Low voltage lighting is the best choice for residential outdoor lighting. The landscape evolves: plants mature, trees gain height and breadth, shrubbery beds are reconfigured. A lighting system must be flexible to encompass these changes. The minimal disruption of the initial installation and the ease with which changes are accomplished with a low voltage system are key factors in accommodating the slow-paced dynamic of the outdoor environment. Planning for the present includes planning for the future.
Landscape lighting reveals the house and grounds in the setting that was lost as night fell. The purpose of lighting is to re-establish the relationship between the house and the landscaping. Lighting should enhance the setting, extend the hours of enjoyment of the outdoors and provide for the safety and convenience of guests. It can also address issues of security in a manner that is aesthetically pleasing and appropriate to the site.
To achieve these goals it is necessary to plan, design and execute the lighting carefully and methodically. Low voltage lighting is an optional outdoor amenity usually added to a property after construction is completed and the landscaping has matured. Most often it is the final touch to a carefully designed and maintained landscape plan. It is therefore important that the lighting be appropriate to the landscaping. Some homeowners, particularly those, who have done their own landscaping, may wish to attempt to do the lighting as well; most others will enlist the aid of an outdoor lighting professional.
Outdoor lighting is the addition of lighting effects not the purchase of equipment. The ideal lighting system is one that meets the practical and aesthetic needs of the owner without adding yet another maintenance requirement to the burden of ownership. Service and maintenance is intrinsic to outdoor lighting. Planning, design, installation and service are the components of effective and appropriate lighting.
In new construction it is important to contact an outdoor lighting professional before driveway and walkway paving is completed. This is also true if the site is already fully built and landscaped but changes in the hardscaping such as new walkways or a patio are planned. Placement of wiring conduits under planned paving prior to completion will allow lighting to be placed in those areas that would otherwise require costly and disruptive excavating at a later date.
Most low voltage landscape lighting is retrofit into existing landscaping; the challenge of accomplishing this with minimal disruption will not defeat an experienced designer.
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