Are you living on the edge when it comes to fire safety in your home? You need more than a keen eye and a sharp nose to act quickly and avoid a Three Stooges re-enactment in the event of a fire in your home. With the help of smoke detectors, you can avoid any unnecessary antics, reduce fire risks, and increase your response time.

Do you need to invest in smoke detectors? Look for these 10 signs:

Don’t be a stooge. Stay on top of fire safety for the protection of your family and home. Contact Mr. Electric® today for the rapid installation of working smoke detectors on every level of your home.

Now is the time to evaluate your outdoor and landscape lighting needs in preparation for the summer season.  Follow our step-by-step landscape lighting design plan and get the job done right.

Learn how to get luxurious landscape lighting effects and make your home shine by Memorial Day 2014…

Step One:  Review the perimeters of your home, including surrounding outdoor property—front yards, back yards, side yards—to see which features you would like to accentuate, such as fountains, sculpture, or flower boxes. Choose a few areas that will stand out and add a luxurious element to your home at night.

Step Two:  Scout out areas where you will need security lighting—leading up to and at all home entryways.  Take note of areas where path lighting, step lighting, and task lighting are needed.

LED strip lighting under steps, railings and benches provides excellent security lighting and may be custom-tailored to your decor. LED light strips are especially suitable for outdoor areas, as they are long-lasting and extremely durable, radiate very little heat, and use up to 80 percent less electricity than standard light sources.

Step Three:  If you have existing outdoor lighting—review your property at night to see where you can upgrade your lighting design.  Check that everything is in working order and adequate illumination is provided at all significant locations.

• Where there are large areas blanketed in darkness, consider installing a floodlight equipped with energy-efficient lamps and lighting controls.

• Equally important is to check for areas that are excessively bright. Overly bright outdoor lighting, including path lighting and patio lighting, creates glare and can actually make it harder to see at night and diminish safety and security.

Your landscape lighting should be soothing and comfortable.  Make sure that  landscape and outdoor fixtures do not cast light into your neighbors’ property.  Keep “light trespass” from invading your own home at night.

Step Four:  If you like to entertain outdoors—see that your property is safely lit for guests—pay attention to elevation levels and unusual dips or risings; boundaries defining rock gardens, Koi ponds, and small shrubs should be clearly visible.  Make sure you have enough ambient illumination for safe navigation, as well as sufficient task lighting for cooking and food preparation.

Step Five:  Lighting techniques, such as shadowing, silhouetting and cross lighting add artistry and depth to your landscape at night.  But do not overdo it.  Depending on the size of your property, select one to three key areas that will expand and complement your overall landscape lighting presentation.

• Conceal lights behind and below a statue or small tree to highlight form and create definition.

• Show off a sculpted garden,  a textured rock wall or a unique architectural feature of your home that will stand out at night.

Light responsibly.  Keep an eye on the safety.  Having top-quality outdoor lighting makes for the best “Neighborhood Watch Program.”

Light conservatively.  The most wonderful aspect of outdoor and landscape lighting is that you only need a few well-chosen light sources to deliver a great deal of illumination and an overall luxuriant feel to your home.  Compared to other home improvement projects, top quality landscape lighting adds substantially to the value of your property.

Light efficiently.  You will save money in the long run, if you invest in automated lighting systems and LED landscape lighting now.  For maintenance-free, durable, long-lasting illumination—buy your LED landscape lighting and automated control systems from a reputable dealer.

Top-quality LED landscape lighting fixture are built to last with finishes guaranteed to withstand harsh weather conditions; many come with life-time product warranties.

Find qualified lighting professionals and electricians.  Professional lighting consultants will help you design your landscape lighting to exact specifications with outdoor fixtures that are UL-listed for outdoor use; electricians, familiar with updated LED lighting systems, should be licensed and aware of current electrical codes and ordinances in your town or city.

Order your fixtures early, set the job up now with energy-efficient security lighting and luxurious landscape illumination to ensure you will be ready for summer holiday celebrations.

THE SEASON’S TOP PICS:

The holiday season is here—how does your house look? If you’ve been putting off hanging your lights for any reason, don’t wait any longer—call Kolb Electric! We’re currently running a holiday light hanging service to help get your home decorated in time for all the festivities. We’re also offering $25 off any service call over $200!

To learn more about these great offers, click here!

If you’ve read our blog for any length of time, you know we’re pretty enthusiastic about light. At Pegasus Lighting, we love writing about lighting design, technology, news, advice, art, and more. BUT we also love to read about it. For today’s post, I decided it was high time to send a shout-out to some of our favorite lighting blogs, magazines, and websites. Each one is run by passionate individuals and offers a unique perspective on the lighting industry. And you better believe they keep us on our toes.

So without further ado…

To indulge your inner lighting geek, check out Lighting Science’s company blog. You’ll learn things like how lighting affects sea turtle behavior, what it can do to our sleeping patterns, and more. The best part – Lighting Science is actively solving these problems with new, creative lighting technology!

Here’s a bright post:

Lighting designer James Bedell shares his unique blend of expert knowledge, honest opinions, and passion for lighting on his personal blog, and it’s well worth a read. Some days he’ll share practical tips about how to light your home, while other days might be some fascinating insight about what we can learn from a sunrise.

Here’s a bright post: 

When you’re in the mood to look at something pretty, or cool, or crazy, it’s time to navigate over to Lightopia’s Light Public. The lighting enthusiasts on this blog post about commerical lighting design, fine art, and photography mostly – and it will blow your mind.

Here’s a bright post: