The Bright Ideas Blog

Everybody likes that feeling you get when you build, fix or install something yourself. You feel a little taller. Maybe even a bit better looking. When customers come talk to me about landscape lighting, the men often say, “You know, I could do this myself, but I’m a really busy guy.”

I know the feeling. I could cut my own hair, too. But I don’t.

It’s been a great year for landscape lighting. People are enjoying their outdoor spaces more and realizing how much the right lighting can enhance their enjoyment.

No one ever said mixing electricity, ice and ladders was a good idea, but every holiday season, I see enterprising homeowners perched precariously on ladders while decorating their homes for the holidays.

With that in mind, I thought I’d take this time to remind you of some necessary safeguards when it comes to installing and maintaining your outdoor holiday lighting — they’ll only become more useful as snowflakes start to pop up in our Utah forecasts.

Here are five outdoor lighting safety tips to consider long before you flip that switch.

As a homeowner, there’s one thing I know for sure: We put a lot of pride into the places we call home. From the roses we prune and lawns we mow, to the fresh paint we apply and driveways we power wash, our pride is a very visible thing — except when the sun sets.  

Up to this point, what has kept you from showing off that beautiful home of yours well into the evening hours? I have a hunch it may have something to do with the outdoor lighting installation process. The words installation and process aren’t exactly a match made in heaven. To you, they might sound like a big hassle complete with trampled gardens, time off of work, muddy bootprints inside your home and unexpected costs.

What do you say we debunk all of that? If you really want to bring your home to life at night with landscape lighting, don’t let any of those installation qualms of yours get in the way.

Here’s what you can realistically expect during a Landscape Lighting Pro of Utah installation.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains after the sweetness of the low price is forgotten”   Benjamin Franklin

This quote is so true in regards to the Landscape Lighting Industry.  You can go into “big box” hardware stores and find a complete lighting system in a box at a real attractive price.  Installation is relatively straight forward and doable.  In relatively little time you will have a landscape lighting system.  At that point, ask yourself how long will this system last before repair and replacement of parts will occur?  Maybe it will be a few years or a few months. (Remember, in Utah we have those long cold and snowy months of winter).  Or, you can contact Landscape Lighting Pro of Utah and consult and ask these questions to the lighting professional who has experience and expertise in the landscape lighting Industry, especially here in Utah.

A few days ago I was inspired to write about this topic after a service call our team had performed. We received a phone call from a local home owner in Salt Lake City who had a landscape lighting project installed by his landscape contractor that had also provided a complete package installation including retaining walls, paver patio, water feature, jacuzzi, pergola, etc...

This particular home owner contacted me after a lot of frustration with his contractor failing to return his calls. The new 5 step paver stairs that were installed on the patio to the back entry of their home had tread step lighting installed for safety and functionality.

Out of the 10 lights installed 4 of them were not working. I certainly understood his frustration. He also shared with me that his wife had fallen one night as a result of this problem. To top things off, the problem was that 4 of these 10 lights never worked from the very beginning.

Let us start with the first W -- Why? You have invested time and money into your outdoor surroundings. Expand your living experience beyond the interior of your home during twilight hours. Outdoor gathering places, conversational areas and activity facilities can be utilized during those nighttime hours when properly designed. We have all experienced the collective effort in moving guests inside as nighttime unfolds. At Landscape Lighting Pro of Utah, we can enhance your exterior architecture, landscape feature areas, pathways, decks and treasured foliage on your grounds. You will be an integral partner in your lighting ideas for your nightscape project. Design and decisions are always a collaborative effort between yourself and our skilled lighting designers.

The Concept  of light pollution has been in existence since the late 1970's.  Initially it was used by urban designers in reference to the effect of concentration of populations and industries.  The utilization of lighting for factories resulted in the illumination of the  employee work space, Secure surrounding parking areas and enhancing advertising space.  Population concentrations demanded lit highways and byways for safety and security.  Scientific research revealed that the resultant increase in excessive light exposure effects nightscapes and incredibly causes an unnatural disruption of the atmospheric conditions.

Hardscape design refers to walkways, patios, lawn ornaments, rock formations, fire pits, pergolas and more.