Enhance Your Summer Entertainment Plans With Outdoor Lighting

Are you looking forward to some outdoor entertaining this summer? If so, you should also think about lighting. Lighting serves a number of different purposes when it comes to entertaining in the outdoors. There’s a lot more to it than sticking a few tiki torches in the ground or turning on an outside light!

Your summer lighting can have multiple purposes, including safety, ambiance and more. Black-Haak can install your outdoor lighting to provide you with a beautiful space that you can enjoy all summer long.

Think Safety

Safety first, as the saying goes, and this is true when it comes to your summer outdoor lighting as well. As the sun goes down and your gathering spills out into the yard, features that were innocuous during daylight can turn hazardous at night. Paving stones that are even slightly uneven or a low brick wall that’s easy to see when it’s still light out can be tripping hazards for your guests.

When you are placing lights for safety purposes, think about how to highlight potential dangers in an aesthetically pleasing way. Angle lights in a way that avoid glares, and be aware that glares themselves can present safety issues. Choose places where there are turns in a path or changes in elevation to place lights. You should also light steps and any obstacles that are easy to miss in dim light.

Outdoor lighting can also help you keep track of where your guests are and alert you to any unwanted activity or intruders. You may want to consider motion sensor lights if you want to be alerted to movement in certain parts of your outdoor space.

Think Ambiance

Ambiance is probably the first thing that comes to mind for many people when planning an outdoor lighting project for entertainment purposes. There’s a nearly endless variety of ways you can use outdoor lighting to create different types of moods outside, from elegant to bohemian to festive and much more. For example, strings of colorful lights can make a space feel cozy and artistic while more austere use of softened white or yellow lights to highlight certain features in your yard can convey a sophisticated feel.

Are there features in your yard you want to draw people’s attention, such as a fountain or a sculpture? Maybe you still want people to be able to exclaim over beautiful flowerbeds or blooming shrubbery even after the sun goes down. Consider how you can best light these features to show them off. Think about the angle and strength of the lighting. You want to avoid casting shadows that either obscure the view of aspects you want your guests to see or that create any kind of safety hazard.

Think about creative places for light placement. If you have strings of lights, for example, how would they look if you looped them into trees rather than around your house?

Even if you are fairly sparing in your use of lighting outdoors, lights go a long way toward making your home look much more welcoming to arriving guests.

You can look online for ideas about how to light your outdoor areas for more ambiance. The biggest problem you are likely to encounter is an overabundance of inspiration!

Think Functionality

Lighting as a safety feature was discussed above, but there are other functional uses for outdoor lighting as well. For example, if you’re cooking or eating outside, you’ll need to light the area enough for people to see what they are doing.

What about games? If you have children running around the yard or if you’ve planned more organized recreational activities, you’ll want lighting for those areas.

There are also certain types of lights that are less likely to attract bugs, and of course, some candles function as bug repellent although you need to be very careful about where they are placed for safety reasons.

Types of Lighting

What are some of the types of electrical lighting you can choose for your outdoor area, and how do they work to enhance the landscaping and other features in your yard? There are many choices. You’re probably already familiar with some, such as floodlights. These light up a large area such as your driveway or an entire yard. Below are a few more of the most popular types.

Spotlights

Spotlights point in a single direction. You may associate them with brightness, but they can provide subtle lighting as well. You can use them to highlight plants, garden sculptures, a wall or anything else.

Garden Lights

Arguably, any lights in your garden are garden lights, but this is a type of light that is somewhat the opposite of a spotlight. It still highlights a specific area, but it does so with lighting that goes downwards. They have a cover on top like a lampshade that ensures that the light is directed down instead of going in all directions. These types of lights are great for illuminating a bed of flowers.

Bollard Lights

These are generally upright posts with lights on top that illuminate in all directions. They can be both aesthetic and functional since they are useful in lighting pathways but can also come with attractive covers.

Step Lights

As the name implies, you can install step lights alongside steps or on the front part of the steps themselves. These are primarily for safety although can you choose more decorative lights as well.

Why Professional Installation Matters

You may love getting your hands dirty in gardening or do-it-yourself projects around the house, but it’s important to hire professionals when it comes to outdoor lighting. In Wisconsin, both state and local regulations may apply to your outdoor lighting plans, and professionals will be familiar with these regulations and will know what steps they need to take to ensure compliance.

For example, there may be limits on height of lighting, or you may need to follow specific protocols so that your lights are not a nuisance to your neighbors.

In addition, electrical projects in general should be performed by professionals. There is too much scope for error and too many dangers for even enthusiastic amateurs. With professional help, you can feel certain your lights are safe and in compliance.

Call Black-Haak for Your Outdoor Lighting Needs

Family-owned and operated, we have nearly 70 years’ experience in serving the local community. We’ll talk to you about your lighting needs, give you a quote, help locate the lighting features that you want and install your outdoor lights so that they are both safe and attractive.

No one is more important to us than you, our customer, and this is reflected in thousands of Google reviews and a near-perfect star rating of 4.9. We are also members of the Better Business Bureau.

If you are looking to install or upgrade the outdoor lighting around your Fox Valley home, you need expert electricians who will understand your vision and work safely and efficiently. Contact Black-Haak today for your next outdoor lighting project.