OUTDOOR ILLUMINATION Lights fantastic
Solar lighting isn't the best outdoor lighting choice for our area, because there isn't enough sunshine.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
When evening falls and darkness blankets the neighborhood in dusky blue, which home on your block will look the most charming and welcome?
Probably the home with outdoor landscape lighting.
In spring and summer, outdoor lighting helps lengthen the time homeowners spend in their yards, gardens and patios, and in fall and winter, the yellow glow of outdoor lighting casts dreamy shadows across snowy walks, barren trees and holiday displays.
But outdoor lighting is about more than after-dark ambience.
Safety, too
It can also make pathways safer to walk on at night and help deter potential intruders.
"Most people install outdoor lighting strictly for looks, but a well-lit yard can also help discourage thieves," said Stephen Zentko, owner of Moon Shadows Landscape Lighting in Poland. Zentko has specialized in low-voltage outdoor landscape lighting for several years and said the trend continues to grow in popularity.
"These days, people are spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on their home's landscaping. They enjoy the landscaping during the summer, and then fall arrives and the days get shorter and they can't see their landscaping anymore. Outdoor lighting lets people showcase their landscaping all year long," Zentko said.
Homeowners can choose from two types of outdoor landscape lighting: low-voltage and solar lighting.
However, solar lighting has distinct disadvantages in northern climates.
"In our area, hardly anyone uses solar lighting because we just don't have enough sunlight to generate intense solar light on a regular basis," said Kirk Parker, of Warren Pump and Supply, a Warren company that sells outdoor lighting products to landscapers. "After a cloudy day, the solar lights may not generate any light at all."
The difference
On a sunny day, a solar light will provide a maximum of only about 10 watts of light, while a low-voltage light can provide up to 50 watts of light, Zentko said.
"Low voltage lights are also maintenance-free, and some bulbs have a life expectancy of three to four years," Zentko added. "They're also inexpensive to operate. You'll pay only about $10 per month to operate low-voltage lights with 20 to 35 watt bulbs."
This figure is based on about four hours of usage per day.
"Most people connect their low-voltage lights to timers and burn them from about 8 p.m. to midnight daily," Zentko explained.
Installation of low-voltage lighting takes only about one or two days.
During the installation process, low-voltage wires are connected to a transformer that's typically mounted in the home's garage.
"The wires are buried in narrow trenches about 4 to 6 inches below ground, which means disturbance to the yard and garden is minimal," said Dan O'Shaughnessy, owner of O'Shaughnessy Landscape Design in Warren.
Risk of electric shock is also minimal.
"Since the wires are low-voltage, you won't get hurt if you accidentally cut into them," O'Shaughnessy added.
Low voltage wires also pose no threats to pets and can be run through water if necessary.
Installation decision
Although homeowners can safely attempt low-voltage light installation on their own without enlisting an electrician, Zentko and Parker recommend leaving big jobs to the professionals.
"There are small, do-it-yourself low-voltage light kits for sale in stores like Lowes. These kits contain about five lights and are geared for the do-it-yourselfer, but I wouldn't recommend trying to install anything bigger than that on your own. It's one of those things that seems easier than it really is," Parker said.
Zentko said that nicely done large outdoor landscape jobs require an artistic eye and a knowledge of landscaping.
"Outdoor lighting should be understated," Zentko said. "You don't want to actually see the lighting fixtures. You want to see the object they are lighting. And you have to know where and where not to put lights. Lights should not reflect off of windows since this causes a glare, and lights should not be arranged down a path so the path looks like a runway."
Both O'Shaughnessy and Zentko said outdoor lighting overkill is an easy mistake to make.
"Often people who do a job themselves tend to overdo it," O'Shaughnessy said.
Zentko said a 2,500-square-foot home on an average-sized lot usually needs only about 15 light fixtures.
Zentko typically uses lights to showcase paths, trees, rocks, fountains, flagpoles, ponds, statuary and sometimes the house itself.
"It depends on the home and the landscaping. I always ask people what they like about their house and what they want to showcase," Zentko said.
Zentko prefers understated light fixtures in subtle shades of black or shades of copper to match mulch.
"Fixtures are becoming more glitzy, but I steer away from that," Zentko said.
Parker said there has been a recent explosion of different colors and styles.
"Black, copper, weathered copper and stainless steel are still the most popular fixtures, but you can order a custom-made hot pink outdoor lighting fixture if you want to," Parker said with a laugh.
O'Shaughnessy said it's OK to mix and match a few different styles.
"We usually use a couple of different styles in the same yard," he said.
Holiday spirit
During the holiday season, many homeowners like to replace the clear glass in their outdoor lighting fixtures with colored panes of glass.
"It enhances the holiday mood," Parker said.
The cost of having outdoor landscape lighting installed will vary depending on the size of your home and yard.
Zentko said he charges about $1,400 to $1,800 to install low-voltage lighting in an average-sized yard around a 2,500-square-foot home.
"That cost might seem high initially, but the longevity and the ambience of the system and the cheapness of operating it make up for it," Zentko said.