I’m writing this blog in the early days of fall and it feels amazing here in central Texas this morning. Although we still have high temperatures in the 90’s by mid-day, the mornings have been really nice. It’s been a pretty mild summer for us and I’m thinking it’s going to be a pretty darn cold winter this year.
We have two teams out and about this week performing maintenance checks on all of the outdoor lighting systems that we take care of. When we install a new landscape lighting system here in the Austin area and central Texas, we include two years of free maintenance. This includes two visits a year to clean lenses, cover any wire that may have become exposed, check voltages, inspect the transformer, adjust fixtures for plant growth, and maybe even trim some plants that may be interfering with the light from the fixtures.
We also perform this same service for those older lighting systems when the client has opted into our Comprehensive Renewable Maintenance Contract. Some of our older halogen systems (installed before we became so passionate about LED) may need a few lamp changes as well. Any lighting system, but particularly halogen, that was installed more than three years ago will actually need even more attention to insure that it is operating at peak performance at all times. A few lights out in a halogen system can cause the whole system to deteriorate pretty quickly.
There are even a few lighting systems out there that we did not install originally, but have been asked to maintain for a variety of reasons.
All of these systems in our care have something in common: they are all well maintained.
Any complex mechanical or electrical system requires attention, cleaning and tweaking now and then. Just like a car needs regular oil changes, or the A/C unit needs air filters replaced, your landscape lighting system needs regular maintenance too to remain operating at maximum efficiency. Remember, landscape lighting operates in the outdoor environment every night of the year; and is exposed to the climatic elements 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Under such harsh conditions, even the highest quality products will fail prematurely if they are not taken care of properly.
A professional outdoor lighting system is not cheap; in some cases that system could cost as much or more than the car you drive. It is important to protect that investment just as you protect the other systems in your home. We recommend a maintenance check at least twice a year for optimal performance. We do our maintenance checks around early spring and early fall because this is the time when our clients will be spending more time outside, and we want them to get the very best effect from their lighting while they can enjoy it and show it off the most.
If you are located in our central Texas service area which includes Austin, Lakeway, Bee Cave, Spicewood, Horseshoe Bay, Georgetown, Round Rock and Kingsland and more, and you think your landscape lighting could use a good ‘check under the hood’ please contact us here.
