Some of the most important lighting tips are those which can help you conserve energy and save money on your electricity bills. But when it comes to creating your outdoor lighting schematic, you need to consider all of the purposes it should serve.
That means safety and security of your family and loved ones as well as increasing the curb appeal of the home’s exterior among the neighborhood. In both cases, that typically means operating your lights throughout the duration of every evening. That’s roughly 10-12 hours per night, 7 nights a week, 365 nights a year.
Running your lights for such long periods of time can be a major drain on your finances. Most homeowners will opt for bulbs at high wattage as secure lighting for their backyards and front walks. As a result, these bulbs can expend a whole lot of energy as well as contribute to light pollution which can bother neighbors and have an adverse effect on wildlife.
Sure, it will deter any criminal element looking for their next target, but there’s no need to get robbed by the electric company in the bargain. You have options for reducing your energy consumption and when you work with a Professional Landscape Lighting Company, these are the concerns you should bring up as you set about selecting the right fixtures and the most energy efficient lamps.
Selecting Your Bulbs
The kind of bulb you decide to install in your fixtures can make all the difference in helping you conserve energy and save money. But while you should aim for energy efficient bulbs you must also consider putting in effective methods for controlling when the lights turn on and off.
For starters, incandescent lighting isn’t the best option when it comes to putting your floodlighting. Opt instead for high-intensity discharge (HID) bulbs as a way to get the most lighting bang for your buck. These are the types of bulbs used by municipal fixtures to keep the streets well lit. You can also choose fluorescent options but only those models that are rated safe for use in inclement weather and extreme temperatures.
Switch Options
The actual mechanism for turning the light on and off should also be carefully considered. The most popular options are motion detector switches, timers, and photocells designed to sense when daylight has arrived.
All of these mechanisms are ideal for taking the responsibility of turning your outdoor lighting on and off out of your hands. Photocells are a common feature of the newest, modern fixtures while outdoor timers can be adjusted to your preferred settings. Motion sensors are self-explanatory and they can be the most effective means of conserving energy as they are only engaged when someone walks past the sensor and the lights are switched off after a short duration of time from 30 seconds to 3 minutes in most cases.
All of these switching mechanisms can be used in conjunction with one another or at separate areas around the exterior of the property.
