Outdoor lighting plays a vital role in uplifting the beauty of your landscape at nighttime. Be it illuminating pathways, alleys, patios, or even your garages. It adds aesthetic value to your house while providing safe and sound surroundings.
Our team at Charlie Sparks has completed thousands of residential/commercial electrical projects at affordable rates for households across Sydney for years. And we understand the value and safety good electrical work gets into your space. So, we are here to share some insights about outdoor lighting. We want to provide an in-depth insight into different outdoor lighting options and how to make the best of them.
There are numerous types of outdoor lighting an electrician can install depending on your lighting requirements. It might be overwhelming at first — being bombarded with so many categories of lights and their diverse functions by your electrician. Want to know more? Read on!
Various Types of Outdoor Lighting
Floodlights
Inground Lights
Inground lights are ideal for trippy paths. These can seamlessly fit inside the soil, ground and even concrete to beget light without showing the fixture’s exterior. Thus, these lights do not pose a threat on tricky turfs since they are completely out of your way.
Inground lights require seasonal maintenance — mowing grass and clearing snow/leaves around the fixtures for proper illumination.
Up/Downlights
As the names suggest, these fixtures cast light in two directions — either vertically up or down.
Uplights are good for illuminating your garden landscape — trees and decorative figures for a pleasing layered look with minimal shadows. Downlights are majorly used for security purposes, i.e., to brighten up a dark area from high above.
As a result, uplights can be installed on the ground, walls, or near garden decorations like fountains and statues. On the other hand, downlights usually sit above doors, windows, fences, etc.
Step Lights
While lighting up your outdoor landscape, it’s crucial to pay attention to stairs — then be it just a couple of steps leading up to your main door or an entire staircase. Step lights are the most practical way to shimmer up your stairs.
Surface Mount Step Lights are fixed on the risers and throw a downlight on the steps. Since the fixtures remain visible, there are a myriad of styles to accentuate their appearance.
Hardscape Lights rest under treads and capstones, often hidden from your eyes. They come in different sizes and pair perfectly with structures made up of natural stones.
Wall Lights
Post-lights
A post-light is one of the most aesthetically pleasing outdoor lighting types. Not only do they glamorise your exteriors, but often come in a weatherproof casing for longer life. As a result, all the electrical elements remain safe even during rainstorms and heavy snow.
With the advent of technology, you can also purchase post-lights that have a vintage outer appearance but are equipped with motion sensors for smart lighting. You can run them on electricity, gas, as well as solar power (depending upon their type).
Path Lights
Garden Lights
Bollard Lights
String Lights
String lights serve the sole purpose of decoration and you shouldn’t rely only on them for security purposes. You can wrap them around the tree trunks and branches or hang them over a couple of trees to lighten up a bigger area.
For a festive vibe, you can go for lantern string lights, fairy lights, and globe lights. If you are a minimalist, jar and rope lights can do the job.
