Whether you're looking to illuminate the way home at night, bring in a layer of safety, or highlight your properties architecture, we're here to help you find the outdoor lighting solution for you. LED lighting is the ideal solution as it provides a brilliant energy saving solution in comparison to conventional halogen lighting and it will mean less lightbulb changes as the products last on average 5 times longer.
Domestic:
With a sociable summer around the corner there isn’t a better time to think about exterior lighting, whether you are looking at guiding your guests around your property or just looking for the right lighting solution to carry your garden party into the late hours as daylight diminishes; then we have a variety of solutions for all three types of exterior lighting.
Ambient: General illumination that sets ambiance and overall light level in a space
Task: Secondary source that provides enough light for a distinct spot
Accent: Decorative lighting that reinforces the overall style
The first step in creating a lighting plan is to identify the areas of your home and property you want to illuminate. Do a complete walk through at night with a troch to assess the current state of your lighting, what's missing, and how the light interplays.
As you walk around the property, take note of:
Existing lighting that you like and works well to keep
Fixtures you want to replace for style or function (or both!)
Dark spots that compromise safety for you or guests
Missed opportunity to highlight a key feature
In the evening, lighting becomes your home's first impression—and it's important not just for safety, but style too. Start at your entrances (front door, garage, side doors) and trace the pathway backwards to the driveway or street to determine the lighting needs for easy navigation. Then advance to where you are going to be using your outdoor spaces and how you want the light to work for you. To make the most of these multipurpose spaces, remember all three types of lighting mentioned above—paying special attention to task lighting for outdoor cooking, seating spots, and ambient accents for dining.
There are a number of options available when looking for functional exterior lighting:
Wall lights
Used to enhance the exterior of your home as well as light up your garden, wall lights come in a wide range of designs – both traditional and modern to suit your look. Many are fitted with a passive infrared sensor (PIR), so it's activated only when motion is detected in a certain range (which can be as wide as eight metres). This ensures it's used efficiently to help save energy. These lights offer a choice of power supply - so opt for mains, solar or battery power depending on your set-up.
Security lighting
As well as being used for styling and functionality can also be a great way to add a burglar deterrent for added security. With many exterior floodlights now complete with a Passive Infrared sensor (PIR) this means that there is no switching on/off the outdoor light. The light activates when movement is sensed within a 12M, 180 degrees range; ideal for deterring intruders from a large deep garden. It is extremely practical for a visitor of your property whether announced or un announced. This not only saves energy, but also ensures that neighbours and wildlife aren't disturbed by a constant beam of light.
Be a good neighbour and don't accidentally let your outdoor light trespass on the property next door. When installing up lighting such as spot lights, check its trajectory is anchored on the intended target and not spilling over.
Post lights
Also known as bollards, post lights are great for navigating, popularly used to light paths, driveways and house entrances. Because of this, they commonly require mains power and to be fitted into place - although we offer a few solar-powered options. Ours range from 0.44 to 1.22 metres (m) in height. Look out for models with matching wall lights to create a coordinated design throughout your garden.
Stake lights
Light up your flowerbeds and paths with stake lights. Being solar-powered, these are quickly and easily fitted by simply pushing them into the ground with no wiring needed. Our range offers stake lights up to 56 centimetres (cm) tall and they're available individually or in multipacks. Add some interest with our colour-changing models. Complement with our mains-powered spotlight stake lights - perfect for highlighting a particular feature in your garden, such as a tree or structure.
Decking & Brick lights
Decking and brick lights work nicely with both ground-level and raised decks - offering much-needed guidance when moving up and down the steps of elevated terraces. If considering adding decking to your garden, stock up on decking lights before you begin construction as they need to be fitted into the boards before completion. Brick lights are a simple addition and a superb way to light up a path way or a parking space adjacent to your house.
Party and string lighting
Similar to Christmas fairy lights, string lighting is ideal for spreading some party spirit. Available as either solar or battery powered, this decorative option comes with white, blue or multi-coloured bulbs and in a range of designs including eye-catching stars. Wrap around fences, parasols, trellis or handrails for lighting fun into the night.
Three brands that have a brilliant portfolio of exterior lights are Integral LED, Philips and Ledvance Osram. Light up the exterior of your home with these small, stylish and contemporary LED luminaires. Choose from 12 different designs with options to allow you to:
- Illuminate your walls and doors
- Accentuate the lighting of your path
- Highlight your house number
- Build lighting into your wall
Weatherproof and hard-wearing, the Outdoor range is designed to last against the elements. These luminaires are built with die cast aluminium, ST316 stainless steel or polycarbonate.
- Low energy
- LED life expectancy of 25,000 hours
- Ingress protection up to IP65
- 3 years warranty
Both brands are available on www.theledspecialist.co.uk
Industrial & Commercial:
There are a few features and technical specifications to look out for when shopping for exterior lighting.
IP rating
Electrical, battery and solar-powered outdoor lights have an IP (Ingress Protection) rating. This refers to how well they're protected from intrusion of water and dirt.
The first digit of an IP rating refers to intrusion protection – whether you're protected from its moving parts, as well how protected the equipment is from foreign bodies:
- 0: No special protection.
- 1: Protection from a large part of the body, such as a hand (but no protection from deliberate access); from solid objects greater than 50mm in diameter.
- 2: Protection against fingers or other objects no greater than 80mm in length and 12mm in diameter.
- 3: Protection from entry by tools, wires etc. with a diameter of 2.5 mm or more.
- 4: Protection against solid bodies larger than 1mm (e.g. small tools).
- 5: Protected against dust that may harm equipment.
- 6: Totally dust-tight.
The second digit of an IP rating refers to protection against moisture:
- 0: No protection.
- 1: Protection against condensation.
- 2: Protection against water droplets deflected up to 15 degrees from vertical.
- 3: Protection against spray up to 60 degrees from vertical.
- 4: Protection against water spray from all directions.
- 5: Protection against low-pressure water jets (all directions).
- 6: Protection against string water jets and waves.
- 7: Protection against temporary immersion.
- 8: Protection against prolonged effects of immersion under pressure.
So, for example, a light with an IP rating of 68 will be very protected from both intrusion and moisture and would therefore be ideal for you’re an exterior location near any moisture.
A number replaced by an X indicates that the enclosure is not rated for that specification. Therefore, a light with a rating of X4 hasn't been rated for intrusion, but offers protection from water spray in any direction.
Floodlighting
There is a lot of variety when it comes to choosing the right outdoor floodlight, which can seem a bit daunting. Following these steps should make it easier to find the perfect one for you. Here are some key things to consider…
Location is everything
Before you even start looking for the right outdoor floodlight, determine where you're going to install it. Most importantly, what area does the light need to cover? The height and angle at which the light is installed could make a big difference to how well it lights your chosen space.
Windows, doors, drainpipes and gutters may all be obstacles to finding the right placement, so it's important to think about this early. When you have decided on the right spot, try and get an idea of the size of light that will fit in the space. It would be no good buying a high-powered floodlight, only to find that it's too big to fit in the position you have chosen for it.
How do you want your outdoor floodlight to activate?
As lighting technology progresses, floodlights are becoming more sophisticated in how they are activated. In addition to the standard on/off switch that you can use to manually activate your light, you can also find floodlights with motion sensors, which will illuminate when someone (or something) passes in range of its sensor. Alternatively, 'Dusk till Dawn' floodlights automatically switch on when the ambient light falls to a certain level and then switch off again in the morning when the sun comes up.
Picking one of these options really depends on personal preference. Do you want a light that you can manually switch on and off yourself? The inherent risk with this is that the light will get left on during the day, wasting energy and reducing the life of the fitting. Motion sensitive lights are the most energy efficient, as they are only illuminated when they need to be, but the sensor could cause the light to activate when animals pass by, or even when neighbours are out in their own garden. Some might find this disconcerting. Dusk till dawn lights present a happy medium, as they don't need switching on manually and they will just stay on through the night.
Get the right brightness
Floodlights come in a broad range of brightness outputs, perhaps more than any other type of light. You can find floodlights that output anything between 700-20,000+ lumens.
Which one you choose primarily depends on how big a space you need to illuminate. An outdoor floodlight with only a relatively low lumens output (700-1500lm) will suffice for patios and driveways, while commercial spaces like car parks and small fields will obviously need high-powered floodlights that output many times that. There is no hard and fast rule for picking floodlights of a certain brightness, but below is a rough guide that may help.
| Area | Lumens |
| Small Patio | 500lm |
| Medium Garden (150m²) | 2400lm |
| Car Park | 9000-20000lm |
As mentioned before, placement and angle also make a big difference to how efficiently your outdoor space is lit. Getting this right will give you a little more room with the lumens output of your chosen floodlight. Conversely, if you know the light can't be installed in a perfect position, you can take this into account when deciding on the brightness of the floodlight.
Upgrade to LED floodlights
Traditionally, most outdoor floodlights have used halogen bulbs, which use 20-30% less energy than older incandescent bulbs, but which come nowhere near LED bulbs for their energy-saving potential. The biggest advantage of LED bulbs in this case is their superior lifespan. Where a halogen bulb might last around 2,000 hours, LED floodlights can last 30,000 hours or more. In addition to the cost saving that this long lifespan provides, it means that you won't have to go through the hassle of replacing your floodlight (or its bulb) nearly as often. This alone makes for a good reason to upgrade to LED floodlights. A recent project has been upgrading a car park lighting solution to LED, this has meant that the project paid back on its investment within two and a half years just from the energy saved. The products then have another 4 years of expected service which means even more energy