Forget "one-stop shopping" contractors. Hire an expert in outdoor lighting design to install your outdoor lighting fixtures.
The old adage is true: you get what you pay for.
While it’s tempting, especially in these times, to cut costs wherever possible when updating your home, homeowners looking for short-term savings, especially when it comes to outdoor lighting companies, may find that the actual cost of a shoddy installation will become much greater in the long term.
Here are few things to keep in mind before beginning your outdoor lighting design project.
Outdoor Lighting Design
Many landscapers, irrigation companies and independent contractors offer outdoor lighting design in addition to their specialties. They consider themselves a one-stop shop. But often these companies use products from many different vendors when installing a system, and that can result in an outdoor lighting plan that may cause problems for you later.
Matt Muenz of NiteLites in Franklin, OH, recalls one client who originally hired a company that also specialized in hanging Christmas lights and power washing homes.
“The whole job was a mess,” says Muenz. ”The transformer was overloaded and could not support the system.” That left Muenz with no option but to replace it with an appropriately sized transformer for the job.
In addition, most of the lighting fixtures had to be replaced, the wiring reinstalled and a whole new system had to be added in the back yard to accommodate the homeowner’s outdoor living space. In the end, hiring Christmas light hangers-turned-outside-lighting installers turned out to be a very costly mistake.
3 Tips for Hiring an Outdoor Lighting Company
- A good lighting designer will have good references, so ask for them.
- Find out if the lighting company is a member of the local Better Business Bureau. Read what other homeowners have said about the lighting company’s performance.
- Look for outdoor lighting design companies that carry a limited lifetime warranty on their fixtures
A good outdoor lighting designer will also show you exactly what your system will look like before you ever spend a dime. Consider materials and finishes that are being used, such as acid etched brass and copper for fixtures will never chip or fade. Even the less glamorous details are very important.
”The biggest failure we see when servicing other companies’ systems is the wire connectors,” says Muenz. “We commonly see wire connectors used to connect indoor appliances rolled in electrical tape or wire piercing devices that fail over time.”
NiteLites connectors are designed specifically for the outdoors and uses a patented copper-to-copper wire connection encapsulated in silicone. Bottom line: make sure your service provider is using outdoor lighting equipment for outdoor lighting jobs.
LED Outdoor Lighting
Finally, it’s important to find a lighting designer who keeps up with the latest technology. LED lighting is currently hot among designers. They are 75% more efficient than traditional lighting and companies such as NiteLites can easily retrofit LED lights into existing fixtures. Munez estimates that within 3 years, all of their new systems will use LEDs. Now that sounds like a bright idea.
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