Designer with Dominion Electric Supply Company. “Tere are so many advances in the field and now the fixtures are much more aesthetically pleasing.”
Lew Waltz, a landscape lighting consultant, agrees. “Te best thing about using low-voltage lighting out- doors is you don’t have to do everything at once,” he explains. “I recommend purchasing a transformer that is larger than you immediately need.”
How do you start? “Select two or three items that are important to you during the daylight hours, such as an ornamental tree, a sculpture, etc.,” Waltz explains. “A fixture or two trained on each of these features will make your backyard come to life aſter dark. You can go back and fill in with some additional lighting later.”
Another important tip is to buy the best quality and well-constructed fixtures you can afford. “Tey will last for decades,” Waltz says, adding, “Tere are a tremendous number of homeowners who purchase the least expensive fixtures they can find, only to discover that they need to replace them within a year or two. Tat actually ends up costing more over a 10- year period than if they had purchased beter-quality products in the beginning,” he says.
When laying out your project, remember a litle light goes a long way outdoors. Consulting with a lighting professional can help you avoid making the common mistake of too many fixtures in one area. Tese days there are many more decorative landscape lighting fix- tures than the basic black path lights. Wiedemer sug- gests taking inspiration from your home’s interior or exterior architectural elements. “Te combination of form plus function is very important,” he says.
A new and extremely efficient light source is LED. Tis developing lighting technology provides equiva- lent light output to that of halogen or incandescent, but at considerable energy savings of up to 75 per- cent less. Wiedemer estimates the average lifespan of a well-made LED light source to exceed 40,000 hours or more than 12 years of average nightly use. If you install timers with the transformers to turn the system off during late night hours, you will not only cut down even further on energy costs, but will also increase the lifespan of the LEDs.
For more information, visit your local Dominion Electric Supply showroom. Dominion Electric Supply is an active member of NARI Metro DC,
www.narimetrodc.org.
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create | A REMODELING RESOURCE FROM NARI METRO DC
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