Modern Outdoor Lighting
In the past several years, the demand for more modern outdoor lighting has skyrocketed. The days of having to bring ten pounds of batteries on a camping trip, or driving up your driveway in the dark are over. Thanks to the significant advances in LED technology, you can now have go on a camping trip for the weekend while using the same batteries on Sunday night that you do on Friday night. And the beauty of being able have lights turn on automatically as you walk or drive over an area in your driveway is fantastic! Not to mention lights that are recessed in your landscaping, pavement or deck.
Back in the early 2000’s, there was an explosion in the construction of McMansions. Lighting designers went nuts when it came to the inclusion of modern outdoor lighting. They were able to express themselves in a number of new and exciting ways by installing decorative lanterns outdoors, LED flood lights to light driveways and landscaping and top of the line halogen floodlights that were PIR senor activated along the perimeter of the home. This not only enhanced the ambiance of the property, but it also provided light for those approaching the home as well as alerting those inside of approaching parties. It was in these homes that fully computerized lighting systems for both the modern outdoor lighting as well as indoor lighting was first installed.
In earlier times, you’d expect that most homes would have an outdoor light mounted by their front door – traditionally, these were known as the carriage style light. These lights are still very popular today, but stainless steel fixtures fit with the modern outdoor lighting you see at many homes today. Many of these more modern fixtures feature LED lamps that give off a blueish type of light and are extremely eco-friendly. While they look nice and will save you on energy consumption, they really don’t give off a whole lot of light. If you are simply looking to light a small area – say at your front door, they are fine. But a single LED lamp will not light an entire walkway, for example.
If you appreciate a more traditional lantern, you can certainly go with the coach style. These type of lamps do suit older properties and will give off plenty of light when used with a 100w incandescent bulb or the more energy efficient 20w compact fluorescent bulb. A nice benefit of these lamps is that they normally have matching post lights for wall mounted or gate post mounted applications. These matching lamps can do a nice job in providing you with a stylish driveway entrance, not to mention additional security for your property. If you’ve got a garden on your property, adding one of these matching lights there will also provide you with some extra light while also providing a nice decorative piece. Most of these traditional style outdoor lanterns are usually cast aluminum, but are treated with a baked on paint job that will provide you with years of maintenance free service. Many of these fixtures are in place for 20+ years.
LED deck lighting has grown significantly in popularity in recent years. These lights are quite often very small individual units. They are normally linked together because one light will not be nearly enough to light a large area. The great thing about these lights is that you can simply cut holes in your decking and have instant recessed, modern outdoor lighting. Another nice thing about these type of lights is that they use a minimal amount of energy – .05 watts per unit. Despite this, they really are attractive and improve the ambiance of the area you are lighting.
In the commerical arena, recessed LED lighting provide businesses with an economical way to employ modern outdoor lighting on their premises. From footpaths to driveways and parking lots, a really appealing look can had by installing LED lighting. Add in colors such as red, blue, green or yellow and you can really have a showplace.
Where everyone is trying to do their part in reducing their energy usage these days, it’s more important than ever to employ modern outdoor lighting when looking at your exterior lighting needs. Beyond LED lighting, you want to consider P.I.R. sensors (passive infra red) that switch your light on as a party approaches and sets off a sensor. The nice thing here is that the sensor is set to shut the light off in a short period of time, assuming that additional motion is not detected, helping save energy by not keeping the light on indefinitely.
The second way modern outdoor lighting can reduce electric consumption is through the use of compact fluorescent lamps that use about 1/5 of the energy a regular tungsten lamp uses. This can save you a significant amount of money in instances where your lighting needs to be on all night. These fixtures can be retro-fitted into your existing outdoor lighting, saving you a bundle in fixture replacement costs.