How Much Does FREE Cost?

I get a kick out of seeing companies in almost every industry or profession offering free this or that. The word FREE is a big trigger for consumers, and smart advertisers try to capitalize on that. In my industry, the offer is usually for “free consultation” or “free demonstration.” Now I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with this practice – we’re all trying to get our names heard in the mass media. But truthfully, the only way these things are free is if you, as the consumer, do not purchase anything from that provider. If you do make a purchase, that “free demonstration” is included in the price of your system. As part of the advertising budget, or simple overhead, the cost of something “free” is always incorporated into the business budget.

For my business, I must say that I actually do give a complimentary consult to perspective clients to talk about their wants and needs for outdoor lighting. The client needs to meet me and feel comfortable with me as a lighting professional if I want them to use my time and talents to design/install and then stand behind their professional outdoor lighting system. At this consultation we do not discuss actual design, but instead we talk about what the client wants from an outdoor lighting system. How do they use their space and where do they like to spend their outdoor time? We may also discuss their budget at this time. This free consult is limited to one hour. After that time, should the client decide that I am the lighting professional that they would like to do business with, they agree to pay me a design fee to create the lighting system that they would like.

I do NOT offer a “free demo” because I don’t believe I could do it honestly or fairly for myself or the potential client. As a business operator, I must charge for my materials and time so I don’t go out of business. To create a demonstration, fixtures, wire, transformers, etc. must be used, and time must be taken to set it all up. The majority of this time is at night, away from the family. I don’t believe that a service like this should be free, and I don’t think that the average outdoor lighting consumer would think that it should be. The materials used have a limited lifespan, and therefore do have an expense. If the provider of this service is to continue doing this, they must recover those expenses or the company fails. In order to compensate for those costs, they must recoup expenses for the time, materials and effort involved. If not from the consumer calling for the demonstration, then from ALL clients in some fashion. Under such circumstances, a demonstration is certainly not free. Perhaps a risk is being taken here by both parties involved, but I have been able to successfully sell my services using my photo gallery of work, and my ability to describe the desired effects of my designs. Standing confidently behind my work is reassuring to the client that we will not stop until they are completely happy with what they are paying for.

I am very fortunate to work with professionals in many different walks of life. My clients include rock stars, sports legends, doctors, lawyers, investors, and many other well-educated, business savvy folks. All of these fine people understand that time and knowledge does not come free to those who provide the service, nor to those who consume the service. These clients are very smart people who understand that you usually get what you pay for - and a free service is usually worth what is paid for it. They also understand that when a professional spends thousands of dollars to learn a craft, that individual needs to re-claim those expenses by charging appropriately for their services. These clients also appreciate that if a service provider does not make a decent profit for their business, they will not be around to service that system down the road because they will be out of business.

All of this being said, it doesn’t take a professional lighting designer to give the customer that just wants “five lights in the front” exactly what they want. Then the actual cost of the FREE demo just became the installation of a small lighting system. The client got just what they wanted (hopefully) but the demo was not free, it was covered when they wrote the check purchasing the whole system.

Lit With WHAT?

So, I was taking a little break from doing a lighting design, and decided to check out my TweetDeck feed where I have a search for landscape lighting all set up. I see a tweet saying:

“Outdoor Landscape Lighting Kits. Lit using our kit. Link below.”

(This was the photo used)

Naturally curious, I had to click the link to check it out! It takes me to a Pinterest page that I know quite well, with a photo that actually belongs . . . TO ME. The imposter had cropped out my identifying logo watermark on the photo, and did a flip - but sure enough, it was my photo of one of my projects – most certainly NOT lit using anyone’s kit. You know what I had to do then, right? I had to click the photo to see where it went, and there it was - on some lighting distributor’s web page. This operation, RLLD Designs, had my photo there captioned with the phrase, “Lit using one of our kits.” I was dumbfounded. Really? The kit pictured beside it was one of those boxed sets you could get at your local home improvement store that wouldn’t light a dog house very well - and it was supposed to achieve those lighting effects that I had designed and created especially for that homeowner? Not even close!

First of all, at best it’s pure and simple false and misleading advertising! Second, they cropped out my logo and then used it without my permission. This is just plain stealing! On one hand I’m flattered that they felt my photo represented such great lighting work that it would help sell their wares, but on the other hand I’m pretty angry that the stuff they were selling was a seriously inferior product - and they stole my photo to convince people to buy it.

The high quality products that I use in my designs are all excellent, and produce a wonderful effect in the landscape. The products that these crooks had linked to my photo were very cheap and could not possibly produce the same effects, and would also have been a nightmare to maintain. Sadly, the unwitting consumer who had been persuaded to purchase this crappy kit, expecting to get the results seen in the photo of my work – a custom designed lighting project using high grade fixtures and superior lamps installed by a professionally trained and certified crew – well, let’s just say that consumer was bound to be disappointed.

Needless to say, I dropped them a nice little email expressing my dismay. And guess what? The photo was taken down within an hour! Understandably, the outdoor lighting industry is very visual, and posting photos of our work online is necessary to show people what we can do. We want folks to be able to compare projects between us and others who post their work on their websites, Facebook pages, Pinterest or blogs. That does not mean that any other business can just filch those photos and use them to sell their merchandise without permission.

NightScenes does not publicly endorse any products, so if you are trying to sell something, do NOT take one of our photos without our permission. We have, on occasion, given such permission for selected publications. If you have a publication, and you would like to use some of our photos, please just ask. We try to remain open to opportunities that will bring positive attention to our company, our work and the lighting industry overall. Professional courtesy can take you a long way, but the consequences of this kind of thievery can be quite dire.

If you would like to visit OUR Pinterest page, please do.

Landscape Lighting can be Dark Sky Friendly and Still Look Great

It’s been a long time since we’ve talked about how landscape lighting can be done in a dark sky friendly way. Actually, the last time we covered this subject was before LED lighting became the primary landscape lighting products.

This is taken from the International Dark Sky Association’s Model Light Ordinance regarding outdoor residential lighting:

· Outdoor lighting for residential properties including multiple residential properties not having common areas, all outdoor luminaires shall be fully shielded and shall not exceed the allowed lumen output.

· Exceptions:

o At front entry, one unshielded fixture not to exceed 630 lumens or one shielded fixture not to exceed 1260 lumens. The maximum lumen output of unshielded luminaires excluding main entry to be no more than 315 lumens. A shielded fixture does not allow any lighting to be emitted above the horizontal plane of the fixture.

· Low voltage landscape lighting fixtures aimed away from adjacent properties not to exceed 525 lumens each.

· Shielded directional flood lighting aimed so that direct glare is not visible from adjacent properties and not exceeding 1260 lumens. (This most commonly refers to the “security” lights installed at the corners of homes. Bare bulb fixtures are not acceptable here and if they are already in place, install clip-on glare shields. These fixtures should not be aimed above 45 degrees.)

· Lighting installed with a vacancy sensor, where the sensor extinguishes the lights no more than 15 minutes after the area is vacated.

So, according to this document, there are not many restrictions for low voltage landscape lighting except that the fixture should not exceed a lumen output of 525 lumens (approximately a 40 watt halogen lamp) and they should aim away from adjacent properties. There are not any restrictions on total lumens per property or total fixtures. It does not separate up lighting from down lighting or pathway lighting.

The reason that there are very few restrictions on low voltage landscape lighting is simply because it really doesn’t contribute much to sky glow and over all light pollution. The real culprits in light pollution are high voltage, high lumen output fixtures that aim up into the sky, billboard lighting is especially bad in my opinion. This does not mean however that an outdoor lighting designer should not take steps to insure that their design not only follows the Dark Sky MLO but actually improves on it.

Here is what we suggest for developments or property owners who want to be dark sky friendly:

It is no longer a good idea to use wattages of lamps to regulate the output of lighting fixtures since a low wattage LED lamp or fixture can produce more lumens than some high wattage halogen lamps. This is why I am specifying everything in lumens as does the International Dark Sky Association. I agree with them that there is really no need to go above 525 lumens per low voltage landscape lighting fixture, especially in a dark sky friendly development.

It is highly recommended that all outdoor lighting be LED now that there are so many good options available. The primary benefits of LED lighting are the energy savings, which is a reduction of our global footprint and it also lacks infrared light which is a major contributor to sky glow and the attraction of bugs. LED also saves on regular maintenance expenses.

Residential landscape lighting should be shielded and aimed properly to minimize glare. Up lighting should be minimal when used with glare shields placed toward adjacent properties or roadways.

The color of the lighting should be a warm white of 2700K-3000K. When creating a moonlighting effect, the light color should not exceed 4200K (the color of natural moon light).

I recommend that the total lumens of a landscape lighting system not exceed 13,125 lumens. Although I cannot find any actual limitations in the MLO, I feel that a dark sky friendly development should have a cap in place. This would be a total of about 25 fixtures at the maximum lumen output. So, if the lighting designer uses fixtures with lower lumen output, they could use more fixtures and still create designs below the 13,125 lumen limit. This would mean that properties that require several shielded pathway fixtures would have no problems meeting these standards while others who may want to really light up some trees would be required to use lower lumen fixtures and fewer of them.

We think that this statement strikes a nice balance to allow the designer to create a great outdoor lighting system on just about any property and still go beyond the Dark Sky MLO. Property owner’s should also bear in mind any additional restrictions applied by the Homeowner’s Association, informing the designer in advance, so that expensive alterations are not necessary after the fact.

But THAT Guy Will Do It For….

After running into some atrocious lighting systems in the past couple of weeks, I felt like I just had to address the whole issue of pricing because I think a lot of people do buy simply on price without comparing “apples to apples” when shopping for an outdoor lighting company.

Why are some systems very cheap while others are very expensive? There are a lot of variables that go into pricing an outdoor lighting system. Most folks only think about fixtures and labor, and don’t begin to think about the big picture and everything else that goes into a system’s price.

Let’s begin with the design. A good design can make a major difference in the impression or atmosphere your lighting system will create. Ask yourself (and your contractor) these questions to determine the potential skill level:

· Did the person designing the system have any formal training from lighting design experts (which can be costly), or did they take a half day seminar on lighting sales from a supply house for free?

· Do they keep up with current trends and the latest knowledge of lighting technology, or just keep on doing the same old thing?

· Do they attend yearly education classes to learn and hone their craft?

· Do they test several products a year to find out first-hand what effects can be achieved?

All of these help determine pricing. Think about your surgeon – wouldn’t you likely check his/her credentials and education before you invested in his expertise? Would you expect him to keep up with advances in procedures, techniques and technology? Wouldn’t you hope that he participates in some sort of ongoing education to hone his skills? Of course, landscape lighting isn’t brain surgery, but a true professional cares passionately about the quality of his work no matter what where his field of study lies.

Now let’s talk about materials. There are a wide range of lighting products on the market today. Most people are only familiar with the stuff you can find at the local home improvement store. Although this may be convenient for the do-it-yourself guy, these actually represent the bottom of the product quality spectrum. On the opposite end of that scale is what we call the “spec” grade products. Spec grade materials are developed after years of research using the highest quality minds and materials available; which can lead to a price tag of several hundred dollars per fixture. They are designed to perform more precisely and last longer than their cheap counterparts. The middle ground is vast and quite variable. There are hundreds of outdoor lighting manufacturers out there with hundreds of different prices for hundreds of fixtures. Let’s compare this to designer fashions: You have the high-end products created from the designs of artistic minds using expensive, rare and magnificent fabric on one end, created to be durable, well-fitted and flattering. On the other end of the scale you have the “it only costs a dollar” dress. Like fashion, there are a lot of cheap knock-offs - spun brass, lightweight copper and plastic fixtures trying to imitate the quality leaders that are more expensive but made of heavier brass, copper and bronze that also have better warranties. So, the contractor may pay anywhere from $20 per fixture for something from your big box retail home improvement store, to several hundred dollars per fixture for the product that they recommend because it will perform better for a longer period of time in the environment where you live. When you compare pricing, be sure that you know what the quality differences are among the products your contractors are planning to use. What value do you place on performance and longevity?

Additionally, there are necessary installation tools, wire (made of copper), lamps (light bulbs) or light emitting diodes (LEDs), wire connectors, transformers, timers, batteries for the timers, automation equipment, screws and more little things that are necessary to a quality installation. Just like the fixture differences, there are huge price and quality differences in the other materials used in putting an outdoor lighting system together. The products used make a big difference in pricing.

And of course someone will be spending time to install the well-designed system. Can they communicate well with the client? Do they look presentable and behave professionally while in your neighborhood and on your property? Do they know every aspect of what they are doing and can they answer your questions? Are they certified by a nationally recognized association for their profession? Maybe they normally just dig holes for plants and installing lighting is a sideline; or maybe they are handyman types with no actual lighting experience at all. Do these installers have benefits with their company, or do they make minimum wage with nothing extra? Do they participate in ongoing technical training just like the designer? A quality workforce is not cheap - and this, too, must be considered when setting up pricing for your lighting system.

What about insurance? Does the contractor have liability insurance? How much insurance? If your home is worth $3,000,000.00, does the contractor have enough insurance to cover it if something went terribly wrong? Are all or any of their vehicles covered? In Texas, workers compensation insurance is not required by law but maybe your state does require it. Do you realize how costly insurance is?

Does the lighting company work out of their home, or do they have some other location where they run their business, keep their inventory and park their vehicles? What kind of expenses does that location cost with its utilities, insurance, rent/mortgage, and maintenance? The cost of other overhead could also include health insurance, cell phone services, costs of electronics, fuel, vehicle maintenance, advertising, and other things specific to that operation.

Finally – and very importantly - there is the service after the sale/installation. Will you hire the lighting company that doesn’t return after dark to make sure all the lighting is adjusted properly to the right look? What sort of warranty of service can you expect from your contractor after the installation? If they promised you service, can you count on them to provide service when you need it? The differences in product warranties and services can be as vast and varied as the many product choices. While some companies may offer 6 months of service after the sale, others may cover the system from bumper to bumper (so to speak) for three years. It’s probably safe to say that the company that shows up for three years just to clean the fixtures for optimal lighting (at no extra charge) probably costs a little more than the company that won’t even stick around until it gets dark. How much value is there in doing business with a company of integrity?

So a lighting system is far more than a list of materials and a few hours labor. It’s good to research and shop. But be sure to compare components equally. Apples to apples – not dog food to prime rib! It has been my experience that we usually get what we pay for, and it’s important to know what that is before you write the check. The educated buyer will get the right value for their money.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after low pricing is forgotten!”
~ Leon M. Cautillo

“Quality improvement is the primary source of cost reduction. Poor quality has a huge, documentable cost.”
~Tom Peters

We’re in the Zone

We are living in exciting times in the lighting industry. In today’s world of LED lighting, the doors of technology have swung wide open, and things are moving forward at break-neck speed.

The number of options currently available in outdoor lighting is almost staggering. We have beam spread choices, color varieties, intensity ranges and zoning preferences. We can even custom tune individual fixtures and control them independently!

Only a few very short years ago, we used to be able to offer the basic dusk to dawn operation, or a timer, or even a combination of the two to operate the whole system. For a little more we could go so far as to separate the front and back yard lighting to operate independently. With the advancement of radio frequency, infrared and UPB (universal powerline bus) technology, we can now offer a remote control to craft specific lighting vignettes all over the property. Home automation has been allowing people to conceive scenes like “entertaining” or “evening” or even “security.” Now those same options are available for decorative outdoor lighting as well, along with just about anything else you can dream up. It can even be controlled on your smartphone or tablet.

Maybe you would like a star gazing setting where you only have a few down lights in your yard. Perhaps you are having a party and want to really light up the whole estate. Then again, it could be that you have a work of art in your yard, and you only want to accent that area? These and whatever else you can imagine can be easily done with today’s control programs and devices, and LED technology.

Yes, we are living in illuminating times and we’re excited about all of the possibilities that lie ahead!  Let’s get creative with your lighting controls.  www.night-scenes.com

Boat House and Dock Lighting

I am very fortunate to live in a beautiful area of Central Texas with several lakes just a stone’s throw away. From my back porch, I am blessed with the view of a lot of people enjoying boating and other water activities. The activity frequently extends after sundown, and I see all kinds of things done to add lighting to these areas: from flood lights mounted in very strange places to simple rope light. Of greatest concern are the docks and ramps with no lighting at all, just waiting for a tired boater or adventurous skier to strike them at night - which could not only cause damage to the dock and boat, but may also cause some very serious injuries.
As a lighting guy, and lake-enthusiast, I know there many options for lighting in these areas to ensure safe passage for everyone relishing moonlit water fun.
For boat houses, a simple light fixture could be mounted in the ceiling to illuminate the entire area. These lights can be controlled on a simple switch in an easy to reach place. However, the big drawback with the switch option is that you must manually turn it on. If you forget to turn it on before leaving the dock, and don’t get back till after dark, it will be just that - DARK.
My least favorite light ‘solution’ is the ever-present photo cell controlled flood lights that are generally mounted on the top of the boat house shining out into the eyes of anyone on the water. As I try to teach all my clients, brighter is not usually better. Besides being very ugly and the glare very annoying, when these lights are left on every night, they burn out pretty fast and have to be replaced. They also use and waste a lot of energy on light not actually necessary much of the time.
So, what are some better ways to illuminate these areas that you want be fun, safe and worry free?

One great option is a low profile fixture that is mounted to the dock or boathouse. These fixtures shine light out in a 360 degree pattern, and are dark-sky friendly as well as boater friendly. Here in the more rural Texas hill country, this can be important to many who love the see the starlight. These fixtures do not throw light upward, only down and outward. They have a very small footprint to keep them out of the way of foot traffic and won’t become a trip hazard.
Another of my favorites is the lighted dock cleat fixture – I love a good multi-tasker! Not only do they illuminate the dock or boat house, they also allow you to tie off your boat or personal watercraft. How cool is that?
Both of these better options use LED lighting which will last many years even when operated every night. They also use very little energy, not enough for you to even notice, and far less than even one of those glare bomb flood light bulbs. These low voltage options are also much safer around the water.
If you have a boat house or dock - or know someone who does, take a moment and see if the best options are being utilized. Help educate your water-loving friends and neighbors on the best ways to keep everyone safer on the water, and on docks and boathouses, after dark.
For more options visit us at www.night-scenes.com or www.facebook.com/nightscenes

Those Darn Lighting Vandals

Vandalism. Wreckage. Damage. No one likes to see it, especially at your own home.

But it’s out there. The perpetrators seem to seek out and destroy landscape lighting systems with gleeful passion. They work unseen, sometimes over our heads, often at night, but they leave a path of destruction in their wake.

Who are they? The real culprits might surprise you.

Of course, there are the neighborhood kids who accidentally crash into things on bikes, skate boards, or in cars – like mailboxes and lighting fixtures. Or the ones that seem to enjoy tearing things up using feet, hands, bats, and boards to wreak havoc on systems that are in the public domain like parks and neighborhood entries. This creates a lot of costly damage, busting path lights, up lights, wash lights and so on. But human vandalism is actually minimal in our experience.

However, the worse culprits we find are those creatures with more than two legs!

Let’s first talk about the ants. Here in the south we have an abundance of fire ants. These pests love to build dirt mounds over and around ground mounted light fixtures. They are attracted to the heat that these fixtures generate at night, and they find the warm area to be quite cozy, to say the least. Once covered by a mound of dirt, heat builds up in the fixture and causes it to fail. Ants also get a charge out of invading the transformers of low voltage systems, and junction boxes of line voltage systems, and the resulting damage can be expensive to repair. Luckily, there are several options available to control these boogers.

Then there is the beloved family dog whose favorite game is digging holes in the yard. Fido finds this nice low voltage wire about 6” deep in the lawn or flower bed and decides that it is in his way. The determined pooch then decides that chewing the wire in half will take care of the problem. Although this can be repaired, the only prevention here is to train the pup not to dig in the yard. This will also benefit the rest of your grass and landscape!

Now these mischievous villains do their share of destruction to outdoor lighting systems, but they are lightweights compared to the pros. These little furry scoundrels live in trees, steal the bird’s food every chance they get, and plant seeds that grow into new trees all over your landscape! Yes, that’s right - it’s the cute prankster rodents known as squirrels. These pint-sized monsters are nearly as destructive as the bandit-looking raccoon - which we’ve never actually had a problem with as far as lighting goes, but we have plenty of other stories about those darn critters. We all know squirrels can get into your attic and chew the wiring there causing dangerous short circuits and possible fires! If you hear noise in your attic, do NOT ignore it. So when it comes to your landscape lighting wiring, they do the same thing. The biggest issue they cause is chewing the wire high up in trees where moon lighting fixtures may be installed. Believe it or not, we have some creative ways to limit the damage these wicked rascals create. We are somewhat limited about what we can do about the wire going up the tree, but by attaching the wire on the side or under the limbs, we can at least make it more difficult for them to chew the wires.

These are just a few of the things that we look at when we perform a maintenance check on any outdoor lighting system, besides the lighting operation itself. If we can catch these issues early, we can usually avoid more costly repairs.