Light Bulbs

I recently started doing some research on different lighting ideas and it became abundantly apparent that these do called “do it yourself” Outdoor Lighting article we incredibly outdated and in-face perpetuate the type of attitude that is killing providing the planet.

The article list all kinds of things that homeowners could do to light up their yards at night.

My first thought was, “Unbelievable. You guys are providing some amazingly outdated and wasteful ideas here”. One piece of advice… often seen on any landscape lighting website mentions “pointing outdoor lights up at the foliage” or “placing lights in trees”. Can you say “energy waste” or, how about “light polution“? Haven’t these guys heard of global warming…. climate change… etc? We simply cannot continue with business as usual, and we can’t have supposed “thought leaders” continuing the myth that this kind of behavior is somehow OK. Get a clue. It is NOT OK to point lights up into trees and the night sky. It is NOT OK to light ones backyard like a federal penitentiary… however “tasteful” you may think it looks. I understand the desire to spruce up the exterior of ones home, but doing so in a way that degrades the environment is simply not acceptable. Because of all this tired old information on landscape lighting ideas, I’ve decided to put down a few of my own.

Do Not Put Your Landscape Lights On Timers Or Photo Cells. This will only ensure that your lights are on way to much. Photo cells by their very nature will guarantee that your landscape lights are on about 12 hours per day.

This is crazy and incredibly wasteful. If you’ve installed landscape lighting so that you can make use of your backyard after dark, it is a simple light switch and turn the lights on when you’re planning to go out side. This way, you will actually see the fruits of your labor. You’ll be able to entertain in a comfortable, attractive environment, and you’ll only be consuming energy while you’re actually outside enjoying the area.

Think about this. For all the snide comments that Hummers get for their poor fuel efficiency, they’re at least turned off when they’re not in use. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an SUV owner leave their vehicles running all day/night long.

I can think of a number of neighbors who leave their out door lights on all night long and even all day long in some cases. Use your outdoor and landscape lighting only when necessary.

Secondly, light only the areas that you’ll actually be using. Light your patio. Light your deck. Light your walkways.

This will enable you to enjoy these areas and to move about safely after dark. Please don’t light your entire yard. Don’t up-light your trees. I know you have trees. Your neighbors know you have trees. There is no good reason on Earth to shine lights on them. People can see them perfectly well by day and have absolutely no need or desire to see them after dark.

Checkout the accompanying image (provided by www.lightsbylighthouse.com). Here’s what happens when you put your landscape lights on timers. You simply forget about them. You may enjoy them the few times you’re actually outside at night, but you forget about them.

This guy has a number of trees uplit by flood lights. Dude, we know you have a beautiful house but WTF, why do you have to showcase it this way? I have seen this house a thousand times and its not like its a Picasso or anything? Talk about wasteful. His landscape lights are constantly on , but because his landscape designer thoughtfully put the entire system on a timer, they’re on from 5pm until 5am 365 days a year. What a joke.

Can you say “wasteful”? How about “global warmer”? If you want landscape lighting so that you can enjoy your yard after dark make sure that you’re actually outside to enjoy them. If you’re not then the lights should not be on.

Thirdly, don’t light any areas that don’t need to be lit. This sounds simple enough, but you’d be amazed at how often people shine their landscape lights in places they don’t belong. Don’t light up your entire yard. Especially don’t light up your neighbor’s yard.

I can assure you they don’t want your lights shining into their windows or into their yard. Don’t light up the night sky. Don’t light up any area that you won’t be sitting in our walking through. Look around your neighborhood after dark and I’m sure that you’ll see a number of homes that really missed this one.

Lighting consumes over 1/4 of all the electricity produced in the United States. Outdoor lighting is a very significant portion of this. In a time of increasing energy costs and concerns over global warming, lighting everything up from dusk to dawn is simply not an acceptable option.

Perhaps it was ok at some time in the past (this is debatable), but that time is certainly long gone. Anyway, as you can see… much of what passes for landscape lighting has been overdone or simply done wrong. With just a little thought and consideration, however, you can have the best of both worlds. A beautiful and functional night time backyard AND an responsible energy use scenario.