Outdoor Lighting Tips

Outdoor lighting is definitely easier when you have a helper. It's difficult to know by day exactly how the lighting is going to look at dark. No doubt you will need to make some adjustments when you first turn the lights on. Just experiment with them until you come by things just the way you want them. It's time to hide the electrical cord between the lamps. You could bury it an inch or two underground, but I recommend you clearly cover it up with bark dust or whatever other medium matches the surrounding district. The reason for that, is that plants grow and exchange shape. A shrub that looks great lit up with outdoor lighting, can grown enough to actually cover over the lamp in the next season, and you will need to remove parts of it.

On the assumption that you have not yet installed outdoor lighting in your yard, you are in for an authentic treat. Not only will you be adding a whole new dimension to your yard, you will be doubling the use of it with outdoor lighting.

In general, outdoor lighting is provided to the DIY homeowner in a variety of styles. One of the most popular includes 10-12 lights, 100' of electrical cord and an easy to set timer. Installation couldn't be simpler. One simply lays out the 100' electrical cord throughout the area then attaches the desired style lamp with a firm pressure on the cord. The idea being, each lamp has exposed prongs and when pressed into the cord, they make the proper connection to light up when turned on. Of course you are not defined to light up only 100' of your yard. However, you will need to purchase additional sets as one electrical cord can only safely handle so much wattage.

The lamps themselves generally come in low post lamps designed spare for pathway lighting and spotlights designed for a specific centre of activity. Some sets come with a combination of both, which is useful for small areas.

Some manufacture of outdoor lighting offer colored lenses at an additional cost. These too can be particularly dramatic when in focus upon a white statue or moving water. While a great idea, so far I have not been impressed with any outdoor lighting that runs by solar competence. If you have no electricity nearby, consider the use of using tick torches to light up your yard on those special occasions. Just make sure they are well stabilized and aren't anywhere near anything flammable, including tall plants and trees.

Trees are particularly beautiful when lit at night. Try setting a spot light about 6' in front of the tree and directing the light as high as potential. Perhaps an even more dramatic look is to place the light high up in the tree and direct the shine downward. Try it both ways and descry, which look you like best.

When setting your spotlights, consider carefully what you want to focus upon. Could it be a piece of garden statuary, a fountain or a beautiful shrub? Key being, the distance you set the spot light from your focus object. Start out with a distance of about 3 feet elsewhere from the object, setting the spotlight to shine slightly upwards.

Be sure that your yard is going to look different at dark then it does during the day when you incorporate outdoor lighting. In general, it's going to look a lot more beautiful as you can set up the lights to focus on exactly what you want to demonstrate.