Outdoor lighting serves three practical purposes: security, visibility, and usability. The right combination depends on your home, your yard, and how you use your outdoor space. Here is a straightforward look at the most common outdoor lighting options for Lexington homeowners and what each involves electrically.
Front porch and entry lighting is typically the simplest outdoor lighting project. Replacing an existing fixture is usually a one-hour job. Adding a new light where none exists, such as flanking a garage door or adding a fixture above a side entrance, requires running a new circuit or extending an existing one from the nearest indoor outlet or junction box.
Flood lights with motion sensors are practical for garages, back yards, and side yards. Most mount in place of an existing outdoor fixture. Units with separate motion sensors give you more control over the detection area. Dusk-to-dawn photocell fixtures turn on automatically at sunset and off at sunrise, which is useful for long driveways and parking areas.
Driveway and pathway lights can run on standard line voltage (120 volts) or low-voltage landscape lighting systems (12 volts). Line-voltage systems are brighter and more durable but require a licensed electrician for the new circuit. Low-voltage systems are less bright but can often be added without new wiring if an outdoor outlet is nearby. We install both and will recommend the right approach based on your driveway length and available power.
String lights and decorative overhead lighting for patios and pergolas have become one of the more common outdoor lighting requests in recent years. The main electrical consideration is having a weatherproof outdoor outlet at the right location. We install weatherproof GFCI outlets and junction boxes for outdoor entertaining areas throughout Lexington.
One often-overlooked project is adding outdoor outlets. A patio with no outlets creates extension cord problems that are both inconvenient and potentially unsafe. Adding one or two weatherproof outdoor outlets to a covered patio or deck is typically straightforward and makes the space much more useful.
If you have an outdoor lighting project in mind, call us at 859-555-0140. Most outdoor lighting estimates can be done during a brief site visit and we can often schedule the work within a few days.
