Tips for Lighting Exterior Spaces

An outdoor lighting plan's appeal is a matter of individual taste, but bad engineering and glaring problems can be avoided.

• Use several sources of light in a large area, otherwise, and particularly if there is just a single high wattage fixture, the light can be harsh and glaring.

• Build switching flexibility into the design to accommodate the different ways you use your outdoor space. Some lights just don't need to be on all the time.

• Be careful about placement of pathlights in the lawn. Remember, you have to mow it, and when riding lawnmowers and a fixtures battle, the fixture loses.

• Prepare for voltage drop. Place a few 120V outlets throughout your exterior space to support special needs - catering, music, yard work, etc.

• Use care in matching photoelectric cells with fixtures. A motion sensor paired with the wrong industrial fixture equals a very bright strobe light. Appropriate for business security, sure. But for a party in your home's backyard, not.

• Place fixtures where strong light won't shine through yours or a neighboring home's windows.

• Vertical light placements are an efficient and elegant source of light that are underused in most outdoor lighting plans. They can provide downlight (moonlight), area light or trellis light, and, they keep fixtures out of footpaths.

• Don't set pathlights too closely together. Position light sources far enough apart so that the pools of light gently overlap.


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