What to Consider When Purchasing Landscape Lighting
A lot of people nowadays put more focus on decorating the interior of their house. People spend a lot on furniture, art pieces, and everything else that can improve the looks and feel of their houses. However, most of them forget that it’s just as essential to make your outdoors look fantastic as well. When decorating your outdoors or your lawn, plants and landscaping always come into mind. Those who do improve their lawn put a lot of effort into gathering the best plants and getting the landscaping right. Sometimes, people do landscaping as it can help increase the value of their property. However, many people don’t realize that lighting plays a vital role in literally “giving light” to all their hard work. Without the proper lighting, all the hard work put in will only reflect during sunny days. Therefore, it’s important to add the element of lighting to your lawn or garden. With that said, here are some things to consider when purchasing landscape lighting.
The Size of the Area
Before you buy anything related to outdoor lighting, always consider the size of the area you’re going to light up. A lot of times, people make the mistake of thinking that more is better. Not only are you buying a lot of stuff that you won’t need, but you’re also wasting a lot of money that could be put elsewhere. Consider getting advice from landscaping artists and professionals if you’re on a budget and want to spend less on lighting.
Planning and Placement
Speaking of area size, you should also consider where you’ll place your lights. Planning and proper placement of lighting also eliminate the need for spending too much. When it comes to lighting, less is often more. Take advantage of layering by using a combination of several types of lights. These bring out a lot in a garden or yard without having to use many lights.
Purpose
Before buying your lights, it’s also best to know what you’ll use these lights for. Will it be used to illuminate a large, dark place? Try using fog lights. Will it be used to highlight a cool-looking garden piece? Use a spotlight with good accent lighting to show off that piece. How about highlighting walkways? Path lights and well lights work well with this purpose.
The Right Wattage and Fixture
In outdoor settings, most prefer using low-wattage fixtures due to their practicality. A low wattage fixture is more than enough for you to see your porch or for other decorative purposes. However, you may need to use a fixture with higher wattage in darker areas. The higher the wattage, the brighter an area becomes.
Solar or LED
When choosing lights, you can’t go wrong with solar and LED. Although LED lighting also saves up on electricity costs, solar lighting beats it by a mile. If you prefer going wireless, solar is also a good option as most solar-powered lighting is self-contained. The only drawback with solar lighting is that you need to place it in areas where sunlight is abundant for it to have power and light up sufficiently. LED is another good choice aside from the downsides mentioned above. If you want to place lighting in more unconventional areas, LED is your best bet. LED lights shine bright no matter what and can be more affordable compared to solar lights. Although wires will be involved, the wiring that comes with outdoor LED lighting is durable and waterproof. These wires are also easy to hide.
Takeaway
The perfect home looks good both in and out. To further add to the aesthetics of your home, consider the outdoor area of your house. With proper landscaping, you can make your entire area look incredible. Of course, don’t skimp out on the lighting. Even with the best plants and landscaping work, it’ll all be for nothing if you don’t have the proper lights. Above are some of the tips to consider when buying landscape lighting.
