There comes a time when you can have too much of a good thing. It is true for many of the vices that we have in our lives and it can be true for many many other things as well. How much light your outdoor lighting system puts off can be one of those things. With Resort Lighting we want you to enjoy your outdoor lighting but we want you to enjoy it the right way and a big part of that is to know how bright your lights should be.
There is such a thing as too much light
In some places it is OK to light up the night. Las Vegas would not be what it is without the lighting at night. Back home the bright lights may not be quite as awesome. You probably don’t have a marquee and you probably don’t have a strobe light but you do have lighting outside of your house. That could be against the law where you live to begin with and it is probably not going to be appreciated by your neighbors.
Many of your bulbs can get very bright. Some people might think the brighter the better since you’ll be able to see better and further outside at night. That might be great for you but for your neighbor next door trying to sleep it might not be. There is such a thing as too much light.
You have the control
One of the great things about modern landscape lighting systems is that you can control how bright you want it to be. Determining the proper brightness is also one of the services that Resort Lighting does for you before installing a system. Too much brightness or too many lumens can be a bad thing for you, for your neighbors and for the environment.
Too much light creates light pollution which is misused or misdirected light. This can be light from your landscape lighting shining into your neighbor’s bedroom, glare off of a window or light going into the sky. Keeping light pollution to a minimum is good for you and it is good for the environment.
A rule of thumb
So how can you do this. There are a few easy ways. First keep any keep any pathway or accent lighting to between 100 and 180 lumens depending on how far apart the lights are spaced. Many of these will actually support other lights and overlap which is why less can be better. Use bulbs that produce a warmer light, aim the fixtures away from any other houses and remove anything that causes glare.
A security light or flood light is another matter. They can be much brighter. They are meant to be spotted or to alert someone to potential danger. These lights should be between 700 and 1300 lumens. In a residential neighborhood they can be put on timers and the sensors can be programmed to be triggered by certain sized disturbances so they can be as unobtrusive to your neighbors while still providing protection. In a different setting, like a monument or a commercial or industrial building that is not as much of a problem.
Part our process of installing your landscape lighting system at Resort Lighting is to determine what lighting levels work best for your home. Once it is installed the levels are customizable but keeping the brightness of the light under control is a great way to keep your neighbors happy and to help the environment. You wouldn’t like it if they stood outside of your bedroom window and shined a floodlight in while you tried to sleep would you? Don’t do it to them and keep your outdoor lighting at the right level of brightness. You will find that the ambiance of a lower level is better and produces more color.
References:
http://www.utahlights.com/blog/how-bright-should-landscape-lighting-be
http://www.southernlightsinc.com/blog/exterior-lighting-minnesota/how-bright-should-my-outdoor-lighting-be/