Tripping Danger
In the summer, we have light until well after 8:00, but in the cold winter months, the skies can be completely dark before everyone gets home from work. The darkness can obscure trip hazards, including icy patches or uneven ground. Of course you want to be sure that your family is safe from trip hazards, but if you have company, an accident could even lead to financial liability if someone is injured on your property. To avoid any type of injury from tripping due to darkened walkways, path lighting is often installed.
Path lighting can come in various forms, such as garden lights, downlights, stair lights, and flush, or in-ground lights. Path lights are often used strictly to illuminate walking paths to avoid tripping or having people walk on plants adjacent to the walkways. For this purpose, the best options shine down on the ground and avoid producing upward glare.
Garden style lights have a cover that prevents light from shining up into visitors’ eyes. Downlights are angled down for the same purpose. Stair lights can shine onto or out from the stairs, and in-ground lighting uses soft illumination since it does point upward.
Intruders
The second type of danger that outdoor residential lighting can help prevent is unwanted visitors. Thieves or prowlers of any kind will be less likely to target a home that is well lit. For this purpose, path lighting aids in general illumination, but uplighting of the home’s façade or foundation, or even rows of trees and shrubs, will eliminate shadowy hiding places. If you prefer something more subtle, security lighting that is motion sensitive can be a very effective deterrent as well.
Ambiance
When you make an investment in creating an outdoor living space, you want to be able to enjoy the space all year. Outdoor residential lighting can make the outdoors even more festive at night than in the daytime. You can have multiple levels of lighting to meet different outdoor activities. For example, if you are entertaining your children’s friends who will be using the pool and spa, you may choose in- ground lighting as well as pillar lights, cap lights on walls, lamp posts or pavilion lighting—for water safety and a bright, fun atmosphere.
If you are entertaining a few friends with quiet conversation or dancing, or if you are just enjoying conversation under the stars with your spouse, you may want more subtle lighting or a fire pit. An outdoor lighting designer can give you all sorts of personalized options to suit your taste.
Highlighting
Homeowners who have invested time and money into a beautiful landscape or special architectural home features often want those elements to be visible at night as well as during the day. In fact, in the Main Line area, many home landscapes are even more beautiful and dramatic at night when the right outdoor residential lighting is in place. Uplighting can be used for more than just adding security. Placed correctly, uplighting can add elegance and grandness to a home’s façade. Intricately planted and trimmed trees, shrubs and other aspects of your softscape can be shown to best advantage with a combination of uplighting and path lights or lamp post style lighting.
