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Illumination of the personal plot – choosing lights and lamps

This WordPress post explains the importance of choosing the right lights and lamps when it comes to bringing out the personal plot of a space. It discusses the advantages of using directional, adjustable, and dimmable products, which allow users to achieve the desired balance between functionality and aesthetics. Additionally, the post provides tips for selecting lights and lamps for the living room, bedroom, and other areas of the house, as well as advice on how to select lamps based on structure, design, materials, etc. to create a unique interior space. By implementing these guidelines, anyone can create a space that they are proud of.

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Landscape lighting not only helps to ensure safe movement around the backyard at night, but can also become one of the main highlights of the garden and yard design..

Lighting devices help to highlight with the help of light individual small architectural forms, the so-called MAFs, a group of trees, a lush flower bed, path or rock garden, make your site even more beautiful and draw attention to its undeniable advantages.

You should choose lamps for your personal plot not only on the basis of their external parameters, but also on the basis of their functional features and operating features. The entire lighting system of the site should be thought out to the smallest detail and then your garden, terrace, pool area, gazebo and courtyard will be a great place to relax not only during the day, but also at night.

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps An effective, well-thought-out lighting system will not only allow you to relax in nature after sunset, but also completely transform the look of the site, give it a special charm even at night or late in the evening

General planning rules

It is recommended to think over the illumination system of the personal plot even at the stage of landscape construction. You need to accurately determine the placement of all lighting fixtures, think about where they are especially needed. The supply of electricity to the lamps is inevitably associated with digging holes and ditches, so it is better to carry out work on arranging lighting even before planting plants, at the planning stage of the entire landscape design.

Drawing up a lighting plan for a site usually begins with choosing the location of the largest, stationary luminaires, for example, pole lamps. If the courtyard is small, then one such lantern with a powerful incandescent lamp will be quite enough, however, if there are paths on your site, there is, for example, a gazebo or a bathhouse behind the house, then you need to think over the lighting of these corners too. First of all, you need to ensure the safety of movement and only then think about the aesthetic component of lighting.

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps Such tall lamps are called pole lamps. They perform a special, utilitarian function – they provide safe movement around the yard and the entire adjacent territory, and create background light. However, they are also very beautiful.

A very important role is played not only by the location of the lamps, but also by their power, as well as the light emitted by the lamps, so you may have to consult with specialists and order a ready-made project for lighting the entire site.

You also need to immediately decide how your lighting system will be controlled. Today it is possible to choose both a traditional manual control system and an automatic one. In the first case, a separate switch will be installed for each individual lamp or lighting zone, so you will have to “bypass the property” every evening and turn on the lights throughout the site. In the case of installing an automated system, all the work will be performed by a timer that can be programmed for a specific time of day, for example, at nine o’clock in the evening in summer and around five in the afternoon.

An even more convenient way of control, which eliminates the need to reprogram the timer every time, are built-in sensitive photocells that react to changes in natural light and give the command “let there be light” after dusk. The only drawback of such a control system is its high cost. The price of one flashlight with a photocell and a relay can reach $ 120, although there are also Chinese models that are much cheaper, but they do not work as reliably as we would like..

In addition, there are also photocells that do not react to sunset, but to motion. If someone walks along the path or enters the yard, the lighting turns on. This option will save on electricity, but the empty area will look dark and uncomfortable. And if a large dog runs freely at night in your yard, the lantern will blink almost continuously, therefore, in this case, such photocells are simply not needed, it is better to choose those that react to changes in natural light.

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps If there is a beautiful alpine slide on your site, it is worth installing a low lamp in its center and guests will be able to admire this masterpiece of landscape design not only during the day

Each section has its own lamp

When choosing lighting devices that will be installed on your site, you should remember that street sconces, sidewalk lamps and pole lamps will perfectly cope with the lighting of the parking area, the entrance to the garage, terrace, porch, garden paths.

However, other lighting devices should be chosen for flower beds and ornamental bushes, otherwise they will fade in the rays of an ordinary lantern and the aesthetic effect will not be achieved.

There are two ways to highlight individual areas of the local area with light. Traditional lighting simulates sunlight and illuminates the area from top to bottom. This method will allow you to ensure the safety of movement and will show all the beauty of plants even at night, however, it will not work to achieve an unusual effect – everything is simple and banal.

Low lamps hidden in a flower bed or tree crown, small built-in or decorative lamps that can be hidden behind foliage look much more original. As a result, the flower bush or apple tree will seem to emit light on its own..

In a gazebo or on a terrace, a pendant lamp or a whole group of similar lamps suspended under the roof will look perfect. They can be used to create soft, diffused, delicate lighting that will not interfere with communication or a family dinner in the fresh air..

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps Cold neon light is best for lighting pools, but for a rose garden, soft yellow lighting should be preferred, which favorably emphasizes the beauty of delicate buds

Attention to the tracks

Considering that the main functional purpose of the lighting device on the backyard is to ensure the safety of movement, then it is impossible to “deprive attention” of the paths and paths leading to different corners of the garden.

To illuminate the paths, you can use both ordinary pole lamps, and sidewalk and built-in lamps. Models from the first group will give soft, diffused light and can be up to three meters high. Lanterns can be designed for one, two, three or even more lamps, however, to illuminate the path, one high light source, turned towards the path, is quite enough.

The so-called sidewalk lights are no more than 100 centimeters high and are used for accompanying lighting. They are usually installed on both sides of the path and will allow you to walk freely even on a dark night, but at the same time, their area of ​​action is limited and the beauty of the night garden will not be visible.

Such sidewalk lamps can be made in the form of miniature copies of conventional pole lamps, low luminous columns, and so on. The choice of external parameters of lighting devices for paths depends only on the taste of the owners and the general direction of the landscape design of the site.

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps Such models are dug in in separate areas of the local area and are made in a waterproof case that is resistant to any weather conditions, not afraid of rain or snow. Sidewalk lights installed on both sides of the walkway will ensure a safe night walk

The main advantage of a spot, built-in lamp is that it does not take up much space, its body can be easily decorated or hidden. Such lighting devices are used for accent or sidewalk lighting, allowing you to highlight, for example, a particularly beautiful flower bed or path leading to the far corner of the garden.

In addition, in order to illuminate individual sections of the path and highlight an important element of landscape design, for example, a forged bench or an alpine slide, small floodlights are often used, the so-called street spots.

They can be mounted on the wall of the house, on a special stand in the ground, on the sidewalk or directly on the trunk of a tree. Fixing spotlights should be thoughtful – such directional lighting, if it is strictly frontal, will make the object highlighted with the help of light flat. It is worth directing the spotlight a little from the side – so you can emphasize the surface relief, create a beautiful openwork “web” of shadows. And if you place a street spot behind the object, its silhouette will be even more expressive..

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps A forged lantern on the wall of the house will optimally illuminate the patio or porch, traditionally located on the side of the front door. Just remember that if the lantern is near the window, the light will also fall into the interior, possibly interfering with resting at night.

Luminaire as an element of site decor

Modern manufacturers are increasingly producing not just spotlights or lanterns that can illuminate a separate section of the backyard territory, but real decorative elements. Such lighting devices are intended specifically for decorating the landscape, decorate the courtyard, garden or gazebo not only at night, but also during the day..

For example, traditional Victorian-style wrought-iron lanterns will add respectability and solidity to the site, and exotic lamps, whose body is decorated, for example, with a dragon or other fairy-tale character, will make the site design even more interesting. Sometimes unusual designer lamps of a bizarre shape look like real statues and attract the eye even when the lamp is not on.

Balls, ovals, cubes, garden statues – modern lamps can literally look just about anything. It is often difficult to guess during the day that this cute “girl with a paddle” also serves as a sidewalk lighting device. Achieve a decorative effect allows not only a variety of shapes of racks and bodies, but also the use of frosted, transparent, satin or fusing glass in lanterns.

By the way, you shouldn’t get carried away with fancy lanterns and lamps if your landscape was decorated in the national style of a square or park of one of the countries of the world. For example, in an Italian garden there must be a greenhouse and several statues, in a Dutch garden – an alley-bursault, in an elegant French – pyramidal trees and flower parterres. In such a garden, too flashy or modern lamps will distract attention from the main design idea, therefore, designers recommend making them as less noticeable as possible or choosing models strictly in the style of the chosen direction of landscape design.

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps Lamps of an unusual shape, in the form of a large ball, on a bamboo stand in the form of a torch, as in this picture, or in a wrought openwork frame, perform not only their main function, but also serve as a magnificent decoration of the garden

Technical characteristics, features of operation and the price of the issue

We must not forget that street lamps, unlike home ones, will be exposed to temperature changes, atmospheric precipitation and become polluted much faster. Therefore, the degree of protection of the shell of street lighting devices must be at least IP44, and for lamps installed near water bodies – IP65.

In addition, it is imperative to monitor the integrity of their case – the slightest crack or chip on the glass can cause more serious damage and lead to human injury. The integrity of the body is the key to the safe operation of the luminaires and damaged parts must be replaced as soon as possible..

When planning a lighting system for a personal plot, you should also pay attention to such an important aspect as energy saving. Installing timers that promptly turn off the backlight, photocells that respond to movement or changes in lighting, as well as the use of energy-saving LED lamps will save on electricity bills.

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps The choice of lighting devices for pools, fountains and other bodies of water is a demanding task. Such luminaires, as well as the control relays for them, must have a degree of protection IP65

Many well-known manufacturers, in particular the Austrian company Globo, offer today an even more economical option – street lamps powered by solar panels. During the day they are recharged, and at night they use the stored energy to illuminate the site. The price of one such lamp in a metal case with a height of 114 centimeters is about 6640 rubles.

As for the prices for other types of street lighting devices, the most inexpensive are recessed spotlights or simple pendant or wall lamps in a plastic case – their cost usually does not exceed 300-400 rubles.

The price of ordinary sidewalk lighting fixtures also “starts” from 400 rubles, but for one high pole lamp you will have to pay at least 4 thousand rubles. A Victorian-style model with three shades will cost 9 thousand rubles.

The cost of decorative items – with openwork forging or glass decorated with fusing – increases significantly. One ordinary lantern in such a forged case will cost about 3.2 thousand rubles.

And if a famous designer has worked on the design of a street lamp and the product is made in a single copy just for your personal plot, the price of such a “flashlight” can exceed 40 thousand rubles.

Illumination of the personal plot - choosing lights and lamps The gazebo is another place in the personal plot, where you cannot do without a separate lamp or lantern. You don’t want to end a pleasant conversation with friends or a family dinner just because it’s already dark.?

Remember that the main goal of landscape lighting is not to demonstrate all the achievements of lighting technology and ultra-fashionable equipment, but to emphasize the beauty of the site, highlight the luxury and wealth of nature with light. Technical innovations, of course, are important and will save on electricity bills, but they cannot compare with the natural beauty of a well-kept garden..

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Comments: 1
  1. Skylar Clarke

    Can anyone suggest a reliable guide or resource for choosing lights and lamps to illuminate my personal plot? I’m looking for practical advice on factors such as lighting types, designs, and placement that can enhance the ambiance and functionality of my space. Any recommendations or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply
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