One of the advantages of living in Central Florida is that homeowners can sit outside on their patio year round. It does get awfully hot and sticky during the summer months, which is why so many people wait until after dark to enjoy the outdoors. Of course, without lights, it’s going to be awfully difficult to see who you’re talking to! That’s why it’s a good idea to hire someone to do a patio lighting installation. Orlando, Florida has its fair share of landscape lighting contractors – some good, some not. Make sure you ask friends for referrals and check references.
While you search for someone to do the job, here are some exterior lighting ideas to consider for your patio lighting:
Deck Lighting – Create ambient lighting effect for your deck by putting light fixtures on posts. As an added safety benefit, the lights signal the railing location too. Low voltage LED fixtures that run on 12-volt current are much safer than regular 120-volt household current too. If you’re having a deck constructed, make sure the posts have a hollow channel inside that will allow the wiring to be run through.
Low-Voltage Wonderland – Much of the exterior landscape lighting Elegant Custom Images installs is low-voltage. When homeowners decide to the DIY route and install railing lights and uplighting for trees themselves, they may find that the exterior lights are dimmer than they expected. You can avoid that by making sure your transformer is sized for your lighting scheme. A professional landscape lighting contractor or electrician can install one of these for you.
Directional Lighting – If you live along the coast in a community like Palm Bay, you’re no doubt aware that outdoor lights may attract baby sea turtles. That doesn’t mean you can’t have any light outside. Make sure your low-voltage light fixtures for stairs and walkways are casting light downward at the walking surface. Use amber LED bulbs in fixtures with hoods so the light projects down for safety and doesn’t attract the sea turtles. Ask your contractor to use solid brass hoods and marine-grade wiring to resist corrosion.
Downlighting – Aiming lights downward through foliage near your patio will create a moonlit affect. If you don’t have mature trees nearby, another option is to install fixtures in a patio cover or pergola. The pergola acts as a ceiling and can support many different styles of light fixtures that are made for outdoor use. Another option is to add fixtures to a wall or column at the edge of your patio. Ideally, this should be done during construction because the fixtures have to be integrated into the wall itself. This type of lighting will illuminate the surface of the patio in a similar way to how path lights illuminate walkways. If you want to add lights to a concrete column, don’t despair. It can be done. We recently core drilled into solid concrete for a client, put an in ground light under a column, then ground out a slot to bury the wire. It wasn’t an easy job, but it was well worth the effort, as you can see:
With all above mentioned Qualiteis also avoid the Top 3 DIY Landscape Lighting Mistakes if you are going with DIY for landscape lighting installation.
If you’d like more exterior lighting ideas for your home or patio, contact Elegant Custom Images today for a free estimate. We design, install and maintain landscape lighting throughout Central Florida.