Category: Landscape Lighting Design

How-to hang vibrant outdoor Christmas lights

‘Tis the season to illuminate your home with a brilliant display of shimmering lights. The following tips will help make it easier and faster to strategically hang your holiday lights so that you can get outside enjoy the radiance of your masterpiece. 

What are the varieties of Christmas lights available?

Before you can festively hang your holiday lights, you’ll need to decide which ones you want to use to highlight your holly jolly home. Here’s a quick glossary of need-to-know light terms:

  • Incandescent: These filament bulbs are the classic choice when it comes to Christmas lights. While they provide a warming glow, be mindful that they heat up quickly and should be kept away from anything flammable. 
  • LEDs: These long-lasting bulbs have double the lifespan of a regular incandescent and emit a dazzling shimmer of luminosity! The best part is that they stay cool to the touch regardless of how long they’re left on for. 
  • Wide-angle LEDs: The same as regular LED bulbs but with concave tips that can throw light in a particular direction. 
  • Transparent lights: These bulbs are usually colored with a visible filament. 
  • Ceramic bulbs: These bulbs have a painted-on appearance and are often considered to be the timeless holiday light classics with opaque finishing’s.
  • Globe lights: Globes are the same as LEDs but are circular.
  • Net lights: These mini lights are also made using LED technology, however, they’re smaller in size and possess a webbed circuit. 
  • RGB LED: These nifty LED bulbs offer the same benefits of regular LEDs but they display virtually any color the homeowner wants by the way of a programmable diode. 

Plan your layout

Before you start to aimlessly string your lights, we recommend that you create a lighting scheme. This means that you should measure the distances where you’re planning to hang the illumination to consider if your placement is appropriate and if you have enough length to create the picturesque shadows and warmth you’re hoping for. Also, remember to check all of your bulbs to see if any are dim or burnt out before proceeding to the hanging phase. 

How to place low voltage landscape lighting on a tree

While you can quickly cast a net of lights over your shrubbery if you’re the type of homeowner wanting a more traditional look, consider wrapping the tree with low voltage landscape lighting. 

Start by cloaking the trunk of the tree to determine your desired spacing between each wrap; about 3 inches is ideal. Then examine the circumference of trunk and conclude how many limbs you want to be covered, so once you finish the body, you can continue onto the branches. Keep in mind that you can always grab more strands of lights to wrap around any empty spaces. 

How to place low voltage landscape lighting on a house 

The easiest way to hang string lights on your home is to ensure that your male end of the strand is the closest one to the outlet, that way a simple extension cord is all it will need to have your lights twinkling their brightest. Hang this part of the strand along an eave on your home’s exterior and extend it around the outside surface of the structure, making sure to keep the string of lights taut so that there’s no saggy part hanging dramatically out of order. Then once you have an idea of how your strands will hang, use gutter clips to hold down the strands. This is a budget-friendly and eye-pleasing way to keep your decor intact. Then, continue using the following pattern for the other parts of your home that you’re decorating. 

Establishing a classic Christmas look involves decorating with strands of white, twinkling lights. To create this traditional scene, you can hang lights along the gutters or eaves, in windows, and within the greenery in the areas around your residence. The key to an illuminative design is to aim for an arrangement that’s symmetrical and the best approach to placing low voltage landscape lighting on your home is to find a color scheme that works for you. Don’t just lay little, white bulbs and expect it to look festive, but instead blend the tones to include various shades of blues, greens, reds, and golds. Whether you have your home looking like a holiday classic, a delightful monstrosity or prefer the minimalist approach, the key to exuberating your low voltage landscape lighting is to embrace festive elements and incorporate as many lights to highlight your cheery, holiday spirit!  

Who’s in charge of hanging the holiday lights in your family? Drop a comment below to compare. 

4 ways to save on your lighting costs this fall

Fall and winter months usually correspond to a shortage of daylight and in turn, an increase to your seasonal utility bill. This means that while autumn is an exciting, festive time of year, it’s can also expensive since you’re keeping your lights on for longer. While minimizing your lighting usage is not an effective cost-efficient strategy this time of year, why not bring on the warmth with some lighting tips that are bound to put some savings back in your wallet?

Cover your drafty windows

Many homeowners don’t know where the heat in their residence is escaping from, so even when they crank up the room’s temperature, much of its lost by the way of a large, drafty window. The frames of your bay windows and skylights may lack proper insulation, and when the outdoor conditions start to get cooler, they need to be sealed tightly to reduce the amount of heat leaving and the cold air that’s infiltrating from outside. One of the most cost-effective ways that people deal with blustery windows is by taping plastic along the inside of their window frames. However, another way to improve energy efficiency is to install some tight-fitting, insulating drapes or shades that you can pull across your window to assist with the draft. 

Keep your eyes on the temperature

If you’re spending time at home, set your thermostat to a comfortable temperature, although if you’re out for most of your day, it’s always a good idea to turn it down to a lower setting during the time you’re spending away at work or running errands. This will allow you to reap the benefits of having a warm, cozy home without overpaying for the heat circulating when you aren’t around to enjoy it. 

Does your home have a fireplace?

Many people relish in the rustic appeal of a wood-burning fireplace, but they may be losing some of their home’s heat through their chimney flues. The best way to ensure that you aren’t allowing the warmth to escape is by keeping your fire damper closed when you don’t have a fire burning. You can also seal your fireplace flue damper and add some caulking around the hearth to help keep the area insulated. Now, if you’re the type of person who has a fireplace that goes unused year-round, consider plugging your flue to keep the heat from leaking out by the way of your chimney. 

Install some professional landscape lighting 

While upgrading your indoor fixtures to include energy-efficient LED bulbs is one of the easiest ways for you to save some money throughout the cooler months of the year, you can also reduce your carbon footprint and your energy bill by installing some professional landscape lighting in your garden and the surrounding areas around your home. At Best Pro Lighting we have some of the best products on the market to cater to eco-friendly homeowners. Our vast assortment includes options such as LED garden lighting, directional lighting, and path lighting and while you’re putting away the savings with these efficient lighting upgrades, you’re also packing some added funds by shopping with a business that offers some of the best, professional landscape lighting prices. So, why not keep your home bold and brilliant this month by upgrading your illumination scheme to include some of Best Pro Lighting best-sellers?

Are there some other crafty ways that you keep your lighting costs down when it gets cool? Drop a comment below to share with our readers. 

How to put in low-voltage landscape lighting

low-voltage landscape lights

If you want to reap the benefits of vibrant, backyard illumination, you’ll need a variety of versatile, weatherproof, low-voltage landscape lights to brighten up your property’s pathways, flower beds, trees, fences, driveways, stone walls, doorways and deck. While you could hire a professional to design your outdoor lighting scheme and install all of your illuminant fixtures, DIY installation is your middle name! This budget-friendly project can make a big impact on your outdoor space, providing a practical, aesthetic glow that can be enjoyed both day and night. So, if you’re a person who’s rather handy and you’re up for the challenge, we highly recommend installing a few low-voltage landscape lighting systems because they’re cheaper, easier to install, safer and require far less energy than higher voltage systems. The perfect backyard is just within reach, so read ahead for an installation how-to.  

Key components to keep in mind before starting your project

With a variety of low-voltage landscape lighting fixtures and accessories available in an assortment of colors, styles and sizes, it’s almost impossible to test out and review all of them prior to your purchase. However, nearly every lighting system, complex or not, is comprised of the following four basic parts.

  • Transformer: Every low-voltage landscape light system requires a state-of-the-art transformer to power its illumination, plugging into a protected electrical outlet that is supplied with current between 12 volts and 120 volts. Some transformers are even equipped with timers to allow the users to choose when the lights will go on and off. 
  • Low-voltage electrical cable: There is a cable that you will need for your lights that’s made to be buried underground, running from the transformer into each low-voltage landscape light. 
  • Pathway fixtures: These types of lights are designed to be installed along walkways and driveways. 
  • Accent fixtures: These types of lights are specialty fixtures that used to shine or up light your landscape features. 

How do you install low-voltage landscape lights?

While the list of steps can vary depending on where and how you want your lights to look, there are three major areas of installation that will be required for your DIY project. 

Laying the cable: It’s always best to paint a picture of what you want to do before starting the work. That’s why laying the light fixtures out before installing them is a good first step. Space each fixture about 8 to 10 feet apart and then unroll the spool of electrical cable to place down beside each fixture. Following, use a shovel to dig a small trench along the line where you want to place your fixtures. Next, set down the cable in the trench. 

Installing the transformer: Peel the copper wires from your cable about 4 inches on each side, then use some wire strippers to remove about ⅝ inch of insulation. Slide the wires through the strap on the back of the transformer and place one of each of your wires under the A screw and the B screw terminal. Following, tighten the screws to secure the wires and place the stake of the transformer into the ground next to your nearest electrical outlet. 

Connect the lights: Attach a plastic cover over the outlet to protect it from the elements and then plug in the transformers power cord into the outlet. Next, connect each fixture to the cable. Since the transformer is connected, the fixtures should just light up, however, if this doesn’t happen, try again by checking your wired connections. Once the lights are glowing you can place their stakes into the ground where you want them to sit. Lastly, fill the trench in will topsoil. 

What part of the low-voltage landscape lights installation did you find most interesting? Drop a comment below to share with our readers.