Outdoor Lighting: Create an Outdoor Resort in Your Back Yard

This summer many will be spending more vacation time at home instead of traveling to a distant location. According to Mark of Gerhard Electric in Laguna Hills, CA, with a few updates to your outside lighting, you can enjoy a mini vacation at home. Believe it or not, it’s easier – and less expensive – than you might imagine to transform your existing patio, deck, or pool area into a retreat that you will love. 

Gerhard Electric specializes in outdoor lighting and can help you with this transformation. Gerhard Electric has been providing quality electrical service for residential, commercial and industrial customers since 1981 and is fully licensed, insured and bonded.

For over 30 years he and his trained electricians have protected their reputation by providing quality workmanship and staying committed to their customers.

Rather than buying a costly designer patio set or lounge chairs that will lose their luster by next season, invest in a new lighting scheme that will enhance your existing outdoor furniture and amenities.

“The best strategy is to clearly define your objectives,” according to Mark from Gerhard Electric.“It’s not necessary to illuminate everything in your yard, so decide which areas are the highest priorities,” he advises. “It is generally better to begin closest to the house, since that is where most activities take place.”

Gerhard also agrees. “The best thing about using low-voltage lighting outdoors is you don’t have to do everything at once,” he explains. “I recommend purchasing a transformer that is larger than you immediately need. Let’s say you want to illuminate the deck area and provide task lighting for cooking at the grill. After selecting the fixtures, you add up the wattage and figure it will use 200 watts of light. You only pay for the energy consumed by the fixtures. In other words, a 600-watt transformer that only has 200 watts of fixtures on it, uses 200 watts of energy, not 600,” he says.

How do you start? “Select two or three items that are important to you during the daylight hours, such as an ornamental tree, a water feature, a sculpture, etc.,” Gerhard explains. “A fixture or two trained on each of these features will make your backyard come to life after dark. You can go back and fill in with some additional lighting later, if the budget is tight this year. By adding three or four fixtures to that larger transformer you purchased for the deck, you still haven’t used all the available power.”

When laying out your project, remember a little light goes a long way outdoors. Consulting with a lighting professional at Gerhard Electric can help you avoid making the common mistake of too many fixtures in one area.

“I see this happen a lot with path lighting,” Gerhard notes. “Folks will place fixtures six to eight feet apart when lighting a sidewalk, and they end up using 10 fixtures for a 50- to 60-foot path. That path can easily be illuminated with three to four fixtures if you select a fixture that is designed by a reputable manufacturer that builds performance into their products,” he advises. “By selecting a fixture from a performance-oriented manufacturer, you will save considerable amount of money on the project by not having to purchase and install extra fixtures to accomplish the desired effect.”

These days there are many more decorative landscape lighting fixtures than the basic black path lights. The combination of form plus function is very important,” according to Gerhard. 

To learn more about lighting your home, inside and out, talk to a lighting professional at Gerhard Electric. Please call us today! 1-(800) 436-9290.