Porch Light Archives - Robert Huff Outdoor Lighting Houston TX

A Helpful Guide To Houston Porch Light Safety

Porch lights can provide you with convenience and safety. You won’t have to search for your keys for many long minutes, so you’ll be inside your home within seconds.

This light will also deter potential burglars, as they won’t be too keen to intrude into an apparently occupied dwelling. Nevertheless, smart thieves pay close attention to details, so they will probably know when and how you turn your porch and deck lighting on and off.

If you want to keep burglars off your home, think about the best times to keep your porch lights on or off.

Best Times To Turn Your Porch Light On

At Night, When You Are Home

This is the perfect time to leave your porch light on. It warns potential intruders that you are at home, particularly if you also leave some indoor lights on. Also, you can easily spot anyone approaching your home.

When You Know Someone In Your Home Will Return Late At Night

If you know you’re going to return very late at night, you can leave the porch light on. It will keep burglars away and will also allow you to find your keys and to unlock your door faster.

When You Leave Your Children At Home

If you get out for the evening and you leave your kids at home, leave your porch light on. Also, switch on some of the indoor light, just for potential intruders to see that there’s someone home. Your children will love to have some light on the porch, as they will feel safer.

When You Expect A Home Delivery

If you know you’re going to receive a package, you should leave the porch light on. This will help the delivery person find your home easier.

Best Times To Turn Your Porch Lights Off

When You Leave For A Longer Period Of Time

Whenever you have to leave the town, either for business or vacation, you should turn your porch light off during the day. Potential intruders will know that you’re not home when they will see such a waste of energy. If you’re keen on having your porch light on during the night, ask one of your neighbors to come and turn it on and off, or buy a light timer. The point is to create the illusion that you’re home.

When You Go To Sleep

There’s no reason why you should keep your porch light on throughout the whole night. Turn it off before you go to bed, just as your neighbors do. In addition, you may want to invest in infrared sensors that make lights automatically turn on whenever they detect motion.

When Anxiety Takes Over

If you’re home alone and you feel anxious, it’s probably better to turn off the porch light. Many burglars stalk a property for days or even weeks in a row before deciding to take action. If they notice that you’re on your own, they might pick that time to break into your house.

If Your House Is In A Rural Area

In this situation, it’s best to keep the porch light off during the high. Intruders will have a hard time finding their way around, so you’ll know they are coming.

If you would like to discover more tips and tricks from Robert Huff Illuminations; visit our blog. Call or contact us today for more information!

Shopping A Porch Light In Houston: Tips & Tricks

The right porch light does more than just let you see your way around obstacles when it’s dark. Ideally, it’s also something that commands respect while inviting friends and family to your porch. When a porch is lit up enough, it means that the surroundings of your entrance are safer, as possible intruders are deterred. Picking out a good porch light isn’t really different than selecting a good piece of jewelry. You just need to be thoughtful about it while paying attention to detail.

Placement

Where you intend to put your porch light should guide you in picking out the best one. For instance, if you’re looking to replace a current wall light, then your options are limited to just wall-mounted fixtures. If you’re going to add porch lighting, then you have more options, but you also have to verify your circuit capacity in advance. You can put porch lights on any posts that support the roof of the porch, or you can put them on the ceiling, using either flush-mount or hanging options. If you decide to, you might even install recessed lights right into the porch floor. Weather is not likely to be a factor since manufacturers design their porch lights to get used outdoors.

Style

There are times where the architecture of your home impacts what kind of fixture is best; having said that, if your home is lacking in specific characteristics, you have the more creative freedom to enjoy. Porch lights are available in quite a few styles, with certain options being casual, traditional, contemporary, rustic, and Southwestern, as well as many more. If you want to light up your colonial-style home, then you should lean more towards traditional styles over rustic options, for instance. Still, even in colonial styles, particular aesthetics can matter, since a Cape Cod looks better with nautical lighting than Georgian colonials do. Whatever fixture style you do pick, just make sure you emphasize consistency over being eclectic.

Size

How big your porch light is needed to be a balance between the home’s overall size and the size of the entry door. If your door is the standard size of 6 feet 8 inches, then industry experts suggest your porch lighting be from 5 up to 9 inches in width. If your entry door is in the realm of 8 feet in height, then your porch light should follow suit at 10 to 12 inches wide. If you decided to install more than one light for your porch, be sure that they are all the same width and size, or at least relatively close; this holds true for wall lights, hanging lights, and flush mounts.

Functionality

A lot of decorative porch lights now come with photoelectric eyes in-built for dusk-to-dawn function, which means you don’t have to ever remember to turn them on or off. Motion-sensor porch lights also have timers built-in that turn them on when the sun sets so they stay lit for predetermined times you set. Once the light goes off, it reactivates when the motion sensor registers movement. Take note of the wattage recommendations of fixtures if you are in need of bright porch light. Never exceed the recommended wattage, or you might risk damaging your light. If you want to boost the brightness without going past the wattage of a fixture, swap out incandescent bulbs with LED or compact fluorescent bulbs.