Top 6 Tips When Choosing Your Outdoor Lighting

Your home’s beauty shouldn’t just be on the inside, but the outside as well. No matter how comforting it is to have a great-looking interior design, you’ll be in awe once you see the beauty of your house’s exterior. While you can always add a great yard and use an excellent patio design, these might not be able to highlight the beauty of your home during nighttime.

Outdoor lighting plays an essential role in boosting your home’s appeal. Apart from increasing your property’s value, outdoor lighting can also help emphasize and highlight your hard work during the night. However, you should be careful about which types of fixtures you should add to your home. Luckily for you, listed below are the top tips when choosing outdoor lighting.

#1 Check Light Rating

There are three types of light ratings that you should confirm before purchasing outdoor lighting as they can highly affect its performance, longevity, and safety inside your home. The three rating types are as follows:

Dry Rating – This type of light is strictly for indoor use only, with no exposure to any water and moisture. This would go best inside the living room, bedroom, dining room, basement, attic, and foyer.
Damp Rating – This type of light can go indoors and outdoors, as long as there’s no direct exposure to water. Moreover, this can handle damp environments, such as the kitchen, bathroom, carport, and covered patio.
Wet Rating – This type of light can perform well under heavy rain, snow, and ice. It’s great for any outdoor environment, especially with direct exposure to water and snow.

When exploring the three rating types, determine which one would go best for your outdoor lighting. However, if you’re confident that your area always experiences harsh rain throughout the year, you might want to consider going for a wet rating for all of your outdoor lighting just to be sure.

#2 Choose Power Source

Different outdoor lighting types have various power sources. While these might seem to be minor factors when deciding on your lighting options, they can significantly affect the brightness of the fixtures, their reliability, as well as your electricity bill. Moreover, listed below are the various types of power sources for outdoor lighting:

Electrical – This power source is one of the most basic ones. Electric-powered lights are connected directly to your home’s electricity. However, similar to your home’s energy source, your lights won’t work during power loss.
Battery – Battery-powered lights require replaceable batteries. These can be great during nighttime parties as you don’t need them turned on for a long period. Moreover, these are best suited for decorative use and not recommended for general outdoor lighting.
Solar – This power source gathers its energy directly from the sun. Solar-powered lights refill their energy fuel from the sun’s rays, lighting up your home during the night. These types of lights can be very economical as you no longer spend on electricity or batteries. However, they might not emit the brightest light.

As you decide which outdoor lighting would work best for your household, you should consider the maintenance that comes with them, too. Ideally, you should go for electric-powered ones if you need lighting near your house. However, you might want to distribute some solar lights so your home could still light up during the night, even with a power loss.

#3 Number of Lights

Adding numerous outdoor lights can be enjoyable, however you need to be careful about how many you should add as they can be an eyesore during the night. The last thing you’d want to happen during the night is to see your house glow up like a star, and not in good a way.

When adding outdoor lights, it’s wise that you place them at least six to eight feet apart. This will help ensure that the entire place is well-lit, without the lights being too overpowering. While you can always put them closer, you might risk making your home intensively bright.

#4 Size Matters

When shopping for outdoor lights, checking their sizes is highly important. It’d be best to consider if they’re too large or too little for your home. Moreover, you should also consider their heights, especially if you’re planning to use a ceiling pendant light for your entryway and patio. This will help increase your home’s curb appeal, while also ensuring the safety of everyone as they could avoid bumping into the hanging light.

For your wall lights, you must try to keep their size to one-fourth or one-third of the door frame’s size. This will help provide a balanced look, not overpowering your home. For your pendant lights, it’d be best if you could place them at least six inches above the door to avoid making the light glare at the people entering the room. Moreover, if you’re putting a pendant light by the table, you should place it at least 30 to 34 inches above the surface.

For your outdoor garage lighting, you must place the light at least 12 inches above the door. For the size of the fixture, you should multiply the width of the garage by 0.25 if using a single door or by 0.33 for double doors. This will help provide the perfect balance, giving your outdoor lighting enough light and a great ambiance.

#5 Types of Lights

As you decide on having outdoor lights, remember that there are plenty of lights that you can choose from. These will help amp up the beauty of your home and increase its value. The way you balance the lights can make or break your outdoor lighting design, and even the whole exteriors.

Here are the different types of lights you could choose from:

Ceiling Lights – One of the most basic and popular outdoor lights is ceiling lights. These will level flatly on your ceiling, giving your home a straight downward light. These are pretty straightforward as you’ll only have to worry about their width and frame finish.
Wall Lights – To help highlight the beauty of your house’s sidings, using wall lights will help emphasize their texture and color. These can also stand as decorations, filling blank spaces on your walls. Depending on where you’re placing them, they can run through electricity or solar energy.
Hanging Lights – Similar to ceiling lights, hanging lights are attached to your ceilings, usually by pendant fixtures. However, if you’re planning to use them, ensure you install them extra tight as strong winds can easily blow them away.
Post Lights – If you have a large yard, using post lights will help provide maximum brightness in a 360-degree-range. These will also help add beauty inside your property, along with a romantic ambiance, especially if you’re planning to add them to your garden.
Shrub and Tree Lights – If you’d want to emphasize the beauty of your garden’s trees, shrubs, flowers, and wall garden, using shrub and tree lights would be the best option for you. With this type of lights, it can help highlight their beauty as they can stand as spotlights. You can easily place them on the ground, and they can instantly add depth to your garden.
Decorative Lights – One of the most popular types of outdoor lights are decorative lights as they can really help add beauty to your yard. As you add decorative lights, you can choose to light them up every night or only during special occasions. You can go for table lamps, string lights, or even party lights.

As you explore your outdoor lighting options, it’d be best if you could try to align their design to your exterior theme. Moreover, you should use similar material finish for a unified look.

#6 Check for Fixture Finishes

Various outdoor lighting types will use different fixture finishes. With the multiple options that you can choose from, ensure that you go for ones that you’re willing to maintain in the long run, as it can be tiresome.

Here are the finishes that you can choose from:

Copper – One of the most popular choices for material finishing is copper. This color is pretty much low-maintenance as darkening can help make it look more natural. For maintenance, you can add a clear coat. However, you can just leave it as it is to maximize its natural beauty.
Matte Black – For a modern look, going for matte black has been a popular choice. This would go well with modern, industrial, and minimalist homes. In addition, it can also help provide a contrasting color and emphasize the beauty of your home.
Aged Brass – If you’d like to go for a timeless and traditional finish, using aged brass would be your best option. Ideally, you should look for one that’s aged chemically as it can provide maximum durability.
Polished Nickel – If you’d like to have a unique finish for your home’s exterior lights, polished nickel is the way to go. Ideally, it should go over rust-proof brass for a longer lifespan.

When choosing a lighting fixture finish, you must consider the primary metal it uses. Ideally, it should handle intense weather conditions for it to keep its shape for as long as possible.

More Tips to Optimize Your Outdoor Lighting

Choose energy-efficient LED lights to reduce electricity costs and increase the longevity of your lighting.
Use motion sensors to turn lights on automatically when movement is detected, providing added security.
Place lights in strategic locations such as doorways and walkways to improve visibility and safety.
Mix and match various lighting types, including wall lights, lanterns, and spotlights, to create a visually appealing outdoor environment.
Consider the style and design of your outdoor lighting fixtures to ensure they complement your home’s architecture and aesthetic.

By following these tips, you can create an inviting and well-lit outdoor space that not only looks great but also provides increased safety and security for your family.

Published in: Outdoors | Author: Lynn