Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting: The Ultimate Guide To Color Temperature Part 1

Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting: A Color, Light, And Temperature Guide Part 1

What Is Color Temperature And Why Is It Important?

When we refer to the temperature of lighting, it is said to have a specific tone. This tone is often thought of as white light and is emitted from the lights initial source. This can be simplified if we were to consider the life cycle of a white t-shirt and the variations of shading which occurs. If our white t-shirt was washed with a batch of dark blue colors, it will still appear to be white, however, if we held a brand-new white t-shirt next to our previously washed t-shirt, a hint of blue can be seen. If either of us wore a new white t-shirt for years upon years and then compared it with a new one, the old one will now be much more yellow in comparison.

How Are Shades Of White Distinguished?

If we were to place two different temperatures from varied sources together, the white light seen will have a totally different appearance. In order to be able to distinguish numerous shades of white, artificial light is labeled with a designated color temperature. These can be incandescent and tungsten as well as with the use of a correlated color temperature which is widely known as a CCT. The temperature scale known as Kelvin is used to measure both regular color temperature as well as CCT and is obtained from what is known as blackbody radiation. When an ideal source of blackbody radiation absorbs radiation from external sources, it begins to glow in a number of different colors. At a temperature of 2000K, it can be seen as being a mix of both orange and yellow. With an increase in temperature, the previously mentioned color goes to yellow followed by a yellowish-white which becomes white and finally appears as a bluish-white.

Traditional Residential Outdoor Lighting

As far as traditional outdoor lighting in a residential setting goes, white was typically referred to as warm white or cool white depending on the CCT. Due to the limited sources of outdoor lighting, incandescent lights, halogen lights, and fluorescent lights, all having a temperature of 3000K CCT or even 2700K CCT were classified as warm whites. Fluorescent outdoor lighting which measured 3500K CCT were classified as being neutral, and those which measured 4100K CCT and above were therefore referred to as cool white. LEDs became more popular and were responsible for drastically changing the outdoor lighting market. They soon became widely available commercially in white and didn’t cost much when they became available in what was called the bluer spectrum. The earlier sources of white light favored having temperatures of 6000K CCT and above. As such, manufacturers of commercial outdoor lighting now refer to a measured 5000K as being neutral.

Advice About Outdoor Lighting For LED Buyers

Buyers of LED products should always aim to find out the color temperature correlation before actually purchasing. Buyers should also always keep in mind that there is, however, in fact, a range of chromaticity with respect to the temperatures of correlated colors. This just simply means that lamps which tend to have a temperature of 2700K CCT will not entirely appear the same as another which has the same. In trying to avoid problems for the users of these fixtures or lamps, it is not advisable to match and mix different manufacturers products. It should be noted that light sources impact on the way space feels, hence, this makes CCT a very important aspect when it comes to choosing a light. Candlelight’s range between 1500 – 2000L, and gives most people a romantic feeling, as such, homeowners, hotels and restaurants who are trying to create a warm and cozy feeling should go with temperatures of 2400K – 2700K. Transitioning to more functional spaces such as hallways should be that of measured temperatures around 3000K – 3500K.

If you are looking to further learn about the temperatures of colors and how they can affect the colors within your backyard outdoor lighting projects, be sure to contact Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting or call us at 713.861.2000. Or simply visit our blog.

Illuminate Your Houston Property With Landscape Lighting

How to Effectively Illuminate Your Property Using Landscape Lighting

You can create a beautiful landscape that can be enjoyed after dark with the latest innovative Houston Landscape Lighting solutions. Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting is the best Houston landscape lighting company in town! We have the experience, knowledge, and testimonials to show for it. We offer high-quality outdoor lighting services for residential and commercial properties in Houston, Texas

What Do You Want to Accomplish With Landscape Lighting?

Before you invest in Houston Landscape Lighting services, you need to determine the areas that you are going to want to illuminate and the mood that you are trying to create for your home. Do you want to create a soft, romantic mood? Do you want to illuminate the dark areas of your landscape for security purposes? Maybe you have a path that you want to illuminate and mark the boundaries. Finally, you may have a water feature like a pond that you want to draw interest to.

Sketch Out Your Yard With Houston Landscape Lighting

After you have determined what you are trying to accomplish, you need to do a simple sketch of your landscape. In the sketch, make sure to include all buildings, benches, shrubbery, trees, gardens, water features and existing lighting. It is important to realize that the vegetation and decorations in your landscape will either absorb light or reflect it. Finally, estimate the height of all foliage and decor and notate it on your sketch.

Determine Where Your Landscape Lighting Should Be Placed

You will need to decide where your landscape lights should go by matching your reason for illuminating your yard with the foliage and decor in your yard. If you want to illuminate a bench, you may want to use a lamppost. If, on the other hand, you want to create soft romantic lighting, you may want to place landscape lighting under shrubs to create interest. For pathways, opt for stake lights placed along one or both sides of the pathway. Finally, a spotlight can illuminate a water feature. To view, some of out Houston landscape lighting projects click here.

Decide How Much Work You Are Willing To Do

Houston Landscape Lighting can be difficult to install if you are using 120-volt lighting. The wiring must be buried 18 inches deep and encased in conduit to prevent water from getting to the wiring. A licensed electrician must install the electrical components. If you are using low-voltage landscape lighting, you may need an outdoor receptacle and a transformer. The transformer converts the voltage from 120 volts down to 12 volts. Finally, solar-powered landscape lights are the easiest because there are no wiring or chords to deal with. In order to maximize the lighting power of a solar light, it must be positioned so the photovoltaic cell receives plenty of sunlight throughout the day.

Setting a Budget For Houston Landscape Lighting Services

The most expensive lights are high-voltage landscape lights. These cost upwards of $100 or more for each light. In addition to this, you will have the cost of hiring an electrical contractor to install and wire the lights. A lower cost option is low-voltage landscape lights. These can range from $30 to $300 per light; however, they can easily be installed by a handy homeowner. Finally, the least expensive and easiest option is solar lights. Solar lights rely on the sun for power, using its photovoltaic device. There are no installation costs. The cost for this type of landscape lighting will be limited to the price of the solar landscape lights. If you are trying to illuminate an area that has a lot of shade through the day, the solar light will not receive enough sunlight to adequately power the lights. One way to counteract this is to install a solar panel in a bright area of your yard and run wiring to your solar lights. Robert Huff is the leading Houston landscape lighting company to receive recognition for their outstanding work! Make sure to check us out.

Setting Up Your Landscape Lights

If you want to illuminate a single item like a bush, gazing ball, fountain or statue, you may only need a few landscape lights with lower intensity bulbs. Doing this rather than one large spotlight will prevent harsh shadows. Place smaller lights at various angles and various distances to highlight your item. Opt for landscape lights along garden paths and space them equally along the path to ensure the pathway remains illuminated. Finally, opt for blue tinted lights to create a moonlight inspired mood in your garden.

For more insight, check out the Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting blog. If you want to speak with a professional about Houston landscape lighting services, contact us by giving us a call at (713)-861-2000

Maximize Illumination With Houston Lighting Fixtures

Is It Time To Upgrade Your Houston Lighting Fixtures

You can supercharge your Houston lighting fixtures by overhauling your exterior fixtures with LEDs. By doing this, you’ll slash your energy usage and you’ll have more illumination. With that said, when was the last time you noticed your exterior lighting or have done something with it? The chances are it’s been a long time since you’ve upgraded your exterior lighting, and your fixtures might be eating up energy. Besides that, your current lighting might not look good and might not be as safe as they were when you first bought them. Now is the time to consider getting rid of metal luminaries or high-pressure sodium luminaries and replacing them with LEDs. Doing this will improve the exterior of your home or business, as well as reduce operational costs. Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting is the #1 Houston Lighting Fixtures company to provide you with the best services in town.

Attractive Houston Lighting Fixtures

You can easily spot exterior lighting that isn’t attractive, as it features shadows, glare and/or an amber color. When you step foot onto a property with poor lighting, you look all over the place for things that you can trip over or you look over your shoulder. There are many check-boxes that outdoor lighting has to fulfill. For example, exterior lighting should minimize shadows and glare. It should improve both situational awareness, navigation, light up areas to improve footage that surveillance cameras take. It should also enable facial recognition. Balancing those objectives is tricky enough. When you add other things into the mix, things become even trickier. This includes low maintenance costs, energy efficiency, and sustainability. Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting will take care of your lighting needs for your residential and commercial property. We are available to speak with you when you are ready.

Test Out Houston Lighting Fixtures

The good news is you can easily tell if your exterior lighting isn’t that good. Test out how well you can recognize a face at a distance and leave your keys somewhere on the property and see if you can find them. If you find such tasks to be difficult to complete, then it’s time to upgrade your lighting. It’s a good idea to use a light level meter, which can help you determine where shortcomings are. Your residential property will stand out with Houston lighting fixtures.

Houston Lighting Fixtures

Outdoor lighting is more than numbers. You can have all the lighting in the world, but if it’s not functioning the way it’s supposed to be, then it’s not doing any good just sitting there. This is why you should do a quick lighting audit. You want to become familiar with what the IES recommends to illuminate values before doing the audit. When the time comes to upgrade your fixtures, you want to take a look at what control options are available. With the right setup, you can enjoy features such as maintenance alerts, step dimming and color temperature you can tune. LEDs’ lifespans do not become reduced with such controls. LED fixtures can easily be controlled with wireless tech, and this means there’s no need to mess around with additional wiring when the time comes to replace fixtures.

To learn more about Houston lighting fixtures services, check out our website & our blog. For any questions or concerns, give us a  Call today.

What Advantages Do Residential Outdoor Lighting Services Provide For Me In Houston TX

The Benefits Of Getting Outdoor Lighting For My Houston TX Home

Our team of outdoor lighting specialists is passionate about helping our clients create beautiful lighting systems that illuminate their homes and improve the curb appeal and value of their home. Our clients love the results that we deliver. If you are thinking about adding outdoor lighting, but are unsure of what to look for, you have come to the right place. Addition outdoor lighting will increase the safety and value of your home will increase the curb appeal of your home. Wehn you work with an outdoor lighting Houston tx specialist, you will create an outdoor lighting plan that will ensure your complete satisfaction and have your home as one of the most beautiful homes in your neighborhood.

Increased Safety For Guests With Outdoor Lighting Houston TX Services

Have you ever been walking after dark and rolled your ankle because of a rock or accidentally stepping in a hole? If so, you know the importance of having well-illuminated pathways to your home. When the areas that are commonly traveled by your and your guests are properly illuminated, you will reduce the risk of a fall or injury like a sprained ankle. Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting Houston TX professionals will make sure to give you the best services around town.

Increased Safety from Houston Intruders With Outdoor Lighting

Outdoor lighting helps your home looked lived in. Having efficient lighting around all of the entrances to your home and all areas that are dark will help prevent intruders from coming onto your property and gaining access to your home. Outdoor lighting fixtures along with lighting control automation will make it look like you are home even when you are on vacation, which can further reduce the risk of a break in.

Increase Time Spent Outdoors By Getting Beautiful Outdoor Lights

When the temperatures are pleasant, most people would rather enjoy the Great Outdoors. Unfortunately, if your home is not lit properly, you will be forced to go indoors when the sun sets. Landscape lighting and deck lighting helps to illuminate your outdoor areas, which will allow you to stay outside on those nice summer nights.

Increase Curb Appeal With Outdoor Home Lighting

Homeowners take pride in their property. One way this shows is through effective outdoor lighting. Outdoor and landscape lighting can add interest to your property after the sun goes down. If you are planning on selling your home in the future, you should invest in outdoor lighting now. This will allow potential buyers to see your home even after the sun has set. Furthermore, a well-lit facade is very inviting and can help interested buyers take a second look at your home.

Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting

Residential and commercial outdoor lighting Houston TX specialists understand that outdoor lighting is expensive; however, it offers numerous benefits, including increased security, safety, and curb appeal. If you are interested in taking your home to the next level, give us a call today to see how we can enhance your home with outdoor lighting.

To learn more about outdoor lighting Houston tx services, check out our website & our blog. For any questions or concerns, give us a  Call today.,

Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting Helps to Increase the Value of Your Houston Residential Property

Houston Outdoor Low Voltage Lighting For Your Residential House

Many homeowners are looking for ways to increase their home’s value while also increasing the aesthetic value of their home. Although the homeowner may not intend on selling their home anytime soon, the homeowner including low voltage outdoor lighting can help increase the functionality, look and value of their property. Installing outdoor lighting helps to illuminate walkways and define areas in and around the lawn. Houston residential outdoor lighting will help you determine the best outdoor lighting solutions for your property. We also service commercial properties as well.

Key Areas to Install Residential Lighting

Installing outdoor lighting is one of the best ways to improve the look and functionality of your outdoor areas. One of the prime locations for outdoor lighting is your deck. The low voltage outdoor lights will illuminate and enhance the beauty of a wood deck. Outdoor lighting is designed to illuminate the area without attracting a lot of insects and is durable enough to withstand Houston’s harsh summers and winters. To speak with a professional please call us today.

Creative Lighting Options for Your Deck

There are several lighting options that you can choose for your deck, including recessed deck lights. Although recessed lights tend to be a little more expensive, they can add significant curb appeal and value to your home. Recessed deck lights are made from durable plastic and can be installed in the floor or along the steps of your deck to help illuminate your deck.

Post Cap Lights for Your Deck

If you have a railing around your deck, you may want to add deck post cap lights. These lights add a romantic glow and a decorative touch to your deck. Additionally, the light will illuminate the bottom portion of the post to create interest. Deck post cap lights can be mounted on top of your post or recessed into the top of your posts.

Deck Lanterns

Another option for your deck that can increase the curb appeal and value of your home is deck lanterns. Deck lanterns are a perfect choice if you have a covered deck. Deck lanterns add a touch of class and can be installed in the ceiling instead of plastic patio lights. The lanterns are available in numerous styles, so you will be able to find one that fits perfectly with your home’s exterior.

Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting

Rober Huff Outdoor lighting should only be installed by a Houston residential outdoor lighting specialist. To ensure you get the best fixture possible at an affordable price, you will need to shop around and find reputable sources. Rober Huff has a record of providing homeowners with quality outdoor lighting solutions that maximize the beauty and value of a home.

Outdoor Lighting Options that Match Your Home’s Appearance

A residential home looks best when the outdoor lighting options match the home’s appearance. Choosing the right type of outdoor lighting can help to increase the curb appeal of your home as well as the value of your home. Therefore, it is best to talk to a Houston residential outdoor lighting specialist.

For more information on our Houston residential outdoor lighting services at Robert Huff, contact us today or check out our blog for more related articles.

Add Outdoor Security Lighting To Your Houston Home

Feel Safer With Outdoor Security Lighting For Your Home 

Houston outdoor lighting works hard to educate homeowners on the numerous benefits that outdoor lighting offers. One of the primary reasons to install outdoor lighting is to increase the security in and around your home. Well, lit exterior areas can help to discourage intruders. Certain areas of your home can benefit from exterior motion sensing lights to help illuminate the area should a person step in the range of the motion sensor. In addition to increasing the security of your home, security lighting can also increase your home’s curb appeal. When you are designing your outdoor lighting, you want to include lights that beautify your home as well as increase the security of your home.

Houston Outdoor Lighting Can Make Your Home Feel Safer

It is recommended that the entire front of the home be well lit. This includes the facade, the walkways, and porches. Well, the lit home appears lived in and can prevent an intruder from trying to break in. A burglar will not want to stand on a front porch that is lit up and pick a lock. Anyone passing by can see them! This is why including plenty of outdoor lighting can help to minimize the risk of a break in. Robert Huff is the #1 Houston Outdoor Lighting Company to services the surrounding areas in the big city.

No More Breaking In

If the entire front of the home cannot be lit, you need to focus on ensuring that all entryways are lit. Lit entryways dissuade unwanted guests from breaking into your home and walking away with your valuable possessions. Lighting the outdoor living spaces of your home offers several benefits. First, it will allow you to enjoy your porches, patios, and decks after dark. Secondly, it encourages you to slip away and enjoy the outdoors more often. It also can create a feeling that the interior spaces of your home are larger. Finally, illuminating the outdoor areas of your home will prevent people from trying to hide outdoors where people cannot see them. Check out our Houston outdoor lighting projects that have been completed at Robert Huff.

From Darkness Comes Light

Some properties have areas around the home that are naturally darker than other areas. There may be areas of your property that are illuminated by a streetlight and areas of your property that are in darkness. These dark areas are the perfect place for an intruder to hide. These are the areas you should concentrate on illuminating once you have ensured that all entryways are illuminated. When you illuminate all of the dark areas on your property, intruders will pass your house by rather than taking the chance of being seen.

Sleep Better With Outdoor Lighting Home Security

Outdoor lighting is the perfect way to increase the security of your property. A Houston outdoor lighting company will help design and install the perfect outdoor lighting to increase security and curb appeal of your home. Although you want to ensure your home is secure, you also want to increase the value and curb appeal of your home. Contact us today to learn how we can make both of these work for your home.

For more information on Robert Huff’s Houston outdoor lighting services please check out our blog or contact us by calling today.

Top Landscape Lighting Failures In Houston

All You Need To Know About Landscape Lighting Fails In Houston

1. Glare

Glare produced by bright direct lighting and reflection almost always destroys the ambiance needed for landscape lighting. The main idea behind adding lights to the landscape is to illuminate everything and not be a light source in itself. Ambient lighting in the landscape helps bring every aspect of the same without necessarily having to squint to see what’s there. Reducing glare by using ‘eyelids’ (the mantle surrounding the light fixture opening) is one of the best ways to reduce/block glare from the landscape. To better understand this, glare is produced when the lamp illuminates the landscape and other items directly making it impossible to discern what it is exactly. Nevertheless, using a mantle to prevent direct light but rather product passive illumination in the garden, for instance, help highlight everything properly since glare is eliminated. An ‘eyelid’ almost always comes in handy for this purpose.

2. Lack Of A Proper Plan

You need to have the forethought of how the landscape will look like after designing/installing landscape lighting. Proper planning is therefore needed to ensure the focal points are well illuminated without any glare. This means you need to turn your attention more to the lighting effect and not the fixture itself. Among other factors, you need to consider things such as beam spread and light output before buying any accessory off the shelves. Having more than one lighting fixtures to choose from could also improve your chances of picking the right one for that specific purpose. Light spread and effect should be the core factors to consider when choosing a light fixture. Fixtures with a broad light spread spectrum are mostly recommended for this purpose.

3. Abused/Misused Path Lights

Choosing the right fixture but using it for the wrong purpose or application is most definitely a fail. A good example of this is using path light fixtures in turf areas. This is because path lights cause extensive damage to turf over time. Having light fixtures in turf areas isn’t also recommended as the risk of them getting damaged is high. In addition to this, the lawn is home to dangerous equipment such as hedgers, mowers, and such.

4. Too Much Lighting

Using light fixtures too bright for the need isn’t recommended too. The main goal of having these installed is to illuminate the home for security and beauty but not to irritate your neighbors. If you can see your home several streets away, then the lighting is too much. Avoid lighting every architectural feature or tree, but rather only use the right ambiance for the same. Professionals in landscape lighting in Houston recommend less lighting for the best effect.

5. Less Than Enough Budget

Working with an inadequate budget for outdoor lighting will most likely mean low-quality lighting. This is because you will be forced to work with inferior light fixtures, hence a shoddy job. Although you may have a wide assortment of fixtures to choose from, only a few are meant for this sole purpose. Some of the fixtures may seem handy now, but not be able to last for long enough. Some of these are meant for temporary fixtures and not long-term use. Although they may seem cheap, you are more likely to spend much more on repairs as compared to what you would have spent on quality fixtures.

To learn more about outdoor home lighting Houston TX Services,  check out our website and our blog. For questions or concerns, please Call us now.

 

The Common Types Of Houston Landscape Lighting System Techniques

Popular Houston Landscape Lighting Techniques To Make Your Home More Beautiful

When it comes to achieving the optimal landscape-lighting system, experts use a number of techniques to arrive at the best results. Houston Landscape Lighting offers a list of the more common techniques along with their associated benefits:

1. Uplighting

This is a popular technique used for showcasing or highlighting features on your property such as archways, trees, columns, and windows.

2. Downlighting

This technique offers increased ambient illumination. This is achieved by placing the light upon eaves or in trees, that allows for a way to illuminate larger areas. This is a technique that is preferred for security and safety and outdoor entertaining.

3. Grazing

This type of lighting is recommended by Houston Landscape Lighting for houses with stone or brick walls, retaining walls, chimneys, and fences. This technique works well with these elements as it illuminates them.

4. Shadowing

This effective technique can enhance the existing security-lighting around your home. Trees that feature an interesting shape can also be showcased when positioning the lighting-fixtures in front of the feature, that casts shadows on vertical surfaces that stand behind them.

5. Silhouetting

Another popular technique to showcase structures or trees that offer unique shapes. In order to achieve this appeal, the fixtures need to be positioned directly behind these trees or structures which then points to vertical surfaces that are behind them.

Tips For Outdoor Lighting Systems

Summer is almost over, but this is no reason to stop enjoying your outdoor areas. Every season offers more than enough opportunities for entertaining. Below are a few tips from Houston Landscape Lighting on how to enhance outdoor lighting system for each season.

1. Creating Your Ideal Space

In the months of summer, most homeowners love spending time outdoors, relaxing close to the pool or using their gardens for entertaining purposes. However, in the month of fall or winter, you probably spend your time elsewhere. When you enhance areas like patios, decks or firepits, you are still able to enjoy the colder nights.

2. Make Sure Your Property Is Easy To Navigate

It is important that your existing outdoor-lighting system operates accordingly and that you have adjusted the timers when necessary. When your outdoor-lighting system fails to support the security and safety of your friends, family and guests, and your property, it becomes important to install the type that can achieve these goals.

3. Enhancing Your Décor

Whether you prefer lanterns, string lights or even colored lights, this form of lighting will provide your home with dramatic effects and increase your overall curb appeal.

4. Conserving Energy

Make sure you invest in energy-efficient lighting options like halogen or LED lights for an outdoor-lighting system, this will contribute to decreasing your energy bills, and these lights are a more environmentally friendly choice.

To learn more about outdoor home lighting Houston TX Services,  check out our website and our blog. For questions or concerns, please Call us now.

Why Outdoor Lighting Is Important For Your Houston TX Home

Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Invest In Outdoor Lighting

Summer has made it to Texas, and this spring we have been enjoying gorgeous weather that is great for outdoor entertaining. We’re very lucky living here and having the ability to enjoy our outdoor areas most of the year. Homeowners all over Texas are ready to spend more time outdoors with the wonderful weather. Therefore, isn’t it a smart idea to create an inviting and warm oasis for your family and guests to enjoy? Homeowners spend lots of money on their outdoor living spaces, including on outdoor kitchens, decks, patios, swimming pools, and much more. However, what about after sunset? What happens then?

Is it time to pack everything up and go back indoors? Or sit around tables full of citronella candles so that everybody smells like smoke and bug spray at the end of the night? What about returning to your vehicles that are parked in front of the house? Not having the right outdoor home lighting Houston for your outdoor areas is inconvenient and also means you are at the mercy of the sun. In addition, there is a security and safety aspect to why outdoor lighting is so important for your home.

Reasons why it is important to invest in good outdoor lighting for your Houston home

1. Overall Experience

The most obvious reason is, of course, that your outdoor entertaining experiences are enhanced by outdoor lighting. Having the right outdoor lighting provides you with the chance to use all of your outdoor features safely and enjoy them after the sun goes down.

2. Your home’s security and safety are increased by outdoor lighting.

There are many ways that outdoor lighting may be implemented in order to increase your home’s security and safety along with the people at your house. Having a well-lit driveway or walk can make a big difference in helping to prevent people from injuring themselves or falling. Outdoor lighting can also help to deter criminals from making your home a target, to give you increased peace of mind.

3. Increase The Curb Appeal Of Your Home

Outdoor lighting can significantly enhance your home’s outer appearance to provide your neighbors and visitors with a very positive impression. Another great reason for increasing your home’s curb appeal is because when you are ready to sell your house, great outdoor lighting can really help to attract the right buyer for your home. It is possible to customize outdoor lighting, which means that Robert Huff Lighting can have our professionals design a lighting system for you that will draw positive attention to the best qualities of your home, including its landscaping and architecture to increase the value and curb appeal of your property.

To learn more about outdoor home lighting Houston TX Services,  check out our website and our blog. For questions or concerns, please Call us now.

Save Money With Outdoor LED Landscape Lighting For Your Houston Home

Learn How You Can Use Outdoor LED Lighting To Save Money

LED is short for a light-emitting diode. It’s among the more energy-efficient options you have for modern lighting. The efficiency of them makes them quite appealing to many homeowners, and things continue to improve as the technology matures. LED lights aren’t some fad that’s overhyped or going to disappear from the market in the near future, so a lot of homeowners are now confident that they can maintain and even replace LED systems when need be in the future.

How Do LED Lights Differ From Other Lights?

Per the United States Department of Energy, there are a number of distinct features of LED lights that make them quite different from incandescent lights and even other options that are newer, such as CFLs, or compact fluorescent bulbs. To start with, every light-emitting diode is really minuscule in size, like the size of an actual grain of ground pepper. Diodes of various hues combine together in a single light to create the color of white. Altering this mixture of colors allows LED lights to have different tints.

Secondly, it’s quite easy to control the light direction using LED systems. That minimizes your need for shades or reflectors, which sometimes prove to be fire hazards or get too hot if they’re paired with conventional incandescent bulbs. If you have installations such as recessed lighting, LEDs prove to be an ideal choice. If an incandescent bulb is used in such a lighting system, then a fraction of its light gets lost from being reflected into a particular direction, which increases how much energy is necessary for the lighting of that space.

LEDs also get noticeably cooler as compared to CFLs or incandescents. That coolness means they’re safer for you to handle, and it’s also symptomatic of their energy efficiency. On the flip side, incandescent bulbs release nearly 90 percent of their energy simply as heat, and it’s still 80 percent for CFLs.

Also, an LED bulb’s lifespan is about 50,000 hours. In contrast, incandescent lights only last around 1,200 hours. This shorter lifespan drives up the cost in the long run since incandescent bulbs have to be replaced far more frequently.

Landscape Lighting Demands Robust Fixture Quality

LEDs often prove ideal for exterior lighting due to their lack of heat, low maintenance, efficiency, and long-running cost-effectiveness. So, what do homeowners need to look out for if they plan to make the switch to this kind of lighting for their entertainment areas, walkways, yards, and porches or decks? The need to make sure that they don’t just settle for the cheapest possible fixture choices. LED bulbs can last a very long time, but an outdoor fixture has to be constructed to be sturdy and durable so it can withstand the elements.

Want a hint of the expected hardiness? Check out the warranty length. Stainless steel, aluminum, and brass fixtures are usually higher in price than plastic choices, but they’re also in better shape to put up with what mother nature is going to throw at them. If you need outdoor landscape lighting in Houston, make sure to consider, the best outdoor lighting company in Houston.

Comparing LEDs To Compact Fluorescent Lights

CFL bulbs certainly prove to be a rational upgrade above incandescent bulbs when talking about efficiency. Since fluorescent lights typically fit into conventional incandescent fixtures, they’re not that much of an initial investment. They certainly offer you savings on your utilities, but CFLs do have a big downside, and that is mercury. When a fluorescent bulb breaks, it’s often troublesome to clean things up given the gases, but this isn’t an issue with LEDs, so they might make a safer choice if you’re renting any temporary fabric structures.

One final thing to take into consideration is a light’s expected look. LED options can honestly prove disappointing here. Incandescent bulbs often have a rather warm look. Homeowners might expect to get that same attractive glow from even other types of lights. On the other hand, the light from LEDs might seem harsher. They can also emit blue-hued rays which aren’t always expected by people new to this kind of lighting. Fortunately, those that develop LED technology are working on mixing different combinations of the various diodes so that they might mimic incandescents so they offer more various looks.

Get The Right Look By Using Color Temperature

Buyers need to know that new LED lights mean comparing many different options. Your local home improvement store might even have a display at the end of an aisle that demonstrates the different possibilities. At a minimum, the box of each bulb should offer a color description covering the light style emitted by the bulb. Color temperature helps predict just what bulbs are going to look like if they’re turned on.

Call us now or contact us today for more information on starting or finishing a new or existing outdoor lighting project!