Landscape lighting extends the hours you have to enjoy such pleasures as swimming, gardening, entertaining, reading, eating or relaxing in your outdoor spaces. Landscape lights are also important safety and security devices. Outdoor lighting can highlight bushes and trees or accent the architectural style of your house, improve curb appeal, and give a lasting first impression when guests arrive at your home. The functions of landscape lighting are endless, and deciding which functions the lights will perform in your particular landscape will help you choose the best fixtures and layout plan to use. Outdoor lighting fixtures come in a variety of styles and finishes to meet your stylistic and functional needs, just make sure to look for the UL rated approval for damp locations label when shopping for outdoor lighting to ensure the fixture can endure varying weather conditions.
Low-voltage, high-voltage and solar are the three types of landscape lighting systems available, but there are many options when it comes to layouts, fixtures and techniques that you can create on your own or with help from an electrical contractor. Low-voltage lights run along a wire from a transformer plugged into an electrical socket; low-voltage systems use very little electricity. Solar lights don't require any wire, instead, individual fixtures are just stuck in the ground where needed and are powered by sunlight. High-voltage lighting, also called line lighting, requires a separate circuit in your house's electrical system, which means hiring a licensed electrician.
Before you get started, it?? important to create a landscape lighting plan, just as you would plan other landscaping aspects. First, measure the perimeter of the yard and the distance from your house to the property line and guess the sizes of other objects, then sketch your yard on a piece of paper. You don't have to be a professional designer to do this, just be sure to include all trees, bushes, sheds, pathways and flowerbeds and to draw their shapes accurately. You'll also want to locate your home's circuit breakers or fuse box and any outside sockets. Next, consider the different styles and functions of the lighting fixtures you have to choose from. Do you want your lighting to stand out or fade into the landscape? Do you want it to match the architectural style of your home? Do you want to highlight certain areas of the landscape? Consider lighting techniques like grazing, shadowing, spotlighting, and silhouetting.
You will need to evaluate the necessity for task, accent, and general lighting in your outdoor space. Refer to the exterior lighting glossary below to understand the lighting options that are available as you make your plan. It is easy to get loset in the myriad of interesting lighting choices available today.
Bollard: A short vertical post on which a landscape light can be mounted.
Brick Lighting: A versatile wall light that can be built into a brick wall or brick pathway to create a custom, unobtrusive look.
Cowl: A hood-like structure used on spot lighting to focus the direction of the light.
Cross Lighting: The use of two or more light sources from below to illuminate an object from different directions.
Dark Sky Regulated Lighting: Dark Sky Regulated refers to lighting fixtures that cut glare, prevent light trespass, and reduce light pollution and sky glow to eliminate wasted energy. Communities are now passing legislation to enforce environmentally sound outdoor lighting practices.
Deck Lighting: Lights that are mounted directly onto the surfaces of walls, fences, decks or can be built into posts or steps. These lights create a visual effect and help to direct foot traffic around steps, benches, railings, while adding an extra measure of safety.
Down Lighting: Mounted from above, these lights are focused downwards, usually to highlight areas for overall general lighting, such as patio illumination, or above an entrance to the home.
Flood Light: An indiscriminate way of lighting an area that is usually associated with outdoor security or utility functions. The light is projected in a broad beam, and often blends into the landscape of a home.
Glare: Glare is often felt by motorists at night when your pupils adjust to the darkness. A passing car with high beams will cause momentary blindness because of your eyes night time state. Home and business lighting can have the same effect on motorist's eyes. By aiming lights downward or using a visor, glare can be prevented.
Grazing: Light that is placed to shine across a surface such as a brick or stucco walls, or natural surfaces such as tree bark to bring out the depth of their texture.
Illuminated Water Features: There are a variety of landscape lights that are meant to illuminate water features. Whether it is lighted birdbaths, lighted fountains, pool lighting, or shallow ponds accent lights, waterproofed landscape lighting can help you enjoy your landscape water features at night.
Lens: Accessory lenses come in a huge variety and are used for different things. A lens can be used to prevent glare, create a soft focus, intensify highlighted areas of light, provide additional water protection, or filter colors for a changed lighting effect.
Louver: A term used for narrow openings or slats in a panel that allow light to come through.
Low Voltage: Low-voltage lights run along a wire from a transformer plugged into an electrical socket; low-voltage systems use very little electricity, and are one of the most commonly used exterior lighting types.
Motion Detector: Motion-detector, or motion sensor, systems will automatically turn on the lights whenever anyone walks past the sensors. The motion-sensor switch simply replaces one of your standard light switches. It also has a time-delay feature, so that when you leave the area, the lights will turn back off after a pre-set time interval. The degree of motion sensitivity is adjustable also.
Path Lighting: The principal objective in path lighting is meant to spread light across walkways and paths to promote safe and efficient movement of foot traffic to your home?? entrances. Path lighting is also a great way to add decorative accents to your landscapes when used selectively.
Post Lanterns: Available in different shapes and sizes, these lanterns mount on top of deck and fence posts.
Remote Photo Control: A remote photo control is an accessory that automatically turns lights on and off during daylight hours.
Rock Guard: A rock guard is an accessory used for well lighting that prevents the wear of glass by protecting it from rocks and other objects that may come in contact with it.
Security Lighting: Security lighting may be designed to illuminate a landscape or building to create a direct visual deterrent to criminals; consider lighting areas of your landscape where intruders could potentially break in. Some ides for security lighting devices include a remote photo control accessory automatically turn lights on and off during daylight hours, a photo sensor accessory deters trespassers, and when motion is detected, the outdoor lights come on for five minutes, and don?? forget lights that highlight signs that announce that your home is protected by a security system.
Shadowing: The process of using lighting to create interesting shadow shapes, lighting can be used to project shadows of trees, plants, statues, etc. on horizontal and vertical surfaces.
Silhouetting: Essentially the same thing as back lighting, silhouetting illuminates a silhouette of an object from the rear.
Sky Glow: Urban residents often forget what the night sky looks like because of the city's sky glow. This can also happen in suburban and rural areas when exterior lighting is installed incorrectly. To prevent sky glow, properly installed exterior lighting will light areas for security and accent purposes.
Solar Lighting: Solar collection panels absorb energy from sunlight and convert it into electrical power that is stored in highly efficient rechargeable batteries. As the sun sets, the solar lights turn on. In ideal situations, fully charged solar lights remain on for up to 15 hours. All solar-powered lighting requires a sufficient amount of sunlight to recharge the batteries. Solar lighting performance is based on the amount of sunlight received during the day. No wiring is required, and solar lighting is easier to install than low voltage lighting, and are a great way to use natural, renewable energy sources!
Spotlight: A concentrated beam of light that illuminates only a specific area, used especially to center attention on a designated structure.
Stems: Lighting accessories that are used for landscape lighting and act as a stake or rod-like base for mounting path lights.
Transformer: An electrical device that transfers energy from one circuit to another purely by magnetic coupling. People often wonder what kind of transformer they need; a basic guideline is that the maximum number of lights that can be connected is determined by the total wattage of all the fixtures attached to the transformer system. If the transformer is 100-watt, the total wattage must not exceed 100 watts. For example if you had 10 garden lights with 10-watt bulbs, you would need a 100 watt transformer. Do not exceed the maximum wattage capacity, if your total wattage is too high, divide the load between two transformers or look for a more powerful transformer.
UL Listing: UL stands for Underwriters Laboratories, and is a well-known testing laboratory that develops standards and test procedures for materials, components, assemblies, tools, equipment and procedures, chiefly dealing with product safety and utility. When you see a UL listing, it means that this product has been tested and permits acceptable and safe usage under the specific terms listed. It is important to make sure that landscape lighting is UL listed for damp or wet locations in order to stand up to the natural elements that it may endure.
Up Lighting: This technique provides a dramatic effect, the light source is mounted or recessed in the ground and angled upwards to display and highlight a tree, sculpture or structure.
Well Light: Well lights are inconspicuous ways to throw light upwards and are usually installed in the ground, sometimes even inserted when concrete or pathways are being built.
Orignal From: Exterior Lighting Glossary
No comments:
Post a Comment