Goodbye daylight savings...Hello outdoor lighting

The return to "standard time" means it will be getting darker sooner. Are you ready for this?

Is it "fall forward and spring back"? ...or "spring forward and fall back"? I always have to stop and ask myself this every year. Well, there is one thing I never forget -- the daylight hours are getting shorter, whether or not we remember to move our clocks back an hour on November 3rd. That means we need to start using more outdoor lighting.

At one time, landscape lighting meant a single lamppost by the front door or at the end of the driveway that was used more for hanging a wreath during the holidays than providing substantial lighting. Times have changed. Today, outdoor lighting has become a feature of landscape design. There are so many creative ways to use outdoor lighting in a landscape -- even Thomas Edison would be impressed.

Environmental Construction is always creating new and interesting landscape features, including new ways of using outdoor lighting in a landscape design. At night, it is the use of outdoor lighting that makes a home attractive and welcomes the dinner guests. Lighting placed in a fountain, pool, or pond is especially delightful.

Be sure to check out our collection of outdoor lighting ideas at Pinterest.com for some really unique ideas.

As you consider outdoor lighting, also think about how you can save energy. We recommend placing your outdoor lights on a timer so they do not remain on all night. We also suggest using LED lighting.

There are so many types of LED lights available now and the technology is doubling in efficiency about every 5 years. That means, compared to LED lights that were purchased 5 years ago, outdoor lights are now either twice as bright or twice as efficient. It used to be that you would need several 100-watt bulbs to light up a patio area, but today just a single 20-watt LED bulb will do the job.

There are LED lamps that actually have three lighting elements in them -- red, blue, and green. These can be controlled to create a number of colors. Create a nighttime garden that is constantly changing color, mimic the sunrise and sunset, or set your lights to change with the season or a special holiday.

Environmental Construction can install a variety of lighting styles: low voltage, solar, color changing, hidden lights, walkway and water feature lighting, lights that turn on based on proximity or through phone/internet commands, etc.

Now is the time to light up your landscape...for the beauty of it, safety, and low cost.

Contact us by phone or request a consultation through our website and let us know how we can help with your landscape design project.

Category: Landscaping Ideas