The Color of Light

The color of daylight is a topic given very little thought by the average person. We notice the actual color of light only when it is in contrast to darkness. What is light color and how is it measured?
While we may think of darkness as just black, the variety of white light colors are actually measured as a Kelvin unit of temperature. The measurement of Kelvin degrees was developed and named for an Irish engineer and physicist who understood the need for an absolute thermometric scale. Simply put, William Thomson, First Baron Kelvin, noticed the color of metal as it was heated. He realized that as metal got hotter, it changed colors. It would get RED hot, and then as it got hotter it would become YELLOW and then as it got even hotter it would turn WHITE. I’m sure you’ve heard the terms red hot and white hot. So, when the metal was about 2000 degrees it was red hot. At about 3000 degrees it was more yellow and at about 5000 degrees it was white hot. The entire Kelvin scale is very scientific and has little meaning to the homeowner wanting decorative lighting for his landscape, but is an important tool for the professional lighting designer.

(Notice the whiter light used in down lighting here)
Here’s how these color temperatures apply in our everyday lives: Most of us are used to the wonderful warmth of incandescent light color of 2700K. Halogen lighting is usually around 3000K, seen frequently in older low voltage landscape lighting. Moon light is about 4000K. Daylight and fluorescent tube lighting seen in many offices or commercial indoor settings is about 5000K or more.
When designing an artistic outdoor lighting plan, the color of the light has to be considered within the landscape, and each feature item may require a different color to maximize its impact. If we want to bring out colors like red in a Japanese maple, we would use a warmer color light. If we want to bring out whites or wish to highlight a specific green plant, we should use a whiter or more bluish-white light. To create a moonlighting effect we should use fixtures and lamps rated about 4000K. Fill lighting in the landscape should be warm and soft and probably below 3000K.
Although we have all been accustomed to the warmer tones of incandescent lighting, recent developments in LED technology have dramatically improved the color spectrum for each of the applications we just described. Finally, the environmentally friendly LED will not only save the consumer money, it will look GREAT in every landscape.

Get Rid of Those Fire Ants!

Every spring we cover this issue because every spring we confront this problem.
These pests are not native to the United States but were accidentally imported from South America in 1918 and introduced first in Mobile, Alabama. Since then they have spread to all the southeastern states and continue to trek west.
They are ruthless critters, invasive and destructive. If you have never encountered these tiny beasts, one of the most important things you should know is that a fire ant bite HURTS! If you’ve ever stepped in a fire ant mound you know this first hand that they got their name from the burning, stinging pain inflicted by the bite, and the blister that forms afterwards. If you’ve ever had a child fall into a fire ant mound, you’ve felt their pain. Fire ants mound up over light fixtures or get inside causing tremendous damage; they also invade transformers and destroy them.
Light fixtures, no matter how good they are, are no match for these creatures, and a manufacturer warranty does not cover damage by fire ants. This is why it is so important to treat your southern property for these pests. If you take care of your own property, I recommend that you get yourself a broadcast spreader and some Over-N-Out from your local hardware or home improvement store and apply according to directions. Preventative treatment against fire ant damage will certainly save you the expense and inconvenience of replacing part of your lighting system and a costly transformer.
I have personally used Over-N-Out in my yard every year for the past four years and I have a LOT of lights at my house. One problem I don’t have however is Fire Ants.
For more information about fire ants, click here: http://fireant.tamu.edu/ or http://fireant.tamu.edu/broadcastbait/products/overnout.cfm
Knowing your lawn is safe from the pain and destruction of fire ants will help you enjoy your outdoor spaces and landscape lighting even more in the months to come!

Protect Your Trees, PLEASE

Fastening wires to trees for lighting should not have to hurt the tree. Unfortunately, many contractors simply use staples because it is fast, easy and cheap, without giving any consideration to the health of the tree or the future cost of maintenance.
The proper way to attach wire to trees is by using nylon zip ties with stainless steel screws.

First, stainless steel will not poison the tree as other metals will. Next, as the living tree grows the screws can be manually backed out of the tree so that the tree won’t end up growing around the staple and wire. If for some reason an unusually long time goes by between maintenance visits, a tree may grow around the stainless steel screw. Although the tree won’t be damaged by this, the nylon zip tie will break and the wire will hang free. This is actually a good thing as it prevents the wire from being swallowed by the expanding bark and causing a short in the wire – which will hurt the tree. The wire then has to be cut and replaced, costing more money and the inconvenience of the loss of lighting service from the damaged wire. Ouch!
Here is an example of what can happen if wire or fixtures are not attached properly.

Bottom line: be mindful of your trees. Ask the prospective lighting contractor how they plan to attach the wire to your living landscape décor when installing down light fixtures. We’ll talk about the attachment of the fixtures in another blog post.  www.night-scenes.com

120 Volt Lighting Maintenance

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. www.night-scenes.com 

Options!

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

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?

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!