Landscape Lighting

120 Volt Lighting Maintenance

2012-01-31T11:47:00.001-08:00

Aloha! So here we are in beautiful Hawaii for a lighting meeting and we come across some lighting maintenance issues that really should be attended to ASAP.

This item is just one of the issues we found on this lighting system. With this fixture inverted, water will enter into the conduit and cause a short circuit in the junction box or the fixture. Since this is a 120 volt system, this could cause someone to be injured or worse.

It is always important to keep outdoor lighting systems properly maintained but even more so when it involves high voltage lighting as seen here. If you see this type of issue in your area, you should tell someone right away so it can be properly rectified so no one gets hurt.

Options!

2012-01-24T11:51:00.001-08:00

Can we ever have enough options? Do we have too many options? I’m not too sure about either of these questions but I do know that I like to have plenty of options when creating an outdoor lighting design.

One thing that I know for sure, no one outdoor lighting manufacturer has everything I need. Some have huge selections of decorative lighting fixtures while others have all of those decorative fixtures in just about every color you would want. Others have just a handful of fixtures. Some manufacturers offer nothing but commercial grade or “spec” grade fixtures while others offer very cheap fixtures.

One of the things that separate lighting designers is whether we use one manufacturer for our designs or pick and choose from several. Since I can’t find everything I need from one company, I use a lot of different products from several manufacturers to create a unique outdoor lighting design. One option I never go with is the CHEAP one. See some samples at NightScenes Landscape Lighting Professionals

Lighting paths and steps properly

2011-12-22T08:03:00.001-08:00

This is the first thing I look at when designing a lighting system. Safety is and should always be the first concern. The question is, how do we do it in order to bring attention to the path or change in elevation, or steps without being distracted by the source of light?

I find that too many people use fixtures that cause a lot of glare (this is when you see the source of the light). This is the most common fixture used.

This fixture is real good at shining light in your eyes and not so good at actually lighting your path or steps.

Another thing that is used far too often is the “step” light fixture. There are two types of these fixtures that are used often. One has a louvered face which does eliminate the glare issue but at the same time, cuts the photometric (spread of light) of the fixture down to practically nothing, not actually lighting the steps very much at all. The other option is the flat glass face which is an extreme glare producer.

Another issue with these fixtures is corrosion of the box that contains the light source itself. These boxes are installed in concrete or mortar, do corrode and then have to be replaced which is a major undertaking and can be very expensive.

So now that we know what NOT to use, let’s look at some good options. First we have a regular path/spread light fixture that covers the light source and allows the illumination to shine down onto the object in question whether it be steps or pathway. This fixtures casts a very wide photometric and can illuminate a very large area. This allows you to also use less fixtures.

Another good choice is a fixture that can be mounted on a wall and shines down onto the steps. Since this is a surface mounted fixture, corrosion is not an issue. It also allows you to illuminate more than one step per fixture while not shining light in your eyes.

Every project is different and may require a completely different lighting technique so don’t use this information as a hard rule. What you should notice is that we are shining light down and not out. The main thing is that you think about the situation and plan your lighting accordingly, making certain that you are not shining the light into the eyes of those who are moving up the steps or along the walkway.

Why Professional Holiday Lighting?

2011-11-02T14:50:00.001-07:00

Now that November is upon us, and the promise of cooler weather is right around the corner, our holiday bells – the telephones – are ringing with folks on the line asking to schedule their holiday lighting installation. Actually, the phone started ringing in August! What is it about our holiday lighting services that would cause our clients to start calling before the end of summer to be sure they get on our schedule in November?

The most obvious answer is the limited time available for this seasonal service. Most folks love to be able to flip the switch on Thanksgiving to signal the start of the Christmas season with all their holiday lighting in place ready for the big opening “ta-daa” after their turkey dinner. This is a great way to kick off the holiday season in your neighborhood, but few people want their lights actually installed before Halloween. In anticipation of a very short three-week window, our regular clients know to get their dibs in early!

Aside from the time constraints, the joy of having someone else handle all that untangling, ladder-climbing and extension cord plugging is a great convenience! Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to sit back and watch our professional crew show up and take care of all that exterior lighting for you? When our team leaves your home, you will be proud of how your home looks for the holidays. Then, after the New Year has been properly rung in, we return to the home to take down all the lights and carefully store them at our facility until next year. No sweat, no stress, and no boxes for you to trip over or haul to your attic or garage. What could be easier than that?

Many homeowners appreciate the custom nature of our seasonal lighting. Strings of lights are cut to fit your roofline eliminating sags and blank spots where connections used to be placed. Prefer a unique color scheme to help your home stand out in the neighborhood? We can do that! And the energy efficient LED products that use 90% less energy than the traditional incandescent lighting of the past can save you a bundle on your seasonal electric bill. These lighting strings also allow us to put the whole system on one controller, automatically turning on and off when you want. No tripping circuit breakers, and no more running around the house plugging in or unplugging extension cords from wall sockets in the cold and dark.

We can also punch up your outdoor project with bows, lighted garland, yard motifs or lawn art to create a complete holiday wonderland!

One last note for the homeowner looking to REALLY jazz up the holidays – the really cool homes with the fancy lights that flash to music? We can do that too!

Happy holidays from all of us at NightScenes! And remember that using a professional holiday lighting company can truly take the stress out of the days ahead making them even more merry and bright!

Timing Is Everything

2011-07-07T16:01:00.001-07:00

One of the most common problems that we find on landscape lighting systems is the use of cut-rate mechanical timers to control the on/off operation of the lighting system. Even though we see this issue everyday, there are several good reasons why a cheap timer is a bad idea on a good lighting system.

First – and most critical – is that these timers are usually designed to be used indoors only. Moisture, insects, dirt and other elements of outdoor use cause these timers to malfunction regularly. Another reason to avoid sub-standard timers is their inability to handle power outages. These timers must have electricity at all times or they will lose time and programming. You’ll notice the system not turning on until well past dark, or staying on during the day when this happens. Also, a manual timer will not automatically adjust for seasonal changes in light and darkness. It’s not fun having to constantly adjust the timer to keep up with the daily time of sunset or Daylight Saving Time.

Controlling a high quality lighting system should be almost effortless for the property owner. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, and we use a lot of them - but we never use mechanical timers. One of our favorites to use is an astronomical timer. This timer is set to operate according to your actual location, using your longitude and latitude settings. This allows the system to operate only from dusk to a specified time or dawn, and automatically adjusts each day. This is far better than a photo cell since it’s not affected by shade, clouds or debris on the lens. The timing system works completely automatically, even for Daylight Saving Time, so there’s no need to make any manual adjustments. Additionally, the astronomical timer has a battery back-up eliminating failure even if the power goes out (the timer, not the lighting). Another control device, universal powerline bus/radio frequency, allows us to operate the landscape lighting and the home’s exterior lighting together as a unified system. The program will permit us to dim the home’s exterior lighting to the same levels as the landscape lighting, creating a lovely, uniform lighting scheme across the project, operating from dusk to any selected off time. This UPB/RF system is programmed and then managed from almost anywhere in the world using an IPhone, IPad or IPod Touch as a remote controller.

The main point here is that we want the operation of the lighting system to be as effective and efficient as possible. We don’t want lights to be on when not needed, and we don’t want anyone to be forced to constantly deal with the inconvenience of making adjustments all the time. These professional control devices may cost a little more than a big-box mechanical timer, but will easily pay for themselves by reducing energy waste turning the lighting system on unnecessarily. The effectiveness of a quality timer also ensures that your lighting system will work when you want it to without wasting your time with the inconvenience of manual adjustments.

Like they say, timing is everything and we like to help everyone save time and money.

How to spend too much money

2011-06-14T11:44:00.001-07:00

We have been lighting entries to developments in central Texas for several years now. We have always used low voltage lighting in our designs and wouldn’t even consider the use of high voltage lighting. We also would never even think about using old technology like mercury vapor lighting.

I am still seeing mercury vapor lighting being installed at residences and developments in the area. I really don’t know how these installation companies are doing this since mercury vapor lighting has been outlawed in the U.S. for a few years now. We can no longer get the ballasts for these lights (through legal means) and lamps are getting harder and harder to find. They’re also getting to be very expensive.

What really bothers me is that the ones paying for this lighting now are not only paying a lot for the system, they are also going to pay more every month in energy use. They’ll end up spending even more later to maintain the system as lamps go out and then, if a ballast goes bad, how are they going to replace that? They’ll end up having to trash the whole thing and start over.

Why not design and install an energy efficient LED system that will use a lot less energy and be pretty much maintenance free for many years? Why not look out for the best interest of the client?

Others in my industry ask me things like “why are you installing LED? What about your maintenance end of the business?” I tell them that if I look out for my clients they will send me far more business than what I could generate in maintenance anyway. It also makes us feel better about the projects that we do, knowing that we are doing what is best for our clients and the environment.

Some of our friends in Florida made this video about the installation of LED lighting at a development that explains a little about how much money this place will save every year by installing LED lighting instead of other energy hog types of lighting.

If your development already has lighting that is costing a fortune to maintain, maybe it’s time to look at upgrading it to LED. This can be fairly easy to do (for us) since we do it all the time. We can even utilize a lot of the wiring that is probably already in place.

Don’t spend too much for lighting. You may save a few dollars up front when installing other types of lighting, but you’ll spend a LOT more as the years go by.

Halogen vs LED, Head to Head

2010-10-22T10:55:00.001-07:00

So, one of my lighting buddies was pulling my chain the other day via Facebook messages. In his own interesting way he was suggesting that I let my readers and potential clients know the real costs involved using LED lighting compared to the halogen lighting that has been used for eons. Not a bad idea – so, here goes.

We will examine the actual cost of operating the different systems.

Figures will assess costs for an outdoor lighting system using 30 fixtures each producing light equivalent to a 20 watt MR16 halogen lamp. The system will be set to operate for six hours per night annually.

HALOGEN

600 watts total energy
Annual electrical cost: $131.00. Cost for 18 years: $2358.00 (central Texas average of .10 per KWH)
Halogen lamps are rated for up to 5000 hours of use; each lamp will have to be replaced every other year at a cost of $12.50 per lamp plus labor (let’s say $10.00 per lamp, down lights in tree could be more while ground mounted fixtures would be less). Cost of replacing 30 lamps 9x at $22.50 per lamp over 18 years: $6075.00.
Average annual operating cost: $468.50
Total operating cost (after installation) for 18 years: $8433.00

LED

135 watts total energy for same light output
Annual electrical cost: $29.50. Cost for 18 years: $531.00
LED fixtures and lamps are rated for 40,000 hours of use. No replacement will be necessary for about 18 years eliminating this expense entirely!
Total operating cost (after installation) for 18 years: $531.00
Over the life of the lighting system, LED will save $7902.00 in operating costs.

It is likely that the cost of electricity and labor will increase over the next 18 years, so these numbers may not be wholly accurate down the road a bit. It is also necessary to remember that all lighting systems require a little maintenance from time to time to check wiring, clean lenses, and re-direct light to accommodate growth and changes in landscape. But if saving more money in the long term is your goal – as well as reducing your energy consumption – it is clear to see that LED is the best way to go!

Why Bother with Professional Holiday Lighting?

2010-10-05T06:15:00.001-07:00

At last the weather is finally getting cooler and bells are ringing! Maybe a little early for the traditional Christmas bells, but our phone has already been ringing for a month with requests for holiday lighting designs and scheduling. What is it about our holiday lighting services that would cause our clients start calling in August to be put on the schedule?

The most critical issue is time. There is only so much time to do this job. Most of our clients want their holiday lighting up by Thanksgiving. A reasonable request. This would be no big deal at all but very few clients are willing to allow their Christmas lights to be installed before Halloween. So, time is of the essence for our crews trying to install everyone in about three weeks. First call, first signed contract, first on the schedule!

Another special feature we offer is custom designs and fitted light strands specific for your property to meet your holiday needs. Light strings can be made to fit the roofline of the home so there are no lighting swags from one roofline to the other. We can also use custom color schemes like red and white or maybe red and green or whatever the client likes to make the project stand out in the neighborhood. Our energy efficient LED products use 90% less energy than the old incandescent lights that we used a few years ago. This allows us to put all of the lighting onto one controller, insuring that all of the lighting comes on and goes off at the same time. And no one has to worry about tripping circuit breakers. We have access to some beautiful specialty products to punch up the designs as well, like bows, lighted garland and lighted yard art to round out a complete outdoor wonderland!

Who wouldn’t love the convenience of having someone else take care of this particular “honey do” project? No tangle of wires for you to deal with, no treacherous trips up the ladder to the roof, and no stops at the store for “just one more” extension cord! Again, we can give you that time back during the hectic weeks of the holiday season. Our professional crews arrive; expertly install your custom designed festival of lights and when we leave – ta-da! You’ve got a great holiday display to show off to your neighbors without breaking a sweat – or an arm or a leg. Add an astro timer and the homeowner (or business owner) doesn’t even have to flip a switch to turn it all on. Another bonus: after the first of the New Year, our crews return to take everything down, and take it all to our storage facility until the next holiday season. A holiday lighting project is completely hands off for our clients; they don’t even have to trip over the holiday decoration boxes throughout the year!

One last thing, you know those really cool homes that have the awesome holiday lighting that flashes to music? Well, we can do that too!!

So, it’s not too early to be thinking “Happy Holidays” - and remember that using a professional holiday lighting company can make your days merry and bright (and stress free).

Drama, Drama, Drama!!

2010-09-21T11:40:00.001-07:00

Sometimes drama is a bad thing, but let’s talks about some good drama.

One way to create drama in your landscape is by using an up lighting technique. Since all natural light comes from the top down, turning that around and shining light up can create a very dramatic effect.

This can work very well with trees, bushes, rock walls, and statuary. A little goes a long way with this technique. Too much drama is never a good thing, and this is also true in your landscape. Since this effect is so striking, it can seem busy if used too much. “Less is more” is the rule to create an impressive display.

Limiting use of up lighting will actually enhance the desired dramatic effect in your landscape. First, choose your focal points - these are the items that you really want to bring attention to and highlight. Then decide the best lighting technique for that item, let’s say it’s a very large crape myrtle tree for example. For this item, you could probably front or cross light it making it your primary focal point in that area. You can still use more up lighting in the area but instead of placing the fixtures in front of the other trees; you may try placing the fixtures behind. This lighting technique draws the eye through the tree, toward your primary focal point that lies beyond – like your house, perhaps. You would then use softer techniques around that dramatic feature. Mixing up your lighting techniques throughout the property will add balance and produce a more pleasing appearance.

So, drama can be good in your landscape, but just like in life - too much drama is a bad thing.

Visit our website to learn more about NightScenes here www.night-scenes.com

Bye Bye Mercury Vapor

2010-09-20T13:00:00.001-07:00

We’ve all seen them. The distinctive eerie green glow of mercury vapor lighting dots the landscapes of commercial properties all over the world casting a harsh glare like alien beacons in the night. More frightening than the spooky appearance of these lights is the elemental make-up of the fixtures: mercury. Because each of these fixtures uses mercury to produce light, the EPA Act of 2005 banned all manufacture of this type of lighting effective January 1, 2008. As existing supplies of the necessary ballasts for these lighting fixtures dwindle, some folks are fitting the 100 watt mercury vapor fixture with a 175 watt metal halide ballast, another lamp in the HID (high intensity discharge) family. This takes a bad light to new levels of abuse by sucking up even more energy! This 1940’s unit was discontinued by the United States for its inefficient use of energy and potential environmental hazards. Putting this kind of band-aid on an already power-hungry monster is simply not a good idea for anyone.

NightScenes has never advocated the use of these fixtures for any application. In fact, we rarely use any fixtures or lamps other than earth-friendly LED now – even for commercial properties. The good news for mercury vapor users is that retro-fitting with LED is now possible! This cost effective alternative uses only 14 watts, instead of 100 (or 175), and is rated for more than twice the life of the mercury vapor which is no longer being manufactured. Rated for 50,000 hours of use, these LED lamps save money in maintenance as well as the incredible savings of 80% on the energy bill. LED lamps can produce the same light output in color and intensity. Warmer colors are also available for those looking for a more natural lighting effect. So what’s not to love?

Light Positions

2010-09-15T09:52:00.001-07:00

So, why do I place lights in different positions on plants and trees? The main reason is to create some depth and interest in the landscape.

When you look at different lighting projects you mostly find that the installer places the fixture (usually only one) in front of just about every tree or shrub. What this does is make everything look flat and BORING.

By placing fixtures behind or even beside some plantings it helps to draw the eye through the object on toward whatever is illuminated behind it like the home which is front lit.

A good lighting design will also use multiple fixtures on trees that are large enough to give the tree more dimension.

Here is an example of using some back lighting on a large tree and some front lighting on other objects behind it. You’ll find that this looks much better than front lighting everything.

LED Landscape Lighting

2010-08-31T14:03:00.001-07:00

We have been installing 100% LED landscape lighting for over a year and a half now and we don’t see any sense in turning back. Just like you no longer see horse and buggies parked along the road or gas lanterns hanging on the streets for light, times change and lighting has FINALLY changed.

We are often asked why we have made the change and so many others have not. The answer is this, we have found very good LED products that we truly believe in. The manufacturers that we purchase from have backed their products with warrantees that prove their commitment to their products and therefore, we know that the products that we are installing are of the highest quality. This way we can say with confidence that these products, though they cost more up front, will actually save our clients money over the long term. Others are sitting back and waiting for this technology to be “proven over time”. Here’s the problem with that, while their waiting, their clients are paying more for lamps, service and energy. The contractor isn’t loosing anything (right now) while waiting. The end customer however is paying plenty for that contractor to come out each year and replace burned out lamps. The customer is the one paying 75% more for electricity to operate those lights as well.

We would rather go ahead and trust in the technology and our manufacturers who we have been doing business with for years. We’ve sold their other products for years and have never had a warranty issue, why would we think differently now?

LED lighting uses 75% less energy and lasts about 40,000 hours. This means that there are no lamp replacement costs for a very long time, usually between 15 and 20 years, depending on how long the lights are operating each day. When taking the costs of annual lamp maintenance and energy into account, the LED lighting system actually ends up costing about 50% LESS than the typical halogen lighting system.

The two primary questions I get are; what about the color and what about the output of the LED? Here are a couple of our LED projects that we have installed. These are 100% LED projects and you can be the judge of the color and intensity of the light that these LED products can put out.

These are mostly 4 watt LED fixtures that we are using in these projects and the most we use, to illuminate very large oak trees, are 12.5 watts and they do a GREAT job.

Now I would be remiss if I said that we had 100% success with these products. We have had a few fixtures that didn’t work but the manufacturer took care of it and we’ve had a LOT more issues with halogen lamps over the years than we have with the LED products that we’ve been installing.

LED lighting is here to stay and we would rather lead the way than try to catch up later and cost our clients a lot of money along the way.

See the effect, not the source.

2010-06-03T12:00:00.001-07:00

I really have to get better at keeping up with this blog!!

I just read a brief article and realized that I really needed to write something about GLARE. Glare is the biggest problem to overcome as an outdoor lighting designer. How do you accent or highlight something without showing the source of the light?

The first thing that we have to do is use a light fixture with a glare shield. This will allow us to eliminate the glare from one direction but what about the other viewing locations? I also have used fixtures with no glare shield so…It may not be possible to block the glare from every direction but there are a few tricks to help.

One of my favorite things to do is make sure that there is a plant that can block the fixture. This works very well when there are only one or two viewing angles. Another thing I do is use a large rock to block the view to the fixture.

We always have to make sure that whatever we do to hide the fixture, we need to make it look natural. I’ve actually added a form of yard art to hide a fixture that was washing a wall and guess what happened. It created a wonderful silhouetted effect!! I just love it when things come together and make me look good.

A good lighting designer knows how light fills a space and how to go about eliminating glare.

PAR Well Lights

2009-09-08T17:17:00.001-07:00

There are many different types of fixtures and lamps and they all have different primary applications.

There are so many lighting projects out there that have nothing but PAR well lights which are being used to illuminate a house, trees and everything else. These projects were probably installed by an irrigation or landscape company that installs lighting as an “add on” item for a little extra profit. Not to say that there aren’t landscape or irrigation companies that can and do install quality lighting systems and take the task seriously. While this lighting looks better than no lighting at all, it doesn’t look like it should, if it were designed using the proper fixtures, lamps and lenses for the many tasks.

A little history about the ever popular PAR well light. The PAR lamp was originally designed to be a head light for tractors and cars back in the 40s or so and have changed very little since. Really the only change is that the lamp is now available as a halogen lamp. As for the fixture itself, it is a piece of 6” PVC pipe with a lamp holder and that’s about it. The wire attaches directly to the lamp on the back side.

We have very rarely used PAR well lights for several reasons. First is that it is very old lighting technology and is not very versatile. There are however filters and lenses that can be used to change things up a little. Another issue is that this fixture should NOT be used in flower beds that have leaves and mulch. These lights can get very hot and have been known to catch flower beds on fire. One more issue is that this fixture does not protect the lamp at all, allowing water and other things to contact the lamp which can cause all kinds of problems. Here in the south you will find these fixtures completely engulfed with ants trying to stay warm. Where we have used these fixtures is in turf areas. In these cases we use a cast brass grate over the fixture to cover and protect the lamp. When installing this type of fixture we are sure to add about 4” of pea gravel at the bottom of the fixture for drainage and we also use an insect repellent in the fixture to help keep the ants and other bugs away.

Regular maintenance is crucial for PAR well lights. If you have this type of fixture on your property you should check them often for debris, water build up and insects. If you find standing water in the fixture, pull the fixture out, dig the hole about 4”-6” deeper and add pea gravel which will help drainage. You can clean the lamp with just about any household cleanser with something to cut through lime and calcium which will build up on the lamp.

When replacing the lamp in these fixtures DO NOT use the plastic lamps that you will find at the local big box store. Instead, go to a lighting store, irrigation supply store or auto parts store and get a quality lamp. You’ll want to treat the screw terminals of the lamp with an anti seize compound which will protect them if they do get wet.

Illuminating Education

2009-07-18T15:47:00.001-07:00

I mentioned earlier that I had gone to Cleveland, Ohio for the Kichler 101 hands on lighting class. Well what have I done since then to further my education in lighting? Here is a brief synopsis.

The next course I took was put on by Unique Lighting. They are a landscape lighting manufacturer out of San Diego, California. The class was actually located in Austin and so Jr. and I both went to this one day class. It was also somewhat of a hands on class in that the morning was spent learning about their equipment and the afternoon was spent setting up a lighting demonstration at a residence. I would say that the class taught me more about marketing what I do than how to do it. Jr. and I both felt like they tried to dumb down the whole design/installation process.

Next I was asked to go to Houston and help teach a class about lighting. I asked my distributor to help me set it up with yet another lighting manufacturer. This company was CAST lighting out of New Jersey. This equipment is very heavy duty cast brass lighting which was needed in that coastal area of the country. Here I was able to teach a company about lighting design and installation and was also able to learn a few things about another manufacturer and their products.

In 2007 I was invited to the first ever Unique Advanced lighting course in San Diego and so Jr. and I both thought it would be a good idea to go. This course got into “trick” installation, which meant that we would find ways to put lights where we wouldn’t have thought to do it before. We cut and core drilled concrete to put in fixtures. We core drilled fire place mantles to put in fixtures. We mounted fixtures in places that I had never even considered before. This was a few days of very good design and installation training which really set NightScenes apart from our competition.

In 2008 I attended the world famous Janet Lennox Moyer Landscape Lighting Institute in Troy, New York. This was a five day course in design, installation and documentation which was way over the top. It was five 12 to 14 hour days that were just packed with information and work. I was able to become acquainted with lighting equipment from just about every major lighting manufacturer in the world. I was also able to utilize just about every type of lamp (light bulb) that is available. After this course I really started looking at every project differently. I wanted every project to be special and look amazing. Unfortunately, not every property or budget will allow for a lot of this information to be utilized. I do however approach every project with the very best design in mind.

Finally I took a five step online course that was offered through Hadco Lighting. This was pretty basic stuff geared toward the novice lighting guy, landscaper or irrigation person but was still pretty good. I really didn’t learn anything new with this class but it did reinforce some basic information that I had let slip a little.

I am also taking the AOLP Certified Outdoor Lighting Designer course through the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals. This is a four year lighting design course which is being put together by the AOLP and Janet Lennox Moyer. This first of it’s kind certification course will probably become the industry standard by which all others will be compared.

I will continue to pursue any and all education possibilities as they become available both locally and nationally. I know that even the most basic classes offer something to learn either by the instructors or by the other attendees. The goal here is to never stop learning my craft.

Till next time.

Getting Involved

2009-06-16T13:28:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe that I let a whole month go by without an update to this blog.

OK, so let’s get down to it, shall we? The next thing that I did was to get involved in the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals. At the time I joined this organization it was called the Low Voltage Lighting Institute of the Americas. It is a group of lighting contractors, distributors and manufacturers who truly want to see professionalism in the outdoor lighting business.

The first time I went to an LVLIA conference in Scottsdale, AZ. I was dead set on just taking the certification exam and getting back home. I really didn’t care that much about what else was going on during that week. That was until I started meeting the other lighting professionals who were there. Everyone was so pumped about lighting and taking their projects to the next level. I was energized by everyone there and phoned my wife to get her thoughts on my staying for the conference (even though I had not packed for it). She once again encouraged me to do as I thought best and therefore I stayed for the whole week and didn’t regret it for a second.

I didn’t pass my certification test that year but I went back the following year and passed it then. My son Paul jr. who has worked with me for the past 5 years passed the test this year and now we can boast that we are the only lighting company in the state of Texas to have two AOLP certified technicians on staff.

Since I joined the association I have served on committees and am currently the vice president. I have written several articles for the association’s online trade magazine and I am now starting to form a Texas chapter of the AOLP. I think that if someone wants to be successful in their chosen profession, they have to get involved in all aspects of the industry and try to become the leading authority in their area.

I hope I am not being too dry and I pray that I am not coming across as braggadocios. I just want everyone to know where I am coming from and where I have been as we get further into this blog.

Until next time, and I don’t mean a month from now.

Learning More

2009-05-13T18:58:00.001-07:00

I decided that it would be a good idea to take a lighting class and I learned that Kichler Lighting was offering a course at their headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. I signed up, booked my flight and off I went. That experience was great in that I learned about fixtures, Lamps (light bulbs) and design techniques.

Our class participated in a full hands-on lighting installation that is pictured here.

We learned that dark leaves absorb light and therefore require much brighter light. It can be seen in the red trees near the home. They need a lot more light to bring them out in the landscape. Another thing I learned here is that photography is VERY important. I brought my little Cannon A-80 point and shoot with me on the trip but I forgot to bring a tripod. I decided to set the camera on the roof of a pick-up truck to keep it steady. The result is what appears to be a pond in the landscape instead of a roof of a truck. This actually showed me a lighting technique called “mirror effect”. This works great when lighting trees or structures around pools and ponds.

One more very important thing that I learned in Ohio is that little things learned are very big things. I now find that no matter how simple a class is whether it be for beginners or experts, there is something to be learned by all. I try to go to any class that I know of in hopes that I may pick up some small tidbit of knowledge.

Next stop, another lighting project. Thanks for coming along.

Starting to roll

2009-04-28T18:29:00.001-07:00

Not long after that first job I was introduced to someone with a lighting store. This man could sell me the lighting equipment I needed and he also knew people who were in the market for landscape lighting. He on the other hand had no idea about lighting himself. He set up an appointment with a custom home builder who only built large luxury homes. When I learned about the appointment I had a uniform shirt created for me so I could look the part. If I was going to meet a connection like this, I knew that I had to make a good impression. Until this point I was just wearing “work cloths”, jeans and a collared shirt.

Well, that meeting was a success which opened up several doors for large scale lighting projects in a very high end sub division just north of Austin, TX. I’ll get into more of those projects at a later time. The first home we accented in this neighborhood was pretty small but this was our second project (the photo). As you can see, it was pretty impressive. This is one of our best clients who has changed things up a few times since the original installation and we also take care of their Christmas lighting. For Christmas, we outline their entire roofline (800’) with LED lights. We are able to all of that plus a whole lot more on a single electrical outlet. I’m getting a little ahead of myself though and I’ll cover holiday lighting later on as well.

If you haven’t visited our website yet, please do. www.night-scenes.com .

Till next time,

Getting to it!

2009-04-26T11:20:00.001-07:00

After learning the basics it was time to get my feet wet and start doing some real lighting. I contacted my previous electrical clients to let them know that I was providing a new service and would love to enhance their properties. Since I had great relationships with my clients, it wasn’t long before I had projects to do.

My first real lighting job was located in Kingsland, on the Llano river arm of lake LBJ. It was a small project with some down lights that I placed in a pecan tree, some path lights along a walkway that led to a storage shed and then a few up lights for some trees. This was a great learning experience.

I learned that I really needed a 30’ extension ladder if I were going to be installing lighting in trees. This allowed for a softer light on the ground and more shadows from the limbs of the trees. I also learned about glare and path light placement!! I make a special point to let clients know what to look for in a good path light and I try to choose the fixture for my clients. We do NOT want to use fixtures with glass lenses that allow viewing of the light source. We also try to NOT place path lights in turf areas. These lessons were huge and I’m very glad that I learned them early on.

On another note, as this blog continues I will be featuring some of our projects. I’m sure that you will enjoy reading about some of the projects that we do and how we go about designing and installing them. I’ll also include photos of these projects. I’ll begin this with projects that we have already completed so check back often because your project may be the next one that we feature.

God bless.

The beginning part II

2009-04-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

So to continue my little story, I spent a lot of time studying low voltage lighting and low voltage electrical theory. Although I was well educated in household electrical theory, low voltage was a whole new animal with much less room for error. This is why most electricians don't do so well in the field of low voltage lighting. I'll get into this in greater detail later.

I learned about all of the different ways to allow equal electrical distribution to each of the light fixtures. I'm sure that almost everyone has seen that home improvement lighting system with some lights that are quite bright and others that are very dim. This is due to poor electrical distribution and the reason I really wanted to make sure that I knew what I was getting into and how to "do it right".

I read many online forums, articles, books, and anything else I could find. I also ran several tests and tried several techniques to make certain that when I did start installing, my systems would be top notch, mechanically.

Next came choosing the fixtures that I would use. In my readings I learned that there were many lighting manufacturers. I had no idea but there are hundreds of landscape lighting manufacturers and they range from great to the stuff that is found at the box stores and yes, the box store stuff is nothing but a waste of money.

I contacted Hadco, FX, Kichler and a couple of others. Kichler was the only one that actually talked to me. They were very helpful to me is getting my website up and running, allowing me to use some photos since I didn't have any of my own yet. They also had a huge selection of quality products.

Currently I use Kichler, Vista, CAST, HK, Hunza, Hadco and many others, depending on the project and fixture required for a task.

More later.

The beginning

2009-04-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm starting this blog with no idea as to what I am doing. I guess I'll start with a quick introduction.

I won't bother with my name and such because those things are included in my profile. Instead I will focus on how I got into lighting.

I was a night club disc jockey for several years and needed something to supplement my income. I had a friend who was an electrician and a heating/ac guy and he offered me a part time job. This was great, I was able to make a little more money and learn a trade at the same time. I became very interested in becoming an electrician and learned the trade pretty quickly (I think). After a few years of working with my friend I gave up the DJ thing (a total of 20 years in that business) and focused solely on electrical work. A couple of years later my friend took me aside and told me that he could no longer keep me on but would use me as a sub contractor if I were to go it alone and that is where the fun began.

I went home from that meeting and told my wonderful bride that I was no longer employed and would be starting my own electrical contractor business. The birth of PRG Ventures was here!! We created business cards and told all of my friends that I was available for hire. This went pretty well for awhile but it became quite evident that there were too many electricians in my small town and no one could make a decent living. At about this same time, one of my clients asked me if I would please "do some lighting" in a small area of his yard where he and his wife liked to sit and enjoy a glass of wine in the evenings. I agreed to do the job although I had no idea as to what I should do. I looked at the area and had a few ideas so I went to the gettin' place and picked up some cheap lighting equipment and did the job. I went back that night, with my wife, daughter and mother in-law to see how it turned out and BOOM, I was hooked!! Although compared to the work we do today the job was "not good", it was great that night and it stirred an interest in me. I spent that weekend finding out everything I could regarding landscape lighting. I finally came out of my cave on Sunday evening telling my very supportive bride that I would be starting a landscape lighting company. Needless to say, she was not very enthusiastic about the idea but she was, as always, supportive.

Thus was born, NightScapes!! I joined the Low voltage Lighting Association of the Americas, went to Cleveland, Ohio to attend a lighting class offered by Kichler Lighting and put together a website and we were on our way.

I will get into more of this later on but I wanted to at least get started on this blog and thought that I may as well start with a little history.