Landscape Lighting

You’ve created a beautiful yard that reflects your home. Just because the sun goes down, doesn’t mean you should have to stop showing it off. Entertaining guests also shouldn’t end just because it’s dark out. Outdoor lighting can provide safety and security, and beauty to your landscaping.

Outdoor lighting is vital to your home’s safety. Besides making a home look pretty, outdoor lighting installations will:

• Light pathways and steps for safe walking.
• Light doorways and garages for safe exits and entries.
• Deter criminals from approaching your home.
• Make your home appear safe and welcoming to invited guests

The First Step in landscape lighting is providing for the safety of your family and guests. Visitors will especially need to see where they are walking at night. Steps and paths should be illuminated to make walking easy. This type of lighting is called traverse lighting because it lights your path. Traverse lighting is important in the front of the home and especially in the back. Decks and walkways can be dangerous for visitors at night. Traverse lighting will prevent injuries and accidents.

Travers lighting and security lighting are equally important. These lighting methods can be done at the same time if your budget allows it. Sensory flood lights over entrances and exits are key for a secure home. Intruders are less likely to attempt break-ins within well-lit areas. Nipper Electric can install all your security lighting and traverse lighting. We also use clear cut pricing to help you budget additional landscape lighting.
Landscape Lighting Design for Entertaining

Beyond the necessities, landscape lighting creates extra space to entertain. This lighting, sometimes called ambient lighting, gives homes a new place to play. Ambient lighting describes soft lighting that is installed in spaces meant for entertaining. This lighting should be enough to see your guests, but not glaring. Fixtures should be installed where they don’t shine blindingly in anyone’s eyes. Nipper Electric can even install heating lamps to keep you entertaining guests all year long. Our customers love our work and you will too.

Most landscape lighting ideas focus on feature lighting. This form of landscape lighting comes in many different styles. Feature lighting includes:

• Accent Lighting or Spotlighting – Used on main features like statues, trees or walls.
• Spread-lighting – Used to illuminate low-lying landscape features, like flowers or shrubbery.
• Cross-lighting – Uses two lights facing opposite each other that work to shine on a feature and show many angles.
• Shadowing – Lighting is behind a feature to create beautiful and dramatic shadows.
• Silhouetting – Recessed lighting is placed behind and beneath the feature to completely light it up.

We can handle all these landscape lighting installations as well as put in underwater lighting for other features.
Landscape Lighting Water Features

Underwater lighting features can make your back yard look like a vacation getaway. Installing lights in shallow ponds, behind waterfalls and even pools, also prevents injuries. Waterproofing and safety issues can be confusing for beginners. Any water installation is best left to the professionals. We will check your existing circuitry and outlets to be sure they are fit for underwater lighting. They will also help you choose the best bulbs for any project.
Choosing Energy Efficient Landscape Lighting

Now that you have a beautiful landscape lighting ideas, you need to find the bulbs that best suit your needs. Low Voltage installations are always a good choice. Risks, particularly when involving water, are fewer with low voltage systems. Which one to choose though?

Halogen Lighting

• Give a warm soft glow that people prefer.
• Bulbs get hot, so they can’t be placed too close to plants.
• Must be replaced every 8 months to a year.
• Cost more to run.
• More difficult to install.

LED Lighting

• Safer than Halogen lights.
• Cost less to operate than other bulbs.
• More expensive to purchase initially.
• Last a long time, so your savings comes over time.
• Can have a blue tinge to them that people don’t like. Using warm white LED bulbs gives the best effect.
• Can light large areas with little power.