{"id":1400,"date":"2015-04-10T14:48:03","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T20:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/night-scenes.com\/?p=1400"},"modified":"2015-04-10T14:48:03","modified_gmt":"2015-04-10T20:48:03","slug":"austin-landscape-lighting-controls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/night-scenes.com\/2015\/04\/10\/austin-landscape-lighting-controls\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Landscape Lighting Controls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are just a few landscape lighting controls to consider<\/h2>\n

Thankfully, the technology innovators have blessed all of us control freaks with a plethora of choices for controlling many of our home\u2019s systems \u2013 including outdoor lighting. All you have to decide is exactly how much control you really want. Here are a few landscape lighting controls to consider:<\/p>\n

\"Wrong<\/a>
Typical mechanical timers are unreliable<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All too often when we are servicing a lighting system that we did not install, we come across the typical plug-in mechanical timer. You know the one I\u2019m talking about, with the red and green pins that allow the system to turn on and off. Simple, but problematic. The biggest drawback with these cheap timers is that whenever the power goes out for a few minutes, the timer stops working; and if the power is out for a couple of hours, the timer is a couple of hours off. This means that your landscape lighting is now turning on and off two hours late. Also, since sunrise and sunset change every day, you really need to reset the on and off times about once a month to keep the system from operating during the daylight hours. Hardly a convenience when it comes to landscape lighting controls.<\/p>\n

You can add a photo cell to the timer so the timer turns the system on before dusk, and the photocell then over-rides the system \u201con\/off\u201d timer until it gets dark enough for the lighting to come on. Then the timer can turn the system back off at whatever time you like \u2013 midnight, perhaps. But you still have the problem of the timer constantly getting fouled up by power outages.<\/p>\n