Advanced Systems Make Residential Lighting Less Problematic

"Users need to do little more than plug the system together to create customized solutions for lighting deck rails, stairs, posts and landscapes that cost only a few pennies a month to operate and offer exquisite results."
"?uScott Holland, president and CEO of i-lighting.

Landscape architects across the country, via the 2013 ASLA Residential Landscape Architecture Trends Survey, were asked to rate the expected popularity of a variety of residential outdoor design elements. Of the LAs surveyed, 95.1 indicated lighting features remained a popular residential choice (the figure last year was 93.1).

Some (or many?) landscape architects who specialize in residential design may be reluctant to include exterior lighting among their services, preferring to hire lighting professionals to assure a proper lighting design and installation, and not have to worry about call backs.

Some manufacturers contend they have removed most of that lighting angst with the development of extremely reliable, energy-efficient exterior lighting that is easy to install; designed for years of daily use without changing a bulb; readily links with the other products lines of the same manufacturer; and delivers decorative, functional lighting for backyards and adjacent walkways with a flip of a switch.

According to Scott Holland, president and CEO of i-lighting, their Easy Plug Installation System "virtually eliminates installation miscues." He explains that with their harness technology, the company's stair, deck and landscape lighting kits can be installed separately or in conjunction through a series of connections using either end of the i-lighting extension cables, taking half the time of traditional outdoor lighting systems to install.

Other modern outdoor lighting features include:

• Custom low-voltage DC transformers that power significantly more path, deck and exterior stair lights without line drops.

•Advances in bulbs, e.g., LEDs, that consume approximately 80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs.

Photocells that sense ambient light and automatically turn lights on and off, a quadrumvirate of safety, security, convenience and reliability.

Remote control dimmers can be integrated into the power supply to give the flexibility of overriding the photo eye sensor (the on/off system), or to dim the lights.

Circuitry and bulbs that do not create heat, which is safer for everyone.

LAs should consider partnering with manufacturers, because they warranty their products and even help with custom-design solutions based on the submission of detailed layouts and client requests. Other prerequisites needed to handle residential lighting involve a general amount of exterior lighting expertise:

• Assessing properties at night to determine the proper amount of lighting to illuminate potential safety hazards or "hiding spots."

• Creating a balanced panorama to avoid too many lights in one area and not enough in another. For example, masonry lights can draw attention to particular outdoor elements such as statues and fountains, while decorative path lights can provide warm, ambient light in addition to increasing the safety of walks and stairs

• Making sure key exterior focal points such as decks, verandas, swings, porches and even barbecues are properly lit for safe entertaining

• Reviewing sight lines from different areas of the property, including inside the home, to remove blind spots or over-lit distractions.