with the positioning of light behind a bend and slightly hidden from view.

A glowing effect is best achieved by placing fixtures in shrubs and bushes and focusing the light against a wall for an added accent. This gives an illusion of blending the bigger plants and shrubs with the grass that surrounds them, as well as with the wall that confines them.

The size of the light aperture also has a great impact on the landscape lighting effect. Using a more focused and thinner aperture for lighting fixtures would give an idea of isolated area for added effect. A broader aperture would tend to generalize an area, perhaps a major land curve in your landscape design.

Finally, the color of the light is essential in giving the proper theme and enhancement of the landscape design. Usually, the most common color used is a stint of yellow and white. This is the safest color but is rather common already. A more radical choice is the use of blue or red, depending in the desired effect that you would want, may it be fiery red, or icy blue.

Whatever the blend of techniques you use, your artistic side of experimenting with different aspects will be your own creation, a quixotic blend of lighting and nature.

A light emitting diode or LED as it is commonly called have been around since the early 20th century, but were not used for domestic or common household until the 1970’s. These wonders of lighting technology slowly paved way for much more efficient electrical consumption.

Further improvements with the composition of these LED’s have increased the efficiency output of bulbs to emit a higher luminous strength with out much increase in the amount of wattage required for it to function. This goes with an increase in the even longer life span as compared to conventional incandescent, fluorescent, and halogen lamps.

The application of LED’s as landscape lighting fixtures was realized in the later half of the 20th century as more and more people focused in furthering lawn improvements and finding new ways to enhancing landscape designs with lights that would not pose much risk and at the same time would cut the operational cost over time.

With the advent of landscape and similar projects utilizing LED technology, LED lamps or illuminators have been created. These are usually characterized by several smaller LED’s that are combined together in a single bulb fixture and focused to emit a synchronous light that would amplify the lumens emitted.

Other designs are simply single LED bulbs created in such a way that it is capable of a higher load.

What these are suited for

LED lamps are ideal for exterior landscape lighting designs since these can be modified and be set up with a low voltage setup. Combining the risk free setup of a low voltage arrangement and the higher efficiency for life span and luminescence, LED landscape lighting is a very practical method of accenting landscape areas.

However, the higher production cost would mean that the price for setting up a series of landscape lighting fixtures would cost more than using traditional lighting methods and materials. Nevertheless, the extreme long life of these bulbs are claimed to reach more than 40,000 hours.

This would compensate for the initial high cost of preparing these for landscape lighting. This also lessens the burden on the technician installing these lamps because the bulbs would not need to be replaced that often.

These LED lamps are also suited for the exterior landscape lighting method due to their relatively colder emission of heat as compared with incandescent, fluorescent, and halogen lamps.

Different tips and concepts

You may start projecting on what type of lighting theme you would be doing once you have decided to use LED lamps. Again, this is now where your artistic talents come into play as you try to envision what type of effect you want to accomplish over certain areas in your landscape.

One nice way of putting some pizzazz on your landscape is by using actual LED’s, the ones used in a signage. Of course these types of diodes need to be in some sort of casing so as not to have its pins be grounded. What would be done is to contour both sides of a path and make it look like a pathway similar to that of a cinema, wherein you would see the passageway be lit up faintly by either a blue, red, white, or yellow edge.

Another is by using LED’s as imitation fireflies floating on small bush branches. By using certain cords, tubings, and a simple control switch for LED’s, it may be placed discreetly in bushes so that when darkness falls, the subtle blinking of these LED lamps would look like they were real fireflies.

So whatever you may conceptualize with the cool and soothing emitting LED’s, you should balance the practicality of spending more initially and saving much in the long run, or rather have a cheaper setup and a shorter lifespan for your landscape lighting lamps.

Solar Powered Outdoor Lighting

This type of outdoor lighting gives a very obvious benefit. There is zero operating cost with this lighting. Once you have them installed where you want them, the sun charges an internal power supply in the fixture. The lights automatically go into action after the sun sets, due to an electric eye sensor built in the fixtures.

It can be used to mark driveways or illuminate pathways. However, the technology has not come to the point that is able to make the lighting bright enough for lighting up much of your landscape or your home. Installation is quick and easy, since they have on board power supply, so there are no wires to run.

The major drawbacks in these types of lights are that they are somewhat dim, plus the length of time you can expect them to stay lighted. Sadly, the brightness and duration are directly related. Basically, the light is brightest even before it perceives the darkest part of the night. This can be one of least versatile systems, but also the cheapest.

Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting

This is among the most common types of lighting systems used today. Even though they are electricity operated, their voltage is very low (between 10 and 12 VAC) and this allows you the opportunity to take on the installation by yourself.

There are transformers available that can decrease the voltage to a safe level. In this way, the wiring to the lights doesn’t have to be as deeply buried into the ground, unlike in traditional lighting. This significantly diminishes the cost for installation.

There are also a variety of fixtures to choose from when using this kind of system. Choices vary from spotlights, path lights, and recessed accent lights. These are very decorative fixtures too. With this, you get easy installation with your landscape devoid of being an eyesore.

This is the most cost effective and versatile system that you can install. However, be sure that you have sufficient knowledge before you attempt to install this kind of system by yourself. If not, then it would be best to hire a professional to do the job for you.

Outdoor Event Lighting

You may want to use this kind of outdoor lighting system if you’re having an event, like a wedding or other type of party at your house. Definitely, solar powered lighting is very unreliable for this job. Either you go for low or high voltage; this kind of outdoor lighting system is typically temporary.

It would be best if the system can be set up and taken down with as little difficulty as possible. Of course you should take into consideration some factors like, your guests’ safety and the location of the power wires and lights.

You might want to get in touch with your event organizer or the store you rented your tables and chairs from. You can ask if they have such outdoor lighting setups available. It’s not as simple as bringing out a bunch of extension cords to your yard. You should think of safety and local electrical codes first.

Wouldn’t it be great if you were able to unleash your creativity during twilight hours? Well, nowadays, that is very much possible. By the use of exterior decorative lighting, your creativity will definitely shine through the darkness of the night.

Exterior landscape lighting come in various styles, each with a specific function and form. Get to know what tools you can use to unleash your nocturnal creativity!

Post Mounted Lights

Post mounted lights are usually used as a fundamental point for driveways and/or sidewalks that lead to your home entrance. They usually come in low voltage, standard voltage, and solar powered.

Porch Lights

A metal frame with glass sides is the standard porch light that most homes have. In spite the fact that it is functional, it is not very appealing aesthetically speaking. There are a lot of porch lights styles; some can add an executive sophistication, while others can add rustic charm to your house’s entry.

Porch lights are also available in low and standard voltage. Some porch lights are also solar powered.

Directional Lighting

This kind of lighting is used to accent main landscape features.  It can also be used to accent the focal points of your home. One example is: you can add directional lights to either corner of your house, to put a showcased feel to your valued possession.

Directional lights can also be added to accent the dramatic features within your landscaping. You can use them to highlight large trees, and beautiful bushes in your yard.

They are also available in a wide array of colored lens. All you have to do is change the lens, and you instantly have a different color of light. This gives you more versatile options and creative design, when crafting your outdoor lighting. They are also available in standard and low voltage, and solar powered.

Accent Lighting

This kind of lighting is a common sight along sidewalks and driveways. Accent lightings are low laying exterior lights that are frequently sold in sets. Instructions are included in the set, which explains the best distance to space the lights. This can give you an idea on how many accent lighting sets you have to purchase.

This kind of lights is available in solar powered, low voltage and less commonly standard voltage.

Torch Lights

Torch lights are basically taller than accent lights. They come between five and six feet high. Still, they are similarly spaced to accent lights. These are available in standard and low voltage, and solar power.

Flood Lights

Floodlights are mainly used as a functional light and not usually as a decorative exterior lighting. There are some cases where you can use floodlights in a stylized way to fit any lighting theme. Your placement of the lights can result to an adverse effect on your landscape lighting design.

Floodlights are extensively available in standard home voltage. Solar powered ones come second in popularity. However, low voltage floodlights are not so popularly used than the other two.

Those are just a few ways on how you can show your creativity even without the natural beauty of the day!

Low voltage landscape lighting is an application of the usual indoor lighting method of using 12 volts instead of the usual 120 volts. The method is applied on exterior areas and is an extension of the lighting design coming from the home. This gives continuity on the illumination from the house and unifies nature with the abode.

It is a very good alternative with the usual 120-volt mode of putting lighting fixtures since it not only provides less risk for the user from accidental electrocution, it also provides protection from children and pets from unwanted shocks if ever they get too comfortable and start wandering or even start playing and tinkering with the lighting fixtures scattered all around your compound.

Benefits of Using Low Voltage

The benefits of using a low voltage setup would be a flexibility of placing the fixtures and relocating them whenever a remodeling of the landscape is needed. This is because the attachment of the lighting fixtures supporting the low voltage setup is bundled in cables and is hidden only shallowly in the ground as opposed to a 120-volt setup which should be place in a conduit or similar insulation to prevent accidental grounding of electrical discharge on an unsuspecting person.

Another is that the lamps and bulbs, which sport low voltage lighting, are also designed in a way that they consume less wattage. This would indicate a lower amount of electricity consumed and would translate to more savings for the user.

Furthermore, the low voltage nature of this setup is ideal for external and moist environments like soil and lawn areas, as it does not subject anyone in accidents in relation to electrical shocks. Even if the cables become directly exposed, there wouldn’t be any significant stuns that would occur. The worst that could happen is just a failure for the low lighting fixtures to stop working.

Another is the increased longevity of the light bulbs as the filament in these bulbs are “burnt” with less voltage and wattage, thereby allowing it to survive longer before severed. In relation to this, the energy consumption is decreased by as much as 60%, which could be weighed against the length of time it can shine as compared to ordinary voltage bulbs.

Take note though that in order to have this setup manifest properly, one should have a transformer on the main line that would convert the direct 110 or 220-volt voltage supply into a 12-volt source.

Arrangement Types of Low Voltage Landscape Lighting

Different arrangements of low voltage landscape lighting fixtures depend on the amount of light bulbs needed on a particular area in the landscape area. The arrangement of the bulbs also gives way to the accent needed for the desired result. Other than the usual standalone fixture used for pinpoint accenting, a combination of these may also be used.

One of these arrangement patterns is a linear form of fixation wherein the bulbs are place in a series with a defined distance between each bulb. This is ideal for pathways and other similar places wherein a long stretch of accenting is needed with added simplicity.

Another is by using a track, a device which houses several low voltage light bulbs. Usually placed along a rigid fixture, it could accommodate several bulbs and combine them together to give emphasis on a certain area.

Finally, there is the rail type, which is similar to that of using a track, but it allows flexibility for the bulbs to move around. This is a more convenient approach if ever there is a need for modified or specific angled lighting effects required on a particular landscape outline.

You may think that solar powered lights are complicated to use, then you’ve certainly got it wrong. These kind of lights are very easy to use and can give you a lot of benefits, just the same with non-solar powered lights.

Benefits

These type of lights have become popular due to a variety of reasons. The fact that, these lights are using solar power, is very appealing to people. It does not only benefit the environment, but is easier on your electric bill as well. Solar landscape lighting is also easier to install, compared to traditional wired lights.

Beauty From The Sun

One of the most frequently bought forms of outdoor lighting are solar powered lights with decorative accent. These lights come in a diversity of sizes, shapes and colors. If you position them correctly, they can serve a sensible purpose of illuminating a dark area. However, usually they are made for the use of decorative purposes.

If you are searching for a striking way to put some more life to your yard especially at night, these decorative solar powered accent lights are the right stuff for you.

Practical Lighting

If don’t give much concern on appearance, and you simply want a solar light for practical function, you may favor preferring a path light, or a solar powered spot light.

Solar powered spotlights act just like any other spotlight. They simply focus lighting on a certain area. These spotlights are great for doorways outside your place. They can also be used to illuminate particularly dark areas in your yard. They can also be used to give light to hazardous areas, for added safety measure.

Accenting

You can also use solar powered spotlights to accent a certain feature on your landscape, especially at night. However, the downside to solar powered spotlights is that they usually entail extra power than smaller ones. Due to this reason, they frequently have cords attached, connecting them to a solar panel; instead of having a smaller and internal photovoltaic cell.

Path Lights

Solar powered path lights are another preferred pick. This is because of its practicality and beauty. These solar path lights can be positioned in various areas of your yard. You can use them to accent your favorite flowerbeds or paths. This would make a very beautiful scene in the evening.

They can also be positioned along walkways and driveways. By doing so, you can help offer a safely light-guided path. These path lights also come in various sizes, colors, and shapes. Most of them are stake in the ground. However, there are also other types that can are hung from poles or trees. Some can be strung on wires too.

No matter what kind of lighting you are looking for to brighten up your yard, you’ll definitely find a solar powered light that would answer your needs. As technology advances, more and more styles of solar powered lights for landscape lighting are brought to market. If you haven’t purchased any of these solar powered lights for your, you should try and get some. It is a great product worth buying for!