Great outdoor lighting provides your home entryway with a welcoming and luxuriant presentation, ensuring just the right level of illumination for the safety and security of visitors and guests. 

Now is the time to assess your property and invest in a custom outdoor lighting design to increase your home’s curb appeal and provide a luminous finish to your home entrance.

New innovations include outdoor post lamps, decorative lanterns and energy-efficient pathway lighting.

To make your nighttime outdoor environment as comfortable, safe, and maintenance-free as possible, great lighting is key.

1.  SECURITY LIGHTING FOR WALKWAYS AND DRIVEWAYS.

Outdoor post lamps and path lighting help to expand your outdoor environment, providing a tailor-made illumination toward the front door, deck, patio +/or garage.

2. DECORATIVE LIGHTING FOR HOME ENRTY ZONES.

An outdoor hanging lamp and/or wall lanterns add a customized finish and are available in a myriad of styles to complement homes from traditional to ultra modern.

3.  TASK LIGHT BY THE FRONT DOOR AND GARAGE.

Direct focused illumination on key holes and security pads should be bright enough to allow for easy access and visibility when you are entering and leaving your home at night.

4.  ACCENT ILLUMINATION TO HIGHLIGHT HOUSE NUMBERS

Make sure that your home is properly illuminated for guests as well as delivery people and emergency vehicles.  All too often, help is delayed in emergency situations because house numbers are not clearly visible at night and outdoor lighting is insufficient.

5.  “SHIELDED” LAMPS THAT EXPAND OUTDOOR LIVING SPACE AND ACCENTUATE IMPORTANT ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES.

Properly shielded outdoor lighting fixtures expand and beautify your home, without creating glare or causing visual discomfort to visitors and neighbors. A good lighting design with energy-efficient fixtures will increase the value of your property and provide majestic outdoor lighting effects.

LET’S GET STARTED…

*Rule of thumb for sizing outdoor wall lanterns:  The height of the lantern should be based on the height of the door.  If brackets are to be installed on either side of the door, they should measure about one-fourth the height of the door.  If using only one lantern, size up to about one-third the height of the door.

** “Dark Sky” compliancy and light pollution:  Light pollution is any undesirable effect of artificial light, including glare, light trespass and decreased visibility at night.  Many manufacturers offer “Dark Sky” versions of their outdoor lighting products, which “collar” the light bulb around its base to block superfluous upward emissions of light.

-Match outdoor fixture styles to the decor of your interior space.  Whether you go with classic and elegant traditional outdoor lighting or sleek and contemporary, your outdoor post lamps, hanging lamps and wall lighting should complement that style.

-If you have custom designed hardware on doors, find a finish that will work well to complement this detail.

-Don’t neglect the side yard and dark areas by side windows;  Include at least one low-level outdoor lamp for nighttime security.

-Look for finishes and outdoor hanging lanterns, post lamps and flush fixtures that are guaranteed to last.  Check out warranty information on the latest outdoor lighting fixtures; some include a life-time guarantee on all finishes and parts.

-Make sure to view your outdoor lighting after dark before signing off on a project; make necessary adjustments to refine your outdoor lighting design, focusing the light exactly where it is needed for an aesthetically pleasing look and polished illumination for safe navigation and security lighting at night.

Capitol Lighting’s professional lighting consultants will help you in selecting everything from timers and outdoor hanging lamps to path lights and outdoor post lamps.  Work with the experts to prepare your outdoor environment with quality lighting customized to enhance the value of your home.

From traditional outdoor lighting to modern and classic contemporary designs, the right outdoor lamps make a world of difference.  Beautify your home and secure the neighborhood with updated outdoor lighting fixtures to highlight your home with good sense and style.

Top Picks include:

New Traditional Outdoor Lighting from Hinkley Lighting:

“Mendocino” Outdoor Post Lamp from Troy Lighting:

Outdoor Hanging Lamp from Fine Art Lamps:

Dark-Sky Compliant Outdoor Lamps from Minka Lavery:

A common concern for those involved in home renovations or purchasing a new home is, “What is the state of the electrical system in the walls”. Some homes may not have had construction or renovations done since the original – this means the original wiring is still in place. Having original wiring in place can be concerning, especially if it is aluminum wiring. This type of wiring is commonly found in older homes and can be very dangerous. Read on to find out what you need to know about aluminum wiring and the dangers associated with it.

In the 1950’s to 1970’s, many homes were being outfitted with aluminum wiring. The reason for this was because the prices of copper (material normally used for electrical wires) had increased and the use of aluminum would undercut the high costs. Aluminum is also much more conductive than copper and was used in larger industrial/commercial electrical lines like power grids and airplanes.

Despite the reduced cost and increased conductivity, aluminum wiring has many potential issues. Aluminum wiring is much softer than standard copper wiring. This means that it is vulnerable to being broken, cut, and damaged which can leave live electrical wires exposed. Another issue is that when aluminum rusts, it is not as conductive as copper. Copper that rusts can remain conductive and continue its flow of power. However with aluminum wiring, rust in wiring will impede the flow of electricity and can cause a number of other issues. Aluminum also expands and contracts when it becomes hot. This constant flux in size will result in the wires loosening themselves and connections become loose. For all of the above listed reasons, aluminum is prone to overheating and electrical fires.

If you are unsure if there is aluminum wiring in your home, we have listed a number of warning signs that can indicate a hidden problem

Businesses as we all know, are always thinking about the bottom line. From ways to increase revenues to ways to decrease expenses, it’s all critical stuff for any company to pay attention to.

That’s exactly why we are creating this post on energy saving tips for businesses and companies alike. And while not every business in every building will be able to implement every single tip on this list, there should be numerous ones that will be highly relevant to your business.

Saving energy will allow you to reduce overhead expenses, enhance your public view as a “going green” company (which you could use as a marketing play), or even just have better piece of mind knowing your buildings are just that much greener.

Without further ado, here is the first on the list (out of 25)…

1. Upgrade to a LED lighting system. The benefits of LED technology far surpass any other lighting technology commonly used in buildings or fluorescent, metal halide, HPS, etc). reducing the amount of energy that is going to power those lights as well.

4. Install sky lights. How about all of that natural light that is going to waste otherwise? By installing sky lights in areas where natural lighting would otherwise not get to (e.g hallways and inner rooms), you open yourself up to some huge savings by not having to have nearly as many lights on during the daytime.

5. Switch to green web hosting. This is a huge one for those companies who have lots of traffic and do a lot of business through their website. spam email has a carbon footprint? Although this won’t save your company any money, it will definitely reduce the carbon footprint associated with your company.

14. Only purchase ENERGY STAR equipment. By purchasing office equipment that is ENERGY STAR qualified, you are buying into products that are proven to be more energy efficient than those that aren’t.

15. Switch over to laptops. Desktops are always plugged in, and that can mean a lot of energy consumption. By switching to laptops, you will use 1/4th the energy associated with powering your computers.

16. Update your insulation. Those nasty drafts aren’t only uncomfortable to your employees and / or visitors, but they are also wasting a lot of energy. If you can, consider updating your insulation to stop the escape of that warm (or cold) air you are paying to output.

17. Update your windows. While you are at it, updating your windows to ones that don’t have any leaks in them will stop those drafts too. Both of these go hand in hand, and together will reduce a lot of temperature control going to waste.

18. Hold a virtual meeting. If you have days designated for meetings and not much else, then why power your entire building (and make everyone drive) if you could easily have everyone stay at home? Your employees will probably appreciate it, and you are going to save a lot of energy for that day. Technology these days makes it a whole lot easier to save on energy for business and buildings alike.

19. Take advantage of tax credits. All of this effort on saving energy will not only save you in overhead costs, but it could also phantom load is basically energy that is being consumed through a product that is entirely off. The simple solution is to unplug everything when it is not in use. Alternatively, you could shut off the power to an entire room or area when it’s not in use to ensure no phantom load waste is occurring.

23. Reduce hot water usage. By installing efficient faucets, you will reduce the amount of water that is wasted. And if you do heat that water, reducing the waste of it will reduce the amount of energy you use to heat that water.