Author Archives: Majestic Outdoor Lighting

The Allure of Landscape Moonlighting

Landscape moonlighting offers a multitude of benefits that enhance your outdoor space:

• Extended Enjoyment: Extend the usable hours of your outdoor living areas. With strategic lighting, you can comfortably enjoy your patio, deck, or garden well into the evening for entertaining, relaxation, or simply admiring the nighttime beauty of your landscape.
• Enhanced Security: Well-placed lighting deters unwanted visitors and improves nighttime visibility around your property, providing a sense of security.
• Visual Drama and Depth: Strategic lighting can add dramatic effects, highlighting key features of your landscape like trees, water features, or architectural elements. Moonlighting creates a sense of depth and dimension, making your outdoor space appear more expansive and inviting.
• Increased Curb Appeal: A beautifully illuminated landscape enhances your home’s curb appeal, adding value and creating a lasting first impression.
• Improved Safety: Proper outdoor lighting illuminates pathways, walkways, and steps, preventing accidents and creating a safer environment for nighttime navigation.

Landscape Moonlighting Techniques

There’s a variety of lighting techniques to create a captivating moonlit landscape:

• Uplighting: This technique involves placing lights at ground level, casting light upwards to illuminate trees, shrubs, and architectural features from below. Uplighting creates a dramatic silhouette effect and adds visual interest.
• Downlighting: Downlights are strategically placed at higher elevations, such as on trees or soffits, casting pools of light downward. This technique highlights specific elements like pathways, patios, or water features.
• Path Lighting: Low-level lights placed along walkways, driveways, and steps improve nighttime visibility and safety while guiding movement throughout your landscape. Path lights come in various styles, from bollards to solar-powered options.
• Moonlighting: This technique involves placing lights high in trees, mimicking natural moonlight filtering through the branches. Moonlighting creates a soft, diffused light that adds a touch of magic and ambiance to your landscape.
• Spotlighting: Spotlights strategically placed highlight focal points in your landscape, such as sculptures, fountains, or unique plantings. Spotlighting adds emphasis and draws attention to specific features.
• Grazing Lighting: This technique involves placing lights at an angle to skim light along walls, fences, or water features. Grazing lighting adds a subtle glow and creates a sense of texture and dimension.

Choosing the Right Landscape Lighting

When selecting landscape lighting, consider these factors:

• Purpose: Identify the primary purpose of the lighting. Is it for safety, highlighting features, creating ambiance, or a combination of these?
• Style: Choose lighting fixtures that complement the overall style of your home and landscape. Options range from traditional to modern, and selecting the right style ensures a cohesive aesthetic.
• Light Color: Warm white lights create a more inviting atmosphere, while cool white lights offer better visibility for security purposes. Consider using a combination of light colors to achieve the desired effect.
• Lumens and Wattage: Lumens measure the brightness of the light, while wattage refers to the energy consumption. Choose fixtures with appropriate lumens to achieve the desired level of illumination while considering energy efficiency.
• Spacing: Proper spacing of lights is crucial for even illumination and a visually pleasing effect. Refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations for specific fixture spacing.

Landscape Moonlighting Tips for Success

Here are some valuable tips to ensure your landscape moonlighting project is a success:

• Create a Lighting Plan: Before purchasing lights, sketch a plan of your landscape, marking the areas you want to highlight and the types of lights you envision in each location. This plan helps visualize the overall effect and ensures you purchase the necessary fixtures.
• Start Simple: You don’t have to illuminate your entire landscape at once. Begin with a few key areas and gradually add more lights over time.
• Less is More: Avoid over-illuminating your landscape. Subtlety and strategic placement are key to creating a captivating nighttime ambiance.

Consider Light Pollution

Be mindful of light pollution and choose fixtures that direct light downwards, minimizing light trespass onto neighboring properties and preserving the natural night sky.

• Nighttime Testing: Once you’ve installed your lights, take some time to walk around your landscape at night and assess the effects. Adjust the light direction, brightness, or add/remove fixtures to fine-tune the overall illumination and achieve the desired ambiance.
• Low-Voltage Lighting: Consider using low-voltage lighting systems. These systems are energy-efficient, safe to install yourself, and offer a wide variety of lighting options.
• Professional Help: For complex landscape lighting projects or if you’re unsure about electrical work, consider consulting a professional landscape lighting designer or electrician. They can create a customized lighting plan, ensure proper installation, and advise on the best lighting solutions for your specific needs.

Conclusion

Landscape moonlighting, when implemented thoughtfully, can transform your outdoor space into a magical nighttime haven. By understanding the various techniques, choosing the right lighting, and following these tips, you can create a captivating and functional illuminated landscape that enhances your home’s beauty, safety, and enjoyment for years to come. So, embrace the creativity and transform your backyard into a moonlit oasis! Call us now at (817) 345-3696 for exterior moon lighting in Fort Worth and Dallas, TX.

More Reasons Why Outdoor Lighting is Important

Accident Prevention:

Outdoor lighting helps prevent accidents and injuries by illuminating potential hazards such as steps, uneven terrain, obstacles, and low-hanging branches.

It reduces the likelihood of slips, trips, and falls, particularly for elderly individuals and young children who may have difficulty navigating in the dark.

Facilitation of Emergency Response:

In the event of an emergency, such as a medical crisis or fire, outdoor lighting facilitates emergency response efforts by providing clear visibility for first responders and rescue personnel.

Illuminated addresses and pathways help emergency services locate properties quickly and efficiently, potentially saving valuable time during critical situations.

Property Enhancement:

Outdoor lighting not only enhances safety and security but also enhances the aesthetic appeal and value of your property.

Thoughtfully designed lighting fixtures can accentuate architectural features, landscaping, and outdoor living spaces, creating a welcoming ambiance and improving curb appeal.

To maximize the safety and security benefits of outdoor lighting, consider installing a combination of lighting fixtures strategically placed around your property, including floodlights, motion-activated lights, pathway lights, and accent lighting. Additionally, opt for energy-efficient LED fixtures and utilize timers or motion sensors to minimize energy consumption while maintaining effective illumination levels. Regular maintenance and periodic adjustments to lighting configurations can help ensure continued safety and security for your home and surroundings.

What is the History of Outdoor Lighting Options?

In the past, incandescent bulbs were the only option in lightbulbs, but today, we have improved with LED lights. Many benefits are going with LED outdoor security lighting that makes LED lighting so different than incandescent bulbs.  LED is the abbreviation for Light Emitting Diode. The work with electrical currents passing through microchips and illuminates the tiny light sources, the LEDs. The benefits of LED light bulbs include:  

• LESS ENERGY: An outdoor security lighting system with LED bulbs will help lower energy bills, reduce carbon emissions, and minimize landfill waste with the burnt bulbs. 
• COLOR CHOICES: Using an outdoor security lighting system with LED bulbs you have a wide choice in color tints thanks to the light-emitting diodes of each bulb. White light is created by using several hues mixed, or colors can be mixed to achieve a different color of ting. 
• EASY TO POSITION: An outdoor security system with LED bulbs makes it easy to control the positioning. This can reduce the chance of fire hazards. 
• TURN ON IMMEDIATELY: Most CFL bulbs used in an outdoor security lighting system have to warm up before they are fully light. LED bulbs light up immediately at the flip of a switch. 
• COOLER: Using LED bulbs in an outdoor security lighting system burns cooler than traditional incandescent bulbs, making them safer. Ninety percent of an incandescent bulb is wasted to heat not lighting.
• EASY DISPOSAL:  Today, with environmental concerns, many cities are making it difficult to throw out incandescent bulbs because many of them contain mercury. An outdoor security system with LED bulbs will last longer and when they are burned out, they are easily disposed of. 

What is the best security light for outside a business or home?

Darkness attracts burglars and the intended goal of outdoor security lighting is to make the outdoor spaces secure from those burglars and other unwanted visitors. Properly placed outdoor security lighting makes a business or home a less attractive target, and an important aspect of LED lighting is the amount of lumens! 

What are lumens? 

Lumens are how the brightness of LED lights is measured. The more lumens, the brighter the light. For an outdoor security lighting system, experts recommend starting with 700 lumens, depending on several factors such as: 

• Location
• Area
• Purpose

What is the best exterior sensor light?

Lighting experts recommend using flood lighting with a motion sensor. They are directionally adjustable and when the sun goes down, they come on automatically with any motion, and off during daylight hours. With motion sensor lights as part of your outdoor security lighting system strategically placed, any unwanted visitor is startled and runs off. 

What are the most familiar types of outdoor security lighting?

There are four types of outdoor security lighting for any business owner or homeowner: 

• Continuous lighting: This is the most common type of outdoor security lighting. This design of lighting provides controlled lighting and greater projection.
• Moveable lighting: This type of outdoor security lighting is operated manually and contains either flood lights or moveable searchlights that are positioned in selected places as temporary lighting. This is a common security lighting around construction sites.
• Standby lighting: This type of outdoor security lighting consists of continuous systems and is designed to be used either reserve or stand-by man and can supplement continuous systems.  In the continuous mode, they can be set to engage automatically or manually. 
• Emergency lighting: This type of outdoor security lighting may duplicate any or all of the other lighting listed here and is used during a power failure or any type of emergency if there are issues with inoperative lighting. This type of lighting can be used on batteries or a generator if needed. 

How long will an outdoor security lighting system with LED bulbs last? 

When properly installed and maintained, an outdoor security lighting system with LED light bulbs can last 10 and 15 years. A professional lighting service can add a driver change to extend that lifespan. 

Light Up Your World! 

When you’re concerned about the safety of your business or home, installing an outdoor security lighting system can give you comfort and peace of mind, and with LED bulbs, you won’t see a major increase in your energy bill. When combined with your alarm system, burglars and other unwanted visitors are frightened before any damage or theft can occur. Many business property and homeowner insurance policies may offer a discount on the policy with both an outdoor security lighting system along with an alarm system. Call us now at (817) 345-3696 if you need outdoor security lighting in Fort Worth and Dallas, TX!

How much energy do LED lights save?

In a residential setting with ENERGY STAR-rated products, LED landscape lighting uses 75% to 90% less energy than standard incandescent lighting.  How long do LED landscape lights last? Studies have found that LED landscape lighting last mover than 20 times longer!  

Is LED landscape lighting less expensive? 

The initial cost to install the LED landscape lighting fixtures typically costs more upfront. However, the ROI comes from the long lifespan of the bulbs and energy savings. 

What type of LED lights are best for outdoor use? 

If you’re a DIY homeowner, you may wonder if any LED lighting be used outdoors. The answer is yes if the LED landscape lighting you choose to install is properly housed and sealed. An important fact about LED lighting you need to know is the IP rating or the Ingress Protection.

Ingress Protection is the degree of protection for outdoor lighting against liquids and solids infiltrating. The higher the IP rating, the better protected the LED outdoor lighting fixture. 

What types of LED landscape lighting are available for the outdoors?

The right LED landscape lighting can transform your basic boring backyard into a luxurious, wonderful area of entertainment and relaxation. Like a lot of things in life, less is more with LED landscape lighting. It can be easy to get carried away, lighting up every aspect, corner, and detail of your yard, but it isn’t necessary and tends to create a washout look. 

Using the following types of LED landscape lighting sparingly and positioned in the ‘right’ place can provide the same results of a well-lit yard that can accent your home:  

• Floodlights / Spotlights.
• Inground Lighting.
• Outdoor Post Lighting.
• Path / Walkway Lighting.
• Deck and Steps Lighting.
• Underwater Lighting.
• Hardscape Lighting.

What color temperature is best for LED landscape lighting? 

A few facts about LED lighting that you should understand when choosing your LED landscape lighting bulbs and fixtures. Starting with the amount of light that comes from LED lighting is measured in lumen. The higher the lumen number, the brighter the lighting. And vice versa, the lower the number, the dimmer the lighting. 

Next is the color of the LED lighting. Color temperature is how the lighting is measured in a blueish or yellowish tint. High-temperature lighting is bluish and low-temperature lighting is yellowish. The differences in color temperature have an effect on how the color is rendered and the mood, setting the emotional impact of the environment.

The various colors of LED lighting include: 

• Very Warm White 2200K: The lowest color temperature for white lighting. Often installed outdoors around fireplaces and hot tubs.

• Warm White 2700K:  the most commonly installed for LED landscaping lighting. It provides a soothing and welcoming environment. 
• Natural White 3000K: This provides cooler lighting that accentuates the blues and greens in the landscaping vegetation.
• Cool White 4000K:  This bluish LED lighting is used when blue-tone landscaping is the focus, like blue spruce, and where a simulated moonlight appearance is desired.

If you’re going to be installing LED landscape lighting for outdoor living and entertainment areas, professional lighting services recommend 2000K to 3000K for a warm lighting effect. This rate of lighting is easy on the eyes and still puts out enough lighting for safety and seeing what’s around you. 

Is LED landscape lighting waterproof?

LED landscape lighting that is rated at IP65 is sufficiently protected from liquid, solid, or other foreign objects infiltrating the lighting fixtures. If the outdoor lighting you have installed is to be left illuminated semi-permanently, it should be rated at IP65 or higher. 

What is the main purpose of outdoor garden lighting?

The definition of outdoor garden lighting is fixed artificial lighting that illuminates areas around the home. They provide a lit visual for outdoor activities and a safety feature with a strategic pathway while giving your lawn a golden glow. There are three main purposes for having professionally installed outdoor gardening lighting:

• Security: 

Today, we may be more aware of making our homes secure. Outdoor garden lighting around your home can provide a layer of security, a decrease of over 30% fewer crimes according to studies by law enforcement. 

• Safety:

Choosing outdoor garden lighting not only provides a layer of security, it also provides safety around the exterior of your home. Placed in the right areas, it can light up pathways and walkways, entrances, gates, and more.

• Ambiance: 

Good outdoor garden lighting gives your home an inviting feeling for visitors. With low-voltage string lights across the patio or in the trees, your home can quickly become a  place to be a cookout, party, and visit.

What are the key areas for placing outdoor garden lighting? 

Placing outdoor garden lighting enhances your home’s exterior once the sun goes down. They can also keep bugs at bay with the right lightbulb. The best places for garden lighting include:

• Deck
• Patio
• Hot Tub Area
• Swimming Pool 
• Pathways, Steps, Walkways
• Inside Tree Branches
• Floodlight Upward In The Trees
• In Flower Beds and shrubs
• Along Retaining Walls
• Around the Home Exterior 

What voltage is the best for garden lighting?

Outdoor garden lighting comes in line voltage, like when you plug a toaster or hairdryer into a wall socket. Here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, this is 120 volts. And it comes in low-voltage, 12 volts like your smoke detectors. It is the low-voltage garden lighting that is commonly used for two key reasons: 

• Easy to work with
• Easy to install

What is the best type of outdoor garden lighting? 

In simple terms, you want outdoor garden lighting that does what you need and want. This may be with solar lights, but keep in mind they aren’t bright and won’t last as long as hardwired lighting. For brighter lighting where you can have control over the timing, hardwired, low voltage is the better choice and is available in a variety of styles.

What styles does outdoor garden lighting come in?

When lighting up your garden, using pathway and walkway lights is a popular choice. The small post fits into the ground and the built-in light is capped with a diffuser. With perfect spacing, you can frame a certain area or feature in your garden, or light up around a garden pond or the driveway.

Transform the exterior of your home with these outdoor garden lighting properly spaced to brighten the garden, path, and yard. Some outdoor garden lighting can give the space a beautiful, warm setting with these seven types of fixtures:

1. Bollard Lights: This type of garden lighting will shine light in all directions. 
2. Flood Lights: These are the most useful garden lighting to brighten a large area with high brightness, great for illuminating above the driveway. 
3. Garden Lights: Installing these in natural areas where you can showcase your favorite flowers and plants with a mushroom-type of light shining downward. 
4. Spotlights: Available in different brightness to illuminate the patio, plants, statues, or walls. 
5. Step Lights: Installed on walls and beside the stairs and makes for a safe path. 
6. String Lights: When strung through trees and over hardscapes, these provide a subtle light that creates a picturesque scene.
7. Up/Downlights: These spotlights provide a wide range of use, like creating a pattern on a wall or bringing a statue to life.

Benefits to Water Feature Lighting

There are many benefits of water feature lighting that many people do not realize, some of which are: 

• Promotes a Healthier Environment: Water feature lighting provides soothing sights and sounds that can help de-stress the day. This de-stressing lowers blood pressure and helps improve your mental and physical health as you enjoy the therapeutic effects that Mother Nature has to offer.
• Provides Relaxation: The sound of the water running in a water feature lighting setting encourages and promotes relaxation. To sit by a water feature and listen to the water running or see nature swimming around in a pond can ease the mind into a relaxing mode, you can feel the stress leave the body. 
• First Impression: Water feature lighting creates a tranquil environment that is soothing for you and your guests. They may not realize they are stressed until they sit by your water feature lighting and feel the ease taking over their body and mind. 
• Define Your Garden: Water feature lighting in and around your garden and landscaping will provide a unique definition to your home. It creates a new focal point and interest. 
• A Stylish Effect: A water feature lighting in your garden will give it a designer touch to your property with movement, sight, and sound. 
• Wildlife Attraction: With running water accompanying your water feature lighting, your garden will become a sanctuary that attracts native wildlife. With songbirds adding to the beauty, it becomes even more relaxing and enjoyable. 
• Increased Value: Real estate experts have found that a home or business with well-maintained landscaping has increased value and when water feature lighting is added, it increases it even more.  A water garden with lighting adds curb appeal and increases your property value. 

Where should lights be placed in a waterfall?

To add enjoyment to your water feature and waterfall, water feature lighting is just what you need after the sun sets. Landscape lighting isn’t just for the deck, patio, or swimming pool. Position path lighting at the top of the waterfall, and water feature lighting behind the waterfall drop to give this beautiful addition to your home a focal point. What is a waterfall if you can’t enjoy the beauty after dark? 

What lights to use on a water feature?

It is a personal taste, but most water feature lighting systems are set up to highlight a pond and waterfalls. If your pond has a fountain or statue in the center where the water comes from, lighting that from the bottom will give the water flow a beautiful glow in the evening hours.

How do you light water features?

There are two key reasons for adding water feature lighting to your gardens and landscape. The first is a perfect solution for deafening noise pollution from the neighbors and street traffic. The other reason is to give your landscape an added element of tranquility. 

 Water feature lighting should feature the things of beauty and inspiration in your garden and landscaping. This includes your aquatic plants and life, the unique statuary, and the hardscaping you’ve installed. And there are two types of water feature lighting that should be used for the perfect ambiance: 

• Downlights:  This creates moonlight when installed above the water feature and is installed in the surrounding trees. It creates a diffused, natural look that mimics the moonlight.
• Underwater: With this submersible water feature lighting facing upward is ideal for your aquatic areas. The waterproof light fixtures should be positioned under the surface, directed upward to create an effect with up lighting that is beautifully backlighting the aquatic life. 

Do you leave water features on all the time?

When you have a water fountain that operates on gravity, simply keeping it clean of any debris is your only concern. Water features today are installed to recycle the water, so it isn’t wasting a natural resource. You can turn it off if you’re going to be away for an extended time. 

Lights, Camera, Action!  When should water feature lights be turned off, or should they? Water feature lighting will be installed with a timer. That time can be set for the lighting to be on from dusk to dawn because there is no reason to have the lights on during the day.

Enhance outdoor appeal with water feature lighting in Fort Worth and Dallas, TX! Majestic Outdoor Lighting is who to call at (817) 345-3696.

As a retail business or restaurant, commercial outdoor lighting for signs speak volumes for advertising your business. If your restaurant is one of several on a block and your signs are partially lit and there is no outdoor parking lighting, chances are, hungry patrons are going next door or down the block. Why? With poorly lit commercial outdoor lighting, including your logo signage, it appears you’re not open. Or worse – your service may be as poor as the lighting! 

How much does commercial lighting cost?

Well, that depends on what type of commercial lighting options you choose. Today, while businesses are wanting the commercial outdoor lighting that tells everyone “Hey! We are open! Shop here! Eat Here!”, they know they need to be environmentally conscious. To that end, we recommend going with LED lighting. 

It isn’t cheap to retrofit commercial outdoor lighting but keeping your eye on the prize of increased business, the ROI is on the horizon. An average small business can spend between $10,000 and $20,000 for a led retrofit. A mid-sized business can spend as much as $60,000 with a large business spending up to $500,000. When you consider that if you keep the standard light bulbs replaced as they burn out, you’ll spend as much as $20,000 a year. A LED retrofit for your commercial outdoor lighting will save you up to $5,000 annually just in light bulbs. And let’s not forget the manpower to change out those light bulbs! 

What other reasons are there to switch over to LED commercial outdoor lighting? Commercial LED lighting can reduce your utility costs significantly. There are many different options that will light up your parking lot, store front, and signage without pulling a lot of energy. Even better, they last longer, so you won’t have to be changing out light bulbs every 30 days or so in your commercial outdoor lighting fixtures and signage. 

LEDs are employed for indoors lighting and commercial outdoor lighting, providing safety and security in several styles and types: 

• LED Shoebox Lighting: LED shoebox lighting is ideal and common in parking lots, typically pole mounted, but a lighting professional can talk to you about alternatives. There are sensors available today to take away the task of remembering to turn the lights off when you close. In addition to timers, there are motion sensors and photosensors for afterhours security purposes too. 
• LED-wall Pack Lighting: Wall mounted or wall packs are the commercial outdoor lighting that is installed on the exterior sides of a building. They light the exterior of the building and the parking area.
• LED Outdoor Flood Lighting: LED outdoor flood lighting provides a high-intensity lighting for wide areas that can attract attention to your commercial business’s landscaping and monuments. LED commercial outdoor lighting is excellent for those pathways, sidewalks, and walkways so that your customers can see where they are going. 

Any commercial or public use building that has nighttime activities, like a sports venue, LED commercial outdoor lighting is ideal! With area style or directional style, choose what suits your building and the immediate area best. 

What is the best outdoor commercial lighting to attract business? 

Today, LED light bars are a good choice., They provide accent and task lighting with built in functions that give you multiple flashing  colors and fading effects that grab attention of potential customers passing by. Some great outdoor commercial lighting ideas to consider are: 

1. LED strip lights provide a thin profile, high output with little energy consumption. Ideal for signage and windows.
2. LED light bars are excellent for accenting indoor displays or outdoors signage. 
3. LED commercial outdoor lighting is perfect for outdoor displays and exhibitions at parking lot sales and trade shows.
4. LED lights are ideal for your display cabinets, providing a natural appearance. Be creative and use multicolored LED kits with multiple colors, dimming, and flashing. 
5. For bars and restaurants,  LED commercial outdoor lighting is ideal for outdoor dining and patios, creating an ambiance that traditional lighting can’t without increasing the power usage. 
6. LED commercial outdoor lighting won’t infringe on nearby residents, but still provide a properly illuminated exterior for advertising and safety. 
7. Commercial electric outdoor recessed lighting will give your business exterior a smooth appearance and keep it lit up for attention and safety. 

Don’t close the door on the holidays with professional commercial outdoor holiday lighting! While commercial outdoor lighting is important all year long, now with Thanksgiving and other holidays, up until after New Year’s Day, is crucial in drawing in more business. A professional commercial holiday lighting installation will give your business that boost you need this year! Get started on your business lighting today when you call (817) 345-3696.

The key purpose of security lighting is for protection from potential intruders. It is also a safety feature for entering and leaving your home or business in the dark. For dark areas, it eliminates any concern about what or who could be lurking. This makes it safer for you and your customers or visitors, minimizing the chance of falls and injuries. 

For a business, when connected to motion detectors, security lighting is great for after hours, or for your home when you’re If. This means the lighting will illuminate if there is any movement in certain areas. When the exterior of a home or business is suddenly illuminated around the exterior, a potential intruder will likely move on to the next property. 

Security lighting also makes the outdoors around your home more functional. With ambient lighting, your home offers a more welcoming environment. This adds to the aesthetics and property value of your home. Though it may appear to be primarily for security purposes, security lighting adds to the landscape of a property too. 

What are different types of security lighting?

In general, there are four types of security-lighting systems.

Continuous Lighting

This more commonly used security lighting system consists of fixed lights that are arranged to flood a specific area continuously. These systems provide overlapping cone-shaped light during darkness with up to a 50% overlap. With that overlap, when one light goes out, the lights on either side still have that area illuminated. A continuous security lighting system works via two methods:

• The Controlled Lighting method has a limited width of the strip lit outside the perimeter, like that along a highway. The security lighting is controlling the strip and width of the light, adjusted for a particular need.
• The Glare Projection security lighting method is used when the lighting glare is directed across a surrounding terrain without annoying neighbors or the operation or neighboring businesses. It is a strong deterrent for potential intruders because seeing inside the lit area is difficult.

Standby Lighting

This type of security lighting type is like continuous lighting in the layout but without continuous lighting. The lights illuminate automatically when movement is detected or with the engagement of an alarm system or it can be turned on manually. Often referred to as crash lighting, standby security lighting can impact an intruder with a devastating psychological effect when their “cover” is suddenly gone. 

Movable Lighting

This type of security lighting is manually operated and can be moved around when and where it is needed. Often used to supplement the continuous or standby security lighting described above, it is typically mounted on telescoping poles and mounted on trailers that are powered by generators, providing maximum flexibility.

Emergency Lighting

This system duplicates any of the first three security lighting systems described but with limitations when there is a power failure or other emergencies that leave normal security lighting systems inoperative. It uses an alternative power source from installed generators, portable generators, or those powered by batteries. 

Which is the most common type of exterior security lighting?

The previously described Continuous Security Lighting is the most common type, offering a series of fixed lights positioned to flood a certain area endlessly with each light overlapping the others in a cone shape. 

Which security lighting is best?

Today, thanks to the doorbell systems that come with a camera and audio built-in, connecting security lighting with doorbell cameras offers the best security lighting you can have for your home. You can also place motion-detecting lights all around the home along with additional cameras. These security lighting and doorbell systems are programmable with cell phone apps that can alert you when you’re not home as well as alert local law enforcement if there is an intruder.

Do motion sensor lights deter burglars?

Yes, a system that includes security lighting with motion sensors will not only startle the suspected criminal, but systems today can alert you by phone as well as alert local law enforcement. Some systems will have an alarm sound when the light is activated, further startling the would-be criminal to make them run, though only after a camera has caught them in action. 

How bright should an outdoor security light be?

While you want your home to be illuminated for safety, you don’t want to create light pollution with lighting that is misdirected or misused.  Nothing makes enemy neighbors cranky faster than floodlights shining into a bedroom window. Fortunately, there are many easy ways to set up security lighting for you that won’t anger the neighbors.

First, accent and pathway lighting shouldn’t be any brighter than 180 lumens.  Select light bulbs with warm light and aim the light fixtures away from neighboring houses. Eliminate anything that can create a glare from the lighting. Security lighting is meant to alert you to a potential intruder while starting the intruder. It isn’t meant to make enemies of your neighbors.

With LED lights, is it safe to leave them on all night, can led lights cause a fire? 

Simply put, well-manufactured LED lights have a longer lifespan, even when left on 24/7/365 than the conventional light bulbs. LED lights produce a minimal amount of heat, so the horror stories you’ve heard about house fires started by a light bulbs, it was probably a conventional, standard lightbulb. 

However, there are various circumstances, that can determine a fire starting from a light bulb, like the type and quality of the light bulb. Another important factor to be considered in a light bulb causing a fire is the ambient temperature. 

So, because LED lights burn cooler, it would only make sense the traditional type of light bulb would be the more hazardous of the two types. The conventional light bulb generates 90% heat and 10% light. Yes, it is that much hotter than LED lights. 

Another factor in the safety of LED lights or traditional lights is if they are in an enclosed fixture and have any air circulation. The traditional light bulb shouldn’t be left on indefinitely when the light fixture itself doesn’t allow air circulation. 

What is the level of LED lights energy consumption? 

LED lights have an annual energy consumption thirty times lower than an incandescent light bulb according to the DOE (U.S. Department of Energy). This accounts for a one-fifth of the American household’s energy consumption! If you’re used to comparing in wattage, LED lights use six watts of electricity and produce the same amount of lighting that a sixty watt incandescent light bulb. 

Can LED lights be replaced?

Not in the same way a traditional light bulb can be replaced. LED lights are typically and integrated lighting that is built into numerous electrical circuit boards. This makes it almost impossible for the everyday homeowner to replace the lighting, so instead, the entire integrated LED lights fixture will need to be replaced.

Are LED lights dimmable? 

Yes, but it isn’t a standard feature, all the different models of LED lights are available in a dimmable version. Simply read the packaging to make sure they state “dimmable” in the specifications.

Interested in installing LED lights for your outdoor lighting needs in Fort Worth and Dallas, TX? Call Majestic Outdoor Lighting at (817) 345-3696 today!

Absolutely, yes! Pool lighting, anything electrical, near water is dangerous. Simply because it is in your backyard doesn’t negate the dangerousness of pool lighting.  From 2002 to 2018, there were thirty-three people injured by electrocution from swimming pool lighting, and thirty-three people died from swimming pool lighting electrocution. 

How does that happen if the pool lighting is installed by a professional lighting contractor? There are three common possibilities that could cause pool lighting electrocution:

• Faulty electrical wiring to filters, pumps, vacuums, and underwater lights
• No Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupters (GFCI), electrical circuit and outlet protection
• Electrical appliances and electric extension cords getting in the pool

Are pool lights dangerous?

As the homeowner, you want your family and guest to have fun in your swimming pool, but you also want to them to be safe. This can be done by making sure that you have the swimming pool lighting and all things electrical related to the pool  checked annually by a professional. This includes the pool lighting and all the equipment associated with the swimming pool. 

Interior swimming pool lighting, the filter, and the pump are an invisible danger. The electrical voltage from these invisible dangers can severely injure, paralyze, even kill a person in manner of seconds. Faulty wiring in a swimming pool is a hazard that can be avoided by having your pool maintenance contractor check and test annually. 

You should also establish rules and maintain monitoring of those rules that there is no electrical appliances near or in the swimming pool. However, just in case the one second you turn your back, and somebody brings a radio into the pool, make sure you all the electrical outlets around and hear your pool are GFCI.

These are basic common sense policies for in-ground pools or above ground pools. Electricity and water do not mix and can be deadly. There are ways to enjoy having music and pool lighting, safely. 

How to add pool lighting to an existing swimming pool?

Swimming pool lighting is attractive and beautiful, creating an appeal for a summer night of relaxation. While it is ideal to have poo lighting installed when the swimming pool is being installed, they may not be enough or what you want if you’re a successive homeowner. 

With an inground pool, lighting provides more than just aesthetics and gentle sophistication. Even if you’re not swimming, lights glistening from under the water is relaxing and soothing. It is the next best thing to being on the beach in the moonlight. 

So, if you purchase a home that has the basic pool lighting, the safety feature is there, but maybe not the ambience you want. You can have pool lighting added after the fact, but it will require a level of construction. This would be the time to evaluate your swimming pool and determine if there are changes you’d like to see overall. 

Perhaps the pool is the older style with a deep end and a shallow end. Swimming pools installed in homes today typically do not have the 20 foot deep end. They have gradual slope from the center to both ends, one a bit deeper than the other, especially if there a diving board. 

So, while you’re having swimming pool lighting added and upgraded by professionals that know how to design pool lighting in today’ style, get the deep end filled some, maybe new tile or replace missing tile. You may consider having the pool bottom changed with a design in tile embedded.  The possibilities are endless. 

Closing out this piece on pool lighting with one more suggestion: Solar Pool Lighting. These will a colorful splash of fun to your nighttime pool parties. They aren’t a full pool lighting system but can work with the halogen or fiberoptic pool lighting. No matter which type of pool lighting you choose, have an authorized pool lighting contractor install them. This will give you a guarantee that they are installed correctly and safely. Need pool lighting installation in Fort Worth and Dallas, TX? Call (817) 345-3696 today!