Choosing the appropriate landscape lighting for your front or back yard can be unnerving. You could easily get lost in a sea of information from the sheer number of things to consider. Here are some tips to shed light on the topic and help you make a more informed decision.
Bulb Type
One of the first things to decide is what type of bulb to use. Incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, and LED bulbs would all work just fine outdoors. But LED bulbs hold the advantage over all the other types.
LEDs can be more expensive but are several times more durable, ultimately saving you more money from doing frequent replacements and costly electric bills.
Bulb Brightness
The play between light and shadow during night time is part of the charm of your landscape. The brightness of the bulbs would have a lot to do with this, and it is measured in lumens.
Flooding your yard with bulbs of the same brightness gives your landscape a bland and boring feel. Vary the lumens of your bulb. This is depending on the desired effect of play between light and shadow.
Power Supply
You also have the option to hard-wire your landscape lights to the power supply in your house, install a step-down transformer for lower voltage, or use a solar panel.
Hard-wired lighting systems have the same power as the one inside your house. Using a step-down transformer reduces the risk of shock and allows you to run the wire on the ground without using conduits. Solar panels, on the other hand, are better for places with much sunlight.
Lighting Type
The last decision to make is to choose which types of landscape lights to use. To have an idea of what you want, go out to your yard at night and choose which fixtures interest you the most and would like to highlight.
These are some of the lighting types to choose from:
Path lights – these are used to light pathways, walkways, and driveways, mainly for safety reasons.
Spotlights – used to highlight a particular feature by focusing light on it. You can vary the angle and position of spotlights to highlight fixtures such as a tree, a fountain, or a part of a wall.
Floodlight – illuminates a wider area compared to spotlights.
Well, lights – these are similar to spotlights except that they are buried in the ground and can only shine upward.
Step and deck lights – used on stairs and railings. Similar to path lights, they are installed mainly for safety.
Post cap lights – provide additional lighting to decks and porches.
If you are considering landscape lighting in Tampa Bay, look no further and try Lanai Lights. Lanai Lights manufactures and installs innovative lighting systems you will not find anywhere else. They are the only company to offer a patented lighting system, the Captiva Model.
Brighten your yard at night with Lanai Lights. Call them at 877-818-8445 and 239-415-2561 or visit their website at www.lanailights.com for excellent landscape lighting in the Tampa Bay area and landscape lighting FL.
