You’ve worked all month getting your outdoor space in tip-top shape for summer, so why not elevate your outdoor space with outdoor lighting? Adding lights to your outdoor space is a great way to enhance the ambiance of your home, while also allowing you to show off your beautiful yard, day or night.
However, there are a few things that can go south when adding lighting to your yard, which is why the professionals at Fusion Electric are showing you the top outdoor lighting mistakes and how you can avoid them.
Related Read: Fusion Electric: Kansas City’s Choice for Outdoor Lighting
1. Bad Placement
Believe it or not, bad placement of outdoor lighting can be just as bad as not having the lighting at all. Bad placement could result in over illumination and an overall imbalance to the look of your home. Strategic lighting can ensure safety, such as illuminating walking paths.
These lights come in a variety of styles that can also add a decorative touch to your landscaping. Additionally, if you’re lucky enough to have a pool, make sure you can enjoy it after dark. Our electricians at Fusion Electric have the skills to install in-ground pool lighting, as well as above ground lighting on the pool deck.
Placing fixtures at the incorrect angles can also result in lighting glares. When choosing the placement and angle of your outdoor lights, aim for a balance and subtlety.
Related Read: Summer Outdoor Lighting Trend: Edison Bulbs
2. Not Enough Power for Outdoor Lighting
Underpowered lights can leave your home looking underwhelming. Spending time and money on lighting your outdoor space shouldn’t be ruined by a dull light, which is why it is important to buy lights that are powerful enough to light your space. Safety and security are two of the main reasons that homeowners choose to install outdoor lighting.
The brighter your lights, the more likely unwanted guests will be seen by neighbors or passersby and the less likely they are to risk getting caught. Flood lights can be motion activated as well. Cheaper, battery and solar-powered lights are usually not enough to get the job done and appear dim, so stay away from choosing these types of lights for your yard.
If you like to entertain with food and happen to have an outdoor kitchen or cooking area, Fusion Electric’s certified electricians can make sure your outdoor cooking area is set up with the correct type of lighting, as well as outfitted with convenient and safe outdoor outlets for all your cooking needs.
Related Read: How to Prep Outdoor Electrical Outlets for Patio Season
3. Wrong Color
Keep in mind the color or temperature of the lights you are choosing. If the color of the light is too warm, it can appear as yellow-tinted light that seems dated or dirty. However, if the light is too white it can create a sterile, commercial feel.
Finding the perfect balance of color that will enhance your outdoor space, rather than take away from it, is crucial for the curb appeal and ambiance of your home. Also, you may want to consider how a bulb’s light color with shift and change as it burns out, to avoid inconsistency with the other lights in your yard.
4. Lights That Glare
Bad lighting glare can be extremely distracting to guests, drawing their focus away from the bigger picture of your outdoor space. As we noted earlier, this can be avoided by the right placement of lights, but also by not overcrowding your outdoor space with excess lighting.
If you’re still having trouble with lighting glare after you’ve corrected the placement and angle of the lights, you will want to try frosted lenses or shrouds to eliminate this issue.
5. Contrast Is Key
While balance is important in lighting your outdoor space, choosing the right contrast for your lighting is key. Contrast is achieved by using layers of primary and secondary lighting, as well as background and soft lighting to create shadows and accentuating light. These accent lights are used to draw attention to specific areas of your landscaping.
You can highlight a tree, an outdoor statue or fountain, an arbor, or even an architectural feature of your home. Accent lights can be placed on the ground to point upward (perhaps into a tree) or placed in a tree to point downward highlighting something on the ground. While they provide a beautiful glow to your yard, they are generally not used for security purposes.
Lack of contrast can make your outdoor space feel washed out and boring, but by carefully identifying the focal points of your outdoor space and adding contrast to them, you can highlight your yard’s best features.
If you’re thinking of installing outdoor lighting, leave it to the professionals at Fusion Electric! Give us a call at (913) 648-9487 or check out our website for more information!
