Making (almost) everything illuminated: How to brighten up outdoor spaces with taste and class

Outdoor lighting tips: How to brighten the night

Your home doesn’t have to stop looking snazzy when dusk turns to darkness.

As Americans build more elaborate outdoor living spaces, homeowners are more aware of how introducing layers of light from multiple sources can make their home stand out, lighting experts say.

“You have the ability now … to really light the outdoor space in the same way that you would light your indoor space,” says Peter Soares, consumer marketing director for Philips Lighting.

Outdoor lighting, which the Census Bureau estimated as a $2.3 billion market in 2006 — the most recent data available, comes in two basic categories: exterior lights attached to the house and landscape lights that brighten up a path, tree or garden. Outdoor lighting can range from inexpensive kits for as low as $50 to systems that use the latest technology, require professional installation and cost thousands.

There are hundreds of shapes and sizes, but here are the basic varieties:

PATH LIGHTS: Also known as “down lights,” they are mounted on the ground and aim downward, providing light for sidewalks, driveways and flower beds. There are even some solar-powered path lights that sell on the Internet for as low as $30 for a pack of 10. While those solar lights don’t require wiring, they have a big downside: They won’t produce much light on an overcast day.

ACCENT LIGHTS: Also called spotlights or “up lights,” they can brighten an interesting feature of your house or yard— such as a chimney, fountain, tree or piece of outdoor artwork.

WALL-MOUNTED LIGHTS: These lights, also called sconces, come in hundreds of designs — from contemporary to Mediterranean — suited to match the style of your home.

LANTERNS: They can be placed by your walkway to provide a gateway to your home. Or, smaller lanterns can be used to light up a path.

SECURITY LAMPS: Far less glamorous, these are generally placed in your backyard or above your driveway and are activated by motion sensors.

When it comes to design, consumers of different ages have distinct preferences. Jeff Dross, senior product manager at Kichler Lighting, a Cleveland-based maker of light fixtures, said many baby boomers like more traditional, decorative lights, while their Generation X children prefer more streamlined, contemporary designs.

“Lighting is a fashion industry,” he says. “You don’t have the same pair of slacks that you had 30 years ago.”

That said, many lighting designers say consumers tend to place too much importance on how fixtures look — and too little on the light itself. Tommy Herren, a Sacramento, Calif.-based landscape lighting designer, jokingly calls the problem “fixture fixation.”

Instead of buying a fancy-looking light fixture, he says, it’s better to hide the light source completely.

“You don’t want to see the source of the light,” says Herren, who goes by “The Lighting Geek” and makes television appearances on the DIY Network. “You want to look at what the light is doing.”

In some parts of the country — including parts of the Sacramento area — homeowners are barred from going overboard. So-called “dark sky” ordinances limit the use of outdoor lighting at night — to conserve energy and help people see the stars.

Herren, however, says it’s perfectly feasible to work within those limits. Your house need not look like a parking lot or a casino at night. “More is not better,” he says.

The biggest technological trend in outdoor lighting these days is the move to light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, which are small chips usually encased in a glass dome.

The technology, however, is still expensive. Home Depot’s Web site lists wall lanterns with LED bulbs included for $150 and up, around double the cost of their more conventional cousins. However, the bulbs can last for 15 years or longer and use 60 to 70 percent less power than standard incandescent bulbs.

Paul Gosselin, owner of NightScenes Landscape Lighting Professionals in Kingsland, Texas, was doing all of his business three years ago with conventional halogen lights. Now he’s switched entirely to LED bulbs. “It ends up costing half as much over the life of the system,” he says.

Along with the long-term savings on power consumption, LED technology also reduces installation costs for outdoor systems. They require thinner wiring and a smaller transformer, which is used to reduce standard 120 volt indoor current to the 12 volt power that’s typically used to ensure outdoor systems are safe.

The cost of LED systems has become competitive enough that for a homeowner installing a $2,000 lighting system “it’s a no-brainer,” says Mark Hanson, president of TouchStone Accent Lighting in Long Lake, Minn.

It’s certainly possible to install an outdoor lighting system yourself, but do so only if you are already comfortable working with electricity. The most complicated designs, however, require professional installation.

For instance, Richard Lentz, president of Lentz Landscape Lighting in Dallas specializes in creating the look of moonlight shining through the trees.

His company does so by running wires up as close to the top of the tree as possible. That, of course, should only be done by a professional. But the effect, he says, can be magical.

“It’s just a very soft and subtle way of lighting a property,” he says. “When somebody walks by or drives by that property at night, they say ‘Wow, I don’t know what it is about the place, but it’s just a peaceful look.”