Getting outdoor lighting is an important factor in making a landscape look more beautiful. It also serves the function of making the premises more secure, since it usually acts as a deterrent against people who might be interested in gaining unwanted access to the property. If you have a home or property that you want to spruce up, using landscape lighting for the outdoors would therefore be a good idea if you wanted to benefit from any of the above.
However, a question that many people have to deal with is how to make sure that the lighting is energy efficient. This is especially so when you consider the fact that to most people, having outdoor lighting is not strictly necessary. Making sure that the outdoor lighting is designed to be as green as possible will enable you to enjoy it without having to worry about the environmental impact that it’s having. In addition to that, it also has the potential to reduce the cost of running the lights. Some of the successful things that people have tried to do to achieve this include:
Using energy-efficient lighting
This is usually the first step in reducing the energy consumption in any lighting unit. In the lighting industry, there has been a drive towards the manufacture of more energy efficient solutions, and this in turn means that it will not be difficult for you to get your hands on some of them. Technologies such as LED lighting tend to consume very little energy, last longer and do not pollute the environment as much as other types of lighting options. Besides, there are some manufacturers who have designed energy efficient lights that can be put in place of the regular ones without much of a fuss. This means that if you have incandescent lights, you won’t need to replace the whole lighting system; you only need to buy the new bulbs and put them in place.
Restrict the number of lights you will put up
If you are thinking of getting some outdoor lighting for the front or back yard of your house, arranging them in an arbitrary manner is not recommended. You may end up buying more lights than you need. This might make the outside too bright when you use them, and it might also drive up the cost of using the lights. To avoid this, you should carefully determine how much light you need, and then buy the number of bulbs that will just fit this need. You may also need to arrange the lights in a strategic manner to ensure that each individual bulb lights up the outdoors to the maximum.
This might not be easy for you to do alone, but with the help of an outdoor lighting specialist it can be done in a matter of hours or even minutes.
Get lights that are solar powered
If you are going to install a number of poles on which the lights will be placed around the compound, you could explore the possibility of getting solar powered units. These are usually designed in such a manner that the upper part of the pole has a solar panel whose sole purpose is to provide energy to the bulb. There are some varieties that can be connected to the mains so that in case of not having harnessed enough solar power, they can draw power from the electricity mains.
In addition to the energy savings, one of the other benefits of using this technology is that it can allow you to get light even if there is a blackout. With advances in the technologies used in harnessing solar power, most of the units tend to have batteries that can power the bulb for a long time.
Make sure the lights are automated
Another way to save the environment would be by getting automated lights. These have light sensors on them, so that in case of having enough ambient light they will automatically switch off. This reduces the chances of forgetting to switch off the lights every morning. These sorts of lights tend to cost a bit more than the regular ones, but you will end up recouping the extra costs due to the savings you make. This is especially so if you have a large number of them.
Develop habits that will enable you to save energy
If you already have outdoor lighting and still want to save energy but don’t want to spend any money on it, you can simply change the way you use the lights. Behaviors such as making sure that the lights are off whenever there is enough ambient light and switching off the ones you don’t need might seem minor, but they go a long way in reducing how much energy you waste in the long run.
All in all, there is a lot you can do to reduce energy wastage on account of your outdoor lighting. Put some of the above mentioned tips into practice today!
