The perfect lighting outside your house is great at enhancing the beauty of it; however, choosing the wrong outdoor lighting can spoil the whole environment. Knowing what kind of lighting will suit your house and garden is important. Your dream to stroll down the garden in the evening with the lights creating the perfect ambience and the wind slowly blowing on your face can come true; you just have to know what, and how, to get the right outdoor lighting for your place.
Outdoor lighting is also helpful for security reasons. When the days get shorter, especially in winter, outdoor lighting can lengthen the day and dramatically change the environment of your outdoor living spaces. With proper planning you can also create your outside space for entertaining your guests.
Types of Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor lighting can be divided into four categories:
Security lighting: This lighting is used for lighting up the vulnerable areas of your property. It is advisable though to keep it away from the living areas so it’s not distracting, as the lights used are bright, and often motion activated. You can also have a manual on/off switch for your lighting so that you can override automatic illumination.
Task lighting: This type of lighting is for specific purposes such as outdoor grilling or walking safely up and down steps and along paths. Task lighting should be kept between your eyes and the object that needs to be lighted. See to it that it does not glare, as an overly bright light will blind rather than guide.
Christmas Season is the most anticipated holiday of the year and most of us get busy during the months that end in –ber . Some of us are going already to bazaars to look for great gifts for our family and relatives, while some are also busy decorating the house with garlands and twinkling commercial christmas lights.
Accent lighting: This can create a dramatic effect, or highlight an unusual feature. For example, uplighting can illuminate an interesting piece of statuary. Silhouetting can be achieved by keeping thelight between the object and your fence or wall. General or ambient lighting can display overall lighting so that people feel comfortable and look good.
Moonlighting or starlight - You can also imitate moonlight or starlight for creating magical lighting. Moonlighting can be produced by putting outdoor lights in trees. The lights should be pointing downward to create a dappled effect, as if the area were lit by a full moon. And what could be more beautiful than natures own gift to us – stars in the night! This can be imitated by suspending tinylights in the branches of a tree to create a sparkling night time canopy, or by using flickering candles, sprinkled here and there throughout the space.
Tips to remember:
No matter what type of lighting you want, remember not to over-do it, as less is more when it comes to lighting. Don’t use lights where they’re not necessary, and you can also be subtle by using a low watt bulb. Also be careful not to send light ”upward”. Never use lights in straight lines up and down paths like the airport runway effect which is a very common error.
Avoid using yellow lights as they are unflattering to both people and plants. Instead use blue-white bulbs or purchase daylight-blue filters for your fixtures. The lights should be kept where they are easily accessible for changing light bulbs. After setting up your outdoor lighting, get outside after dark and light up the night!
Light Emitting Diode or LED lighting has been in existence for many years, mainly in niche applications like small trinkets and indicator lighting. However, due to LED lighting being highly energy efficient, not to mention technologically superior over other light sources such as incandescent and fluorescent lighting, it is forecasted to reach beyond electronic applications into commercial and home LED lighting as well. In a recent report by Global Industry Analysts it is predicted that the market for fluorescent and LED lighting could climb to $97 billion by 2010. The spike in growth would be mainly from construction and industrial development industries.
As more individuals become aware of the energy efficiency of LED lighting, the price of such items as LED bulbs will decrease in price. Currently, the price of one LED bulb is substantially higher than the price of incandescent or fluorescent lighting. However, the initial price for LED bulbs would more than pay for itself in the long run. On average, one incandescent 60-watt bulb lasts 1,000 hours whereas one 2-watt LED light bulb lasts 60,000 hours. Therefore, one would need to purchase 60 incandescent bulbs for every one LED light bulb.
Home LED lighting is a cut above the rest when it comes to energy efficiency. As compared to incandescent lighting, LED lighting wins hands down where energy consumption is concerned. For every 60,000 hours of usage, incandescent lighting uses approximately 3,600 kWh of electricity where LED lighting uses 120 kWh. Bottom line: energy efficiency equals a significant cost savings. LED lighting gives off directional light. Therefore, it is useful as a source of light for reading or spotlighting in the home. Its powerful light output also makes it great for outdoor floodlighting and path illumination. LED bulbs are now available that can replace most halogen or fluorescent light bulbs used in the home.
If you want to see the beauty of your garden, the trees you’ve cherished, the pond you bought and all other landscape features you have chosen for your home at night then low voltage outdoor lighting is the right tool for you because it gives lovely effect to your landscape.
Although LED lighting may not be useful for all home lighting needs, replacing a few bulbs with LED bulbs would have a noticeable affect in the amount of electricity used.
LED light displays are already used in signs and videos in many indoor and outdoor sporting events and concerts. LED video displays and signs are often preferred because of their higher brightness, which is critical when people are viewing a sign or video from a long distance. Added advantages of LED video displays are their capacity to incorporate curves and 3-D design. This makes LED video displays technologically superior to currently available large screen displays. Research and developers in the consumer electronics space are eager to take advantage of this overwhelmingly useful technology in future products.
Other uses for LED lighting include LED flashlights and key chains, automobile taillights and interior lights, and LED based projection televisions. LED lighting is also being used in the military for LED flashlights that work with night-vision goggles, UV-LED canteen water treatment devices and the sterilization of surgical equipment.
With LED lighting being more energy efficient and technologically superior to many other light sources, numerous LED light applications are sure to evolve. Future generations can expect to consider LED lighting as the standard light source for most lighting applications.
~Ben Anton, 2007
