5 Important Tips When You Install Lighting in the Garden
Make a combination of different light sources in order to make your garden lighting system more impressive and less power consuming.
29/06/2018
1. Cut the Energy Consumption
Conventional electric garden lights tend to be bulky and, to be honest, are rather hard to install and maintain. On top of that, they consume a considerable amount of electricity. In order to cut on energy bills, you can use regular lights in combination with their solar counterparts.
Since solar lights do not require any other power source besides the sunlight they can be quite effective in illuminating your yard at night. Albeit that, you should pick the right model that fits your particular design for a maximum effect.
2. Be Creative
Make a combination of different light sources in order to make your garden lighting system more impressive and less power consuming. By merging low and high power consuming light sources in one single design you can make your back or front yard look gorgeous.
Try combining downlighting with the trees and uplighting with walls, fences or statues (if you have those at your disposal) to create stunning effects. Experiment with different combinations of light colours and be creative about them to create a perfect composition.
3. Use Protective Gear
If you are not a fan of natural energy sources, especially since you can’t rely on them 100% of the time, you can still use the regular electric lighting before going off-grid completely. The power cables that are used for this kind of lights, however, must be properly armoured or have braiding. The garden is one of those places where cables naturally suffer a lot of physical damage. Hence, there is a consistent danger of accidentally cutting or flooding the cord. That is why using high-quality extension cords can minimize those risks.
Additionally, the RCD unit will make your garden lighting more safe, especially in case of power outages. A quality Residual Current Device will provide that much-needed safety to the existing electric system in your garden in case of any electrical leaks. Simple to use, yet highly convenient and important, it can be simply plugged into the standard socket outlet.
When installing an RCD unit it is also very important to wear appropriate clothing and use necessary tools in order to prevent the electric shock. The rubber-soled boots are an excellent choice in that case.
4. Increase the Brightness
In order to increase the brightness or the illumination range and make the most out of your low wattage lights, you may use one very simple but very effective solution - light-coloured or reflective surfaces. By utilizing brightly coloured paint you can increase the effectiveness of your dim light bulbs or led lights significantly. Additionally, the light-coloured fences and walls can extend the rays of light to a wider area of your garden.
Remember that illuminating solid and massive objects like walls is more effective than trying to highlight skeletal objects such as bushes and trees.
5. Moderately Bright Is Better Than Too Bright
Don’t make your garden lighting system too bright. It’s all fine when your landscaping project looks awesome in the daylight but there are not many practical reasons for your garden to be reflected in your neighbour’s window. They may not be as happy as you are when the illumination from your garden is shining into their eyes. If you are not sure how to check if your lights are too bright you can simply take a walk around the garden when it is dark or by simply asking your neighbours.
These are just the essentials of making your garden a pride of the neighbourhood, just remember that there is no limit for perfection and that you can always experiment when you don’t like the results of your work.