Tuesday, December 10, 2013

What Outdoor Lighting Products Do We Use?

This is a question we get every now and then so I thought I would give a list of our most used products manufacturers. There are others that we use every now and then but these are my go-toos on most of our projects.

16006BKT30

Our primary line is Kichler LED landscape lighting. There are many reasons I use this product, among them are loyalty, quality of product and their great warranty. When we first began our outdoor lighting business almost 10 years ago and I reached out to several professional lighting manufacturers, Kichler was the only one who paid attention and wanted to help us get going and they have been a strong supporter ever since. They also make a very good product at a reasonable price. Yes, there are other very good products out there but they are usually quite a bit more expensive and quite honestly, the Kichler products hold up very well in the central Texas environment so I don’t see any reason to use the higher cost products. They also stand behind their products with a full replacement warranty, not some repair or other nonsense. That makes it much easier on us and our client gets a new product if need be. Finally, they have been a strong supporter of the outdoor lighting industry by belonging to such organizations as the AOLP, ALA, ASLA, etc.

Linear wash

We also use CAST lighting for projects where we need a more robust cast brass fixture which will hold up to things like cattle! Yes, we do have some projects on central Texas ranch land where the fixture must be part light fixture, part tank and the CAST product fits that bill perfectly.

Our other fixture lines include Coppermoon, FX Luminaire, Universal and Auroralight among others but these listed are our most used products. All of these products are quite good and the manufacturers stand behind their products. They are also all members of the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals which demonstrates to us their commitment to the outdoor industry as a whole.

S-8 Wedge LED

As for LED lamps we lean heavily on Kichler, Illumicare and Brilliance. These lines have been developed for the outdoor lighting industry and the manufacturers stand behind their products. There are a whole lot of LED lamps out there but very few that have been developed to be installed in both enclosed and exposed fixtures outdoors, in the harsh environment. The cheaper LED lamps that are found in the home improvement stores may be ok in some instances in doors but don’t try them in your landscape. The LED products used outside must be able to withstand all of the heat, rain, chemicals, cold, etc. that are found outside of walls of your home. These LED lamps do cost a lot more than those you see in the general marketplace but they will last and will end up costing a lot less over time, we promise.

As a rule, we first use products from AOLP members since we do believe strongly that any industry needs strong associations which can help their members become better at their craft. The AOLP is a not for profit national association which provides education to its members to insure they do quality work. They have a Standard for Installation which all contractors are supposed to follow and if they do follow those standards, the end user (customer) will have a great outdoor lighting system and a contractor who will be there to take care of it in the future.

We’re here to answer any other questions you may have about outdoor lighting products that we use or other products on the market. Just ask us at info@night-scenes.com.

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