We have been designing/installing and maintaining outdoor lighting systems for 10 years, and I think I’ve heard just about every concern that people have regarding outdoor lighting. In 2014 lighting is the #1 requested feature for people who are improving their outdoor living spaces. I decided to pick the top five questions we hear and give a brief summery answer. I think we’ll tackle this in a countdown format, from least asked to most asked.
- Is there a good solar lighting option available? The short answer is no, not yet. The primary problem with solar lighting is that solar collection panels are very inefficient and in order for a solar fixture to put out a lot of light, the panel would have to be a lot bigger than the fixture. The solar panel charges a battery in the fixture which powers an LED chip. To get as much light as possible from that chip it has to be blue in color instead of the nice warm white that we all love. So, solar fixtures put out very little light and the color is poor. The one solar option that is available is to build a solar collection system and solar cell which then operates an LED lighting system. We have done this very successfully.
- How hard is it to take care of my outdoor lighting system? About six years ago LED started to make its way into the outdoor lighting world and really changed the game. When we were installing halogen lighting systems ten years ago we would recommend quarterly maintenance checks to replace burned out light bulbs, clean the baked on water minerals off the fixture lenses and check the entire system for any other issues. This could become expensive and it was hard for the homeowners to do themselves. Now that we have LED, it’s much simpler. There are no burned out light bulbs to change, and since these fixtures put out very little heat, cleaning hard water off of the lenses is very easy to do. Now we recommend only semi-annual, or sometimes even yearly maintenance, and homeowners can save much of the expense by managing it on their own.
- What about the color of the LED light? A lot of people still think of LED lighting as that ugly blue light that you see in cheap Christmas lights. That color can also be seen in cut-rate landscape lighting. We can actually order that color in high quality landscape lighting products, if we need that color for some specific application. But, LED lighting color has come a very long way and a quality product can look just as good and warm as the halogen lighting we were using when we first started our business. I’ve actually put people to the test and placed LED products in their yard along with halogen and asked them to pick out the LED — and they couldn’t do it. So, don’t let color hold you back from an LED upgrade.
- Are you going to dig up my yard? I don’t know of any professional outdoor lighting company that uses a trencher for putting in lighting wire unless they are installing high voltage products where electrical codes require the wire to be buried at 18” deep. Low voltage lighting wire only has to be placed 6” deep and that can be done easily with a simple flat spade. When the wiring is installed this way, the lawn remains undamaged. This also keeps the installer from cutting into irrigation lines.
- How much will it cost? This is the number one question to no one’s surprise, I’m sure; and one we have addressed before in different ways in this blog. But the answer is very subjective. A lot goes into the pricing of an outdoor lighting system including the cost of the lighting fixtures, wire, transformers, hardware, labor, overhead, insurance, gas to fuel the trucks – and more. Because there is great variance in the quality of companies offering this service, there is also great variance in prices. If a contractor is installing discount materials that they get from the internet, and they work out of the back of their car, then they’re not likely to charge nearly as much as a professionally trained designer/contractor company using quality products manufactured by reliable companies, purchased through reputable distribution (this is most helpful for warranty issues), carrying proper insurance with overhead expenses like well-trained technicians, vehicles, office space and other costs that go into conducting a small business with integrity.
I would say that a quality outdoor lighting system installed by a reputable company will cost anywhere from the $2800 ballpark for a small design to anywhere outside the park altogether, depending on how many fixtures are being installed, the fixtures chosen and where those fixtures are to be located on the property. Remember – each home is individual and each outdoor lighting system should be custom designed to meet the needs and desires of the homeowner.
I hope this helps you when you think about adding outdoor lighting to your outdoor spaces. Contact us here for a consultation.
