A Warm Glow

It’s been a long, dark road for outdoor enthusiast Diane Metlin.

An avid gardener, she wants to enjoy the fruits of her daily labors at night. After a few Pinterest fails, including a glow-in-the-dark paint application to her largest planters, Metlin’s outdoor sanctuary was still shrouded in shadows. It wasn’t much to look at.

“I’ve tried everything from solar stakes to those string light bulbs that use up all my outlets,” the retired elementary school teacher said. “It just gives off warm globs of light in little patches. It’s not a place I want to be.”

Setting up outdoor lighting can achieve three things, say designers: aesthetics, security and safety. There have been impressive steps in outdoor lighting so that it is no longer difficult or expensive to add a warm touch to your patch of paradise on the patio.

LEDs (light-emitting diodes) have changed the landscape of the lighting industry significantly in the past few years, said Paul R Gosselin, president/designer for NightScenes Landscape Lighting Professionals.

“We’re doing a lot of LED upgrades these days of systems that we installed several years ago along with new design and installations,” said Gosselin, who is a board member and former president of the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals based in Harrisburg, Pa.

LED technology has come a long way since it was originally developed in 1962 by Nick Holonvak. The searing white bulbs of just five years ago have given way to a rainbow of warm color options.

“RGB (red/green/blue) LEDs have allowed us to turn any outdoor lighting project into a resort experience,” said Gosselin, whose company is based in Austin, Texas. “Some fixtures can now be tuned to just about any color that can be imagined with a simple smartphone app.”

Then there are the controls.

“Once again, using an app on a phone or tablet we can use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology to control outdoor lighting systems,” he said. “We can now simply turn a system on or off or we can program each individual fixture to do what we want, when we want it to do it. It’s pretty amazing.”

The global LED lighting market will reach $25.7 billion this year as consumers search for alternatives to standard lighting options, according to LEDinside, an industry market research firm. The United States holds just 19 percent of the overall LED lighting market, with Europe leading the global pack at 23 percent. But we’re getting smarter about this new home-improvement technology.

The most recent LED development has been the chip-on-board or COB technology, which can give a wider area of illumination far from the relatively small fixture. COB chips have multiple diodes on the same chip, typically 9 or more, giving it an improved lumen-per-watt ratio compared to other LED technologies

With all these exciting improvements, many reputed lighting companies, such as Kichler and Hinkley, are stepping up their game in the patio lighting market because of the rapid increase in demand.

The two primary elements that good outdoor lighting can do for homeowners are improving safety and security.

“By illuminating steps, walkways and dark areas good lighting can reduce the risk of trips and falls making the property safer,” Gosselin said “A good outdoor lighting design also increases security, in that properties with good lighting are less likely to be burglarized or vandalized because bad guys don’t want to be seen and elimination of darkness gives them nowhere to hide. Then of course good lighting adds beauty to any outdoor space and makes us feel more comfortable outdoors after dark.”

There have been more changes in outdoor lighting in the past seven years than in the past 100 years combined.

“Since the addition of LED lighting, the industry has changed dramatically and will probably continue to do so for a few more years,” he said. “Lighting systems are now easier to lay out and install, and the fixture options are exploding. It’s an exciting time to be in the lighting industry.”

LED lights don’t contain the harmful chemicals of conventional light bulbs, such as mercury, and significantly reduce your carbon footprint by up to a third, said Jonathan Spears, owner of Sage Design Studios Inc.

“Traditional bulbs just don’t have a very good lifespan,” said Spears, whose clients regularly ask for LED upgrades to replace old fixtures. “You’ll spend less time changing out your LED bulbs and fixtures because they last eight times longer than the old bulbs.”

The design options have also come a long way in the last few years.

“People think of LED and they think of that really white light and small bulb” he said. “It’s distracting. But they have a lot more options that provide a glow that is more appealing than the former (traditional) light bulbs ever did for your space.”

The request for mood lighting and atmosphere for everyday backyard use has been on the rise only just in the past few years.

“People aren’t looking to just light up the patio so they can see who they are talking to,” he said. “They want environment. It really makes a difference in how much time you spend in your backyard when you play with the lighting to create a mood, ambience.”

More companies are cranking up their outdoor lighting lines to better illuminate the best areas of your backyard all year long, he said.

“Being in Las Vegas, people want to extend their living space to their backyard and be able to use it 12 months out of the year,” he said. “We’re lucky because of our good weather most of the time. But then they get out there and it either feels like a cave or it looks like a prison yard lit up from (intense) white lights overhead.”

Anybody can make their space better with just a few well-placed lights available at the local home improvement store or do a bit more investing by buying from reputable online lighting companies.

“As a designer, I like to lure visitors and the homeowner out to the landscape and surprise them when they get there with what we can do with lighting nowadays,” Spears said. “It’s a challenge and it triggers a sense of fun. I think people need to have more fun and relax more and the outdoors, steps from your house, is a great way to do that.”