With careful planning, lighting can be the finishing touch that greatly enhances the home and surroundings you have invested in so heavily. Without careful planning, it can look haphazard, annoy your neighbors and passing traffic, or be unsafe and inefficient.
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Decorative illumination, used in conjunction with the existing indoor
lights, can 'frame out' the home by highlighting the surrounding
landscape to draw attention to architectural details. |
Pre-Planning - The Dream Phase
Let's start with the desirable. You've invested big bucks, sweat (even if it wasn't Yours) and imagination into creating gorgeous landscaping, wonderful spaces for entertaining and relaxation and a beautiful home exterior. Start the planning process by dreaming about what you want to accomplish with lighting.
"What do you want to create?" is the question Craig G. Malesic, LC, lighting designer at CM Squared, Inc. in Harrisburg, asks clients in the earliest planning phases. "Will this be a private space just for a couple? A space for young children? Teenagers? A quiet retreat?? Will it be used for entertaining? And will the entertaining be casual, formal, business-oriented?" Malesic's list of questions illustrates the wide variety of factors that affect lighting choices, as well as the potential of lighting to create a mood, or set the stage for activity.
With a background in theater lighting, Malesic knows that lighting can evoke serenity or amazement, or even extend the illusion that you've traveled to an exotic location. Carefully evaluating the spaces you wish to light, their potential uses and where you want to create focal points, will lead to a design that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
Prioritizing - The Reality Phase
You will also need to have the realistic idea of what you're able to spend before you approach a lighting designer. Dreams are great, but the fun of imagining what could be can come to a screeching halt when the cost comes into play.
A start-to-finish budget should take into consideration design services, fixtures and installation fees. Some designers, such as Malesic, will design a lighting plan in phases, with some work done now, and future phases completed over the course of two to three years.
If the scheme you've envisioned is on a grand scale and your budget is more modest, such an options will save money in the long run. For example, it will ensure that wiring will be in place to support added voltage required by new fixtures and that lawns, driveways and walks will not have to be torn out to install additional electrical conduits in the future.
Long-range planning is particularly beneficial with new construction, where landscaping, water features and decks may be added as your budget has recovered from the wallop of building the house itself.
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In popular relaxtion areas, moonlighting
and uplighting create a softer effect than
direct illumination which is known
to produce glare and discomfort. |
Selecting a Designer
Just as in any other home design or renovation process, a certain level of trust is involved because the end product is to some degree an unknown. That's why it's paramount to choose a designer who seems to understand you and your expectations, who is experienced enough to know how a project should turn out and who is well-trained for the type of project involved.
As with any type of designer or contractor, word of mouth from past clients is crucial in selecting the right person. But since designers aren't one size fits all, you have to do your homework as well. Don't hesitate to ask a wide variety of questions of both former customers and the designer. And pay careful attention to the answers!
How does he or she listen and respond to your suggestions? What kind of reaction do you get when you state your budget? Does every job in his or her portfolio look the same? And what kind if background, training and certification do they have? An initial consultation is often free and can provide answers to these questions and telling insight into how you and the designer might mesh.
Non-Negotiables
Issues such as communication style and degree of control a client maintains are matters of personal preference. Licensing and insurance are closer to one-size-fits-all issues.
There is no professional licensure required of contractors inn Pennsylvania - it is left up to the individual municipalities. It's advisable that you check with your local authorities before hiring any designer or the electrical contractor who will be installing the final product.
The best designers carry the credential "LC" or "Lighting Certified," a professional certification awarded by the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP). The degree of complexity and scale of the project will determine whether you need someone with additional certification or with a degree in architecture or electrical engineering.
All contractors should carry liability, and the NCQLP recommends requesting to see a contractor's certificate of insurance.
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Trees become dynamic points
of focus when properly lit to
highlight their unique features. |
Night Vision
Once the designer is chosen and dreams are aligned with the budget, the nitty-gritty begins. It's time to determine what kind of system will achieve the desired effect within the available constraints. A designer can tell you what kinds of fixtures and installations will achieve your goals, but it may be difficult to visualize what the designer is describing. And it's tough for a lighting designer to have the equivalent of the decorator's swatch book.
Craig Malesic utilizes a portfolio of photography, showing clients examples of installations where techniques he is suggesting have been used. He calls this phase of the design process a "concept meeting," which he describes as "an agenda with both pictures and words". At this point, the designer is familiar with what the client needs and wants to achieve. He can show photographic examples of a similar concept and better determine specific likes and dislikes.
Do Unto Others
In addition to your own safety and security needs and your need to highlight that spectacular sculpture or specimen tree, you also need to consider other inhabitants of the area. "We assume that upsetting a neighbor is never an option," says Malesic.
Light trespass has long been the stuff of neighborhood conflict, safety hazards and environmental concern. Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) defines light trespass as, "light spilling into areas where it is unwanted." In other words, deck lighting that allows your barbeque guests to see their hors d'oeuvres may also shine directly into your neighbor's bedroom window or into the eyes of the passing motorists.
A good designer will know what fixtures and bulbs to use to avoid glare on roadways, bright horizontal beams and intensity that obscures the night sky for neighboring star gazers.
Many communities, particularly in rural area, now have regulations regarding light trespass. For example, regulations may govern the length of time exterior lights may be left on or stay on after they are activated by a motion sensor. It is important that you or your designer check with your municipality or homeowners' association to avoid conflict.
Location is Everything
Dave Whitcomb, a professional pilot with lighting experience, offers an interesting perspective on over-lighting and light placement: "I fly, and the last thing I want to see when I drive past a house is a lighted runway." It's important to consider the arrangement of lights such as path lighting, as well as the type of light source. He points out, "Your eye travels to the brightest light. If path lights are lined up straight along the sides, all you see are the lights. Staggered lights illuminate the path and lead your eye to objects along the path - it's a fade-in, fade-out effect."
Whitcomb also use the example of lighting a stone wall with soft light that "grazes" the stone, rather than a bright spotlight. "It's the difference between 'Wow', is that ever beautiful!' and 'There's a stone wall,''' he says.
High Impact Fixtures
Most of the lighting we've discussed so far is meant to call attention to beautiful objects, not to be noticed itself. But some outdoor lighting, such a porch lights, wall sconces or post lights, can and should be worthy of notice.
Carol Menges, of Yale Electric in Lebanon, a lighting supply store with locations throughout Central Pennsylvania, suggests that lighting is part of a recent trend in home décor. "Basic black is out," she says. "No one wants to be 'me too' anymore. People don't want to look like their neighbors, and they want something that is aesthetically pleasing, as well as functional."
| Well-chosen fixtures that are in keeping with a home's architectural style are a bit like good jewelry to an ensemble. They should complement and complete the home, not distract from it. |
According to Menges, fixtures in a much wider range of finishes are popular now more so than in past years. She recommends darks finishes, bronzes and pewters.
For sparkle and high visual impact, Menges says the trend is toward dimensional fixtures with "a lot of bent glass and bevels on each piece." She says, "They create a faceted effect like jewels."
In fact, well-chosen fixtures that are in keeping with a home's architectural style are a bit like good jewelry to an ensemble. They should complement and complete the home, not distract from it.
Energy Efficiency and Control
Stunning fixtures and a nighttime exterior that makes you the envy of the neighborhood don't translate into a great thing if your electric bill skyrockets. And simply choosing energy-efficient bulbs is not a guarantee that you have an efficient system.
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A dark, foreboding house can be
transformed into a safe, appealing
haven when a Lighting Designer is
consulted to direct the transformation. |
Both Malesic and Whitcomb suggest that good lighting plans are not simply energy efficient, but energy conscious. "The question you should ask," says Malesic, "is does this design achieve what you want it to achieve?" He explains, "Look at the quality of light - does it illuminate the way you want it to? Can you achieve the same effect with fewer lights fixtures or lower-wattage lamps?
Malesic points out that control systems are an important factor in energy-conscious lighting design. Automation - systems that are timed to come on when you need them and turn off when you don't - both save energy and help ensure the security of your home. Motion sensors, by the same token, use energy only when it is needed to illuminate a path or discourage intruders.
Particularly in new construction, the trend is toward including exterior lighting in whole-house control systems that automate heating, interior lighting, audio and irrigation. Whole-house systems generally include remote controls so that elements can be activated from the car as a homeowner approaches their property.
With your well-planned lighting system in place, the push of a button will wow your friends and neighbors, create a peaceful nighttime oasis, protect your guests and property and welcome you to your inviting home - even on winter's darkest days.
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