How to organize lighting for the garden: types of illumination of paths, ponds and plants. Illumination options, selection and installation of luminaires for lighting garden paths Garden lighting

The garden around the house has long ceased to be just a source of fruit growing and the territory of garden beds.

Literate landscape design will allow you to turn your garden into a comfortable recreation area, a playground for children or a small and cozy park.

To do this, it is not enough to properly plan the backyard area and pick up plants. After all perfect design is a kind of mosaic important detail which is lighting.

Thoughtful lighting of the site will not only allow you to move comfortably in the dark, but also create a special atmosphere, emphasize the unusual forms of shrubs and flowers that can only be seen at dusk.

Regardless of whether you bought lighting fixtures or made them yourself, it is very important that they combine functional and decorative properties, decorating your garden during daylight hours.

Using fantasy and some interesting lighting ideas, you can make the most unusual objects "light up".

Types of site lighting:

• basic lighting
• focused decorative
• lighting garden paths and steps
• lighting of the recreation area, gazebos, patio
• illumination of a reservoir, masonry (hidden lamps)
• decorative

Focused decorative lighting- this is a directional lighting of exactly those parts of the garden that you want to emphasize and focus on them. It could be a flowerbed bright colors, garden sculpture, pond, tree or just a green lawn.

Focused areas are the first to catch the eye, so it's worth experimenting with the direction of the light, brightness, and degree of dispersion. interesting idea such lighting can be lamps installed around trees or shrubs with a dense crown: the rays of light will emphasize the shape of the tree and create bizarre shadows on the ground.

Luminous lamps- one of the varieties of focused illumination. It is easy to place such a flashlight, just stick it into the ground where you would like to highlight it: near the curly-cut boxwood, along the paths, on the alpine hill.

Lighting garden paths and steps should not be too bright and blinding eyes. The lower the light source is to the ground, the less bright it should be. When lighting stairs with light, each step should be highlighted. Scattering lights built into the ground, or lamps on solar panels perfect for this function.

Lighting of the recreation area, gazebos, patio, is no less important than the lighting of the garden itself, because it is a place of relaxation where you can gather in the evening or on a cloudy day. Usually such places are located where there is less sunlight, therefore, lamps with an electric power source are used here. By the way, you can read about recreation areas in the garden on our website!

Depending on the style and the mood you want to create, the lighting can be either spot or bright, filling the entire space. Often, lamps are created for the recreation area with their own hands.

DIY lamp ideas

In any house you can always find a lot of interesting, old things that you have not used for a long time, but it’s a pity to throw them away ... A little imagination and these items can be given a second life.

Recently, designers have been using glass jars and bottles of an unusual shape, as well as old crockery and kitchen utensils. From all this you can create unique lamps, floor lamps and even entire chandeliers. Such a lamp is ideal for illuminating a gazebo or illuminating paths.

A lamp built into a stump, a dried tree or natural stone. It looks very impressive, natural and gives a mysterious atmosphere to your site.

The light source can also be built into ceramic products. It can be like purchased figurines fairytale heroes or landscape gardening sculptures, as well as old decorative jugs, pots.

Illumination of the reservoir and hidden lamps. Modern lighting devices will allow you to take a fresh look at the pond near your house, especially when it lights up with new colors at night. Lamps installed around the reservoir, floating and underwater will definitely change appearance pond and your mood.

Hidden lamps are often installed in stone or brickwork, retaining walls. They are used for their intended purpose and, as a rule, do not bear any decorative effect. The decor in this version of the lamp is the light itself: its direction, color, brightness.

Advice: when you independently connect lighting to the mains, it is important to adhere to safety precautions, and if you do not have experience with electricity, then it is better to entrust the connection to professionals.

Published by DecorateMe.

Lighting garden plot– it is not only beautiful, but also safe. Everyone can be convinced of this by walking at night, for example, through the garden, and holding only a hand-held flashlight in their hands. If you properly equip the garden lighting system, at night it will be possible not only to “easy” move around your own site, but also safely. And if you use decorative lighting for flower beds and flower beds, paths, steps and trees, you can create a wonderful atmosphere in your backyard.

There are two main types of outdoor garden lighting:

• functional
• decorative

So, let's take a closer look at each of them.

Functional way of lighting

Its main task is to safely move around its land at night. It is enough, at a minimum, to equip the porch of your house with light, near the garage space, parking area or home garden paths.

The most inexpensive way to organize lighting is to place lamps along the path. If the area is rather small, such lighting will be more than enough.

Arranging outdoor garden lighting functional way, it is important to consider:

• Equipment must be durable. The yoke can be used all year round.
• The harmony of lighting between the objects on the site must be observed. For example, too bright light on the path can be uncomfortable for you, so you should direct it to the gazebo, shrubs, etc. to focus more attention there.
• The facade of your house should be the most illuminated area.
• It is desirable that you can view the edges of your site at night in the dark.

Lamps can be used the most common, as well as energy-saving or fluorescent, which have different mounting methods. Today, lamps in the form of floor lamps made in high-tech or retro style are gaining more and more popularity.

Looking through the photos of garden lighting, you probably noticed what a variety of ways there are for organizing it.

You can use spherical types of fixtures, which are an organic form of a sphere made of polycarbonate or carbonate. It is equipped with not too powerful lamps, due to which it dimly illuminates the area and performs a decorative function.

Solar powered lighting fixtures. They can only be charged during the daytime. They do not need to be connected to the mains. And the lighting will last all night long.

When arranging lighting for your personal plot, it is important to adhere to the basic rule, according to which lighting devices should still be chosen in concise forms, and also use hidden lighting options if the site is quite diverse, large and has a lot of things on it. If it is small, and there is only a minimum on it, you can choose fancy-shaped lamps that will shine in different colors, or retro versions of lamps.

When choosing lighting equipment, it is important to consider some features:

• Ask the seller for a certificate confirming that the product is safe.
• Review the document. It should indicate the degree of protection of the goods that you decide to buy.
• Be sure to specify how long the warranty period applies to the outer part of the lighting element.
• Pay attention to the material used to make the item.

Decorative garden lighting

Any decorative elements lose their appeal with the onset of night. Of course, this can all be so until dawn. But maybe you want to arrange decorative garden lighting, which allows you to emphasize all the charm and beauty of your backyard. For example, you can put small spotlights directly into the ground, which will gracefully illuminate your flower beds.

Garden lighting without luminaires

Using the LED lighting method, you can create a hidden lighting option, without the need to use lamps, spotlights or fixtures.

This option can be organized in an original and fascinating way with the help of multi-colored lighting, but if you use a monochromatic one, the reservoir will look noble and meaningful.

Designer ways to decorate the garden

Landscaping of your own site can be made out different ways, which you have already seen in the photo of garden lighting presented on our website. But you can not only buy lamps of the most unusual shapes, but also make them yourself!

When decorating a garden plot, you need to know that:

• If the area is large enough, correct use lighting fixtures will allow you to make zoning of the garden. If the area is small, you can expand its edges.
• In the place where you have organized a place to relax, soft lighting is best.
• When using multi-colored lamps, they should complement each other.
• You can also use garlands or LED strips if you need to create a festive atmosphere.

Proper lighting of the garden plot will solve several problems at once. Firstly, garden lighting will emphasize the beauty of the landscape at night. Secondly, garden lighting will hide all the “roughness” of the design and those flaws that can be impossible to “shade” in daylight. Thirdly, do-it-yourself garden lighting will once again prove what a skilled owner you are, who, in addition to all your pluses, also has the skills of an electrician.

Daylight does not have such capabilities; all objects in the garden are equal before it. But with the help of lighting, we ourselves can regulate the light "scenario" of the garden and place the accents we need in any corner of the garden. We can highlight something with light, multiplying the beauty of this object several times, and take something into darkness. By the way, garden lamps are also a design! They also decorate the garden during the day, without light, due to their shape, style, original elements. In some ways, they are close to garden figurines. But not only for the sake of "designer special effects" illuminate the garden. It is also a safety requirement. Any corner of the garden should be safe and accessible in the evening and at night, since there is almost always at least minimal relief in the garden.

Look at the photo - when illuminated in the garden, the site always looks festive:

But even on the most flat area without lighting, complete safety cannot be guaranteed, since a garden is a garden, and therefore rainfall, the possibility of ice, leaf fall, some paving irregularities in the case of using natural materials, and simply equipment left somewhere on the path must be taken into account. .

Location of decorative garden lighting

The location of garden lights depends on the type of lighting.

The main lighting performs a practical function. It just illuminates. Here, the most powerful light sources are usually used. The site must be safe to move in the dark.

The main lighting is located: in places of the most intensive routes of movement; at the locations of garden stairs, steps; in places of complex relief differences; along the tracks; at the porch of the house and at the entrances to all outbuildings; at the gazebos and in the gazebos; in the corners of rest; at the reservoirs.

Additional types of garden lamps do not illuminate, but only highlight, but this is enough for practical purposes. Here you can use less powerful light sources. The goal is that only the outlines of the object or the trajectory of the track are visible in general terms, the difference in the relief is marked.

Such lighting is installed:

• in infrequently visited places, for example, in remote recreation areas, near some utility rooms that you rarely use;
• all "extra" tracks. No path can be left without lighting at all.

Decorative lighting can be done separately, or in combination with any of the above two types. This lighting is for beauty, it is only decorative lighting. It uses all kinds of special lamps and lights designed for this purpose. Safety measures no longer play a role here, you yourself must determine what you want to draw the attention of the beholder to first of all, but there are also some starting points.

Decorative lighting have:

• in the most beautiful places of the garden;
• in beautiful designs;
• on retaining walls;
• on the catwalks
• at reservoirs;
• next to rocky compositions, alpine slides;
• at your author's compositions;
• next to the most expressive garden figurines;
• next to the most beautiful plants.

DIY garden lighting designs

The main, visible part of garden lighting is lamps. The second part is “engineering and technical”: these are wires and pipes of small diameter into which wires are laid (for stationary lamps). And, of course, facade switches rely on the lamps.

On sale now you can find stunningly beautiful lamps for every taste. Therefore, it is hardly advisable to make lamps on your own.

When choosing a garden lighting design with your own hands, first of all, you should pay attention to electric garden lamps. They come in the form of lanterns, garden lights, hidden lights, and pond lights.

As you can see in the photo, garden lamps of each variety have their own characteristics. For decorative garden lighting, high power bulbs are not necessary, 25 watts will be more than enough.

Decorative lamps for the garden: lanterns and garden lighting

Garden lights are needed in the garden most often! Usually these are ceiling lamps of various designs on legs of various heights, but there are also hanging garden lights (like a sconce in an apartment). The design of the plafonds should match the style of the garden. Sometimes on sale you can find shades that seem to be created specifically for the Art Nouveau or Baroque style. So it is, for the most popular garden styles, ceiling lamps are produced in these styles. But if you have your own, author's style, a universal recommendation would still be to purchase neutral models, as they say, they "stylize for any style."

As you can see in the photo, garden lighting in the author's design is not only decorated ceiling lamps. Sometimes the "legs" of ground lamps are also decorated in some manner, but this is less common, usually the "legs" of a neutral design, in the form of tubes. Therefore - there is an opportunity to save! Purchase only shades, and the “legs” can be made independently from segments metal pipes desired height. best color for their painting - black or gray. Suitable for painting decorative lamps for the garden, the so-called "Kuzbasslak".

Hanging lanterns do not have “legs”, they can be mounted on the walls of buildings, on pergolas, arches, arbors, structures for vertical gardening and in the trees. If you place lamps on trees, then they need to be fixed on brackets with soft pads. If this is a dry tree, you need to screw it to thick branches.

Garden lighting brings out the beauty of plants and elements of landscape architecture. Active lighting is a variety of spotlights. They can be placed on the ground and can be suspended. The spotlights themselves are low lamps, they do not have “legs”. Spotlights give extremely bright light. Spotlights "highlight" those objects that need to be brought to the fore. As a rule, they are placed inconspicuously or hidden among plants. But it's better not to overdo it with spotlights, because a garden is not a stadium. But do-it-yourself soft lighting for lighting in the garden is used more often and is welcomed in any quantity! Usually these are small lamps placed where it is decided to emphasize something. They can selectively highlight some single plants, composition, sculpture, and other objects.

Garden lighting is often "floor", that is, built into the paving or wood flooring. As a rule, the backlight is hidden, the main character is still not she, but what she highlights.

But there are backlights and unusual shapes, for example, in the form of a luminous horseshoe, in the form of a flat strip, in the form of a spiral, in the form of a garland! Then they can not be hidden, such backlights have an independent decorative value, they are beautiful during the day.

Hidden lamps and lighting of reservoirs

Hidden lamps - this is purely technical devices not at all decorative. Their device is designed for the fact that they will be embedded somewhere. Let's just say, they are of increased strength, and, as a rule, in a special "braid". Hidden lamps are built into the masonry, placed between the structural elements. For example, they can be built into the frame of a flower garden. Usually, places for embedding are provided in advance, during construction.

Lighting of reservoirs is specially designed for staying under water, such lamps are always sealed, moisture resistant. Nothing "independent" here can not be! It is better to purchase fixtures from well-known companies, as quality and safety must be guaranteed.

Lamps for ponds are of two types: underwater and floating on the surface of the water. There are also underwater lamps, they are usually fiber optic. Floating lamps have a round shape, and the size is very different. There are huge, and in addition, also colored lamps!

How to Install Solar Garden Lighting

These lights don't need any wires and no digging required! Solar-powered lamps have a soft, not strong, eye-pleasing light of a yellow or bluish tint. During the day, they accumulate the energy of the sun, and at the onset of darkness they glow. They cannot provide the same luminous power as electric ones and therefore should be used mostly as garden lighting or in an ensemble with electric lamps.

If you don't know how to install solar-powered garden lighting and think it's not easy, cast aside your fears - these lamps are extremely easy to install: they just stick into the ground, and just as easy to move them to different places. As a result, you have the opportunity to change the appearance of the garden at will. This is an ideal backlight for plants, they are perfect for decorating flower beds, groups of plants, shrubs and conifers.

Models of Solar Lamps for Garden Lighting

These lamps are the most decorative. Models of solar-powered lamps for garden lighting are presented in the widest range, there are even samples in the form of figurines, flowers, stones! This is not possible for ordinary electric lamps. There are also floating varieties! And it's a great and safe alternative to installing expensive water-based electric lights.

Do-it-yourself garden lighting technology

Do-it-yourself garden lighting of a garden cannot be planned arbitrarily, without taking into account electricians.

This is too serious a question. Wiring for garden lighting is hidden, it does not pass over the surface. This means that if you did not have a preliminary plan and laid it “approximately”, then later, when buildings, flower beds and rest areas appeared in the garden, it may be “out of place”, not where you need it. And if there is a breakdown, you will need to find its source. Without a plan, you can only guess where and what happened to you. As a result, you will have to dig up the entire site, along with the beauty created by such labor.

If you have drawn up a plan, but the wiring is of poor quality, your lamps will burn at most for two years, and then the scenario is the same: digging the site and organizing the lighting again. A garden electrical plan is needed in any case: if you lay the electrician yourself, it will be your guide, and if you call professional electricians, they will draw up their plan based on your sketch, which will then be stored with you.

The lighting technology in the garden is not so simple and it is advisable, of course, to use the services of professionals, because there are many nuances in the matter of competent lighting, especially if your garden has a large and complex terrain. If you have a lighting plan, for any problem it will be possible to solve it without digging the site, because according to the plan you will know, and in exact coordinates, where everything goes. To make your electrical plan, you just need to make a copy of your final "design project" of the garden and mark on it the location of all your future garden lamps and lighting elements, of course, only stationary, for which it will be necessary to lay electrical wiring. As a conditional icon, draw a red circle with a cross inside.

Laying fixed garden lighting

Laying stationary garden lighting is carried out at a depth of at least 0.8 m in a corrugated hose, which, in turn, is inserted into a metal or plastic pipe of the appropriate diameter. If in some places there will be flower beds, rock gardens, small reservoirs, then the laying depth in such places should be at least 1 m. Do not lay wiring directly under large reservoirs, you need to find another laying trajectory. And if on your site they lie close ground water, then the bottom of the trench into which the pipe is laid must be laid out additionally with brick or rubble.

In the same way, it is good to make sure in the locations of especially massive objects and in the case of ordinary soils.

All outdoor garden lights must be provided with switches and must be designed for outdoor use. The switches can also be located in the house, but they must be duplicated on the site, otherwise it will be inconvenient to adjust the lighting of the site: in order to turn on the next lamps, you will need to enter the house every time. Required on the site and sockets (also intended for outdoor use), it is enough to install them in several "strategic" places. This is convenient: for example, you somehow have to connect a lawn mower or trimmer.

street lighting suburban area is a popular way of landscaping, capable of simultaneously solving a number of diverse tasks. The article will introduce you to the features of functional, decorative and security lighting, point out the basic requirements for a lighting system. You will learn what is included in a lighting scheme and which lighting fixtures function best in outdoor conditions.

Comfort and practicality of evening lighting

Countryside lighting: types and features

In the evenings, after sunset, the yard and garden fade into twilight, and you can no longer distinguish anything at a distance of ten meters. Moving around your own site, you sometimes do not notice where the lawn ends and the beds begin. Get rid of the problems associated with the onset of darkness, will help competently organized lighting suburban area. Such outdoor lighting is implemented different ways; Depending on the purpose, the following types of lighting are distinguished:

1. Functional lighting

The purpose of organizing functional lighting is to ensure comfortable and safe movement around the site; To do this, highlight the following elements of the house and garden:

Gates and gates. They are conveniently illuminated with manual or automatic lamps located on lampposts. Lamps located at a considerable height (from 2 to 4 m) illuminate a large area, including part of the track. Before installation, make sure that the light does not disturb those inside the house.

Entrance area lighting

Front doors, entrance to the terrace or a veranda is equipped with wall lamps or street sconces. This solution will add elegance to any exterior; lamps fill the space with soft light. Thanks to this feature, they will be able to perform an additional, decorative function, participating in facade lighting.

Main garden path, driveway to garage, parking area. It is recommended to illuminate the main transit zones with lanterns on pillars 70-140 cm high. For them, durable gas-discharge light sources of various capacities are used. Such devices allow you to achieve uniform illumination of a large area; their power is selected depending on the width of the tracks and the frequency of installation of devices. Illumination of garden paths can be controlled manually or automatically, programmed by time, or by relay, triggered at dusk.

Safety at night

Buildings of the economic zone. If you plan on doing business after sunset, a switch-operated floodlight (one or more) is a practical solution. Such a spotlight will bring maximum benefit, if it is erected on a high support or on the roof of a building.

Garage. A convenient solution would be to use wall lamps that indicate the boundaries of entry. Such lighting devices (as a rule, these are low-power energy-saving lamps) are lit along with the rest of the system elements or are triggered by a motion sensor.

Alcove. The optimal solution for this garden structure is a garland or ceiling lamp located in the center of the ceiling. Plafond is better to choose matte; such material makes the light soft and does not distort colors. The switch is mounted in the gazebo itself or in the house (if the gazebo is wooden).

Lighting design of the gazebo

2. Decorative lighting

If you want to add expressiveness country house and the landscape, it is worth considering the organization of decorative lighting. It is controlled from a remote control located in a residential building, creates a romantic and sometimes fabulous atmosphere and is formally divided into two parts:

architectural lighting(facade of the house). General or spot lighting is used, and the sources are located on the building or next to it. The main (besides the visual effect) requirement is that the light should not cause inconvenience to the residents in the house.

garden lighting. Landscape lighting is ideal for creating accents. You can illuminate a flower bed, a pond and an ornamental shrub, envelop a garden sculpture, a bench or an alpine hill with light. Part of the problem is solved thanks to architectural lighting. But, in order to get a truly spectacular view, lanterns-columns and point (dug-in and decorative) light sources are placed on the territory. The programmable remote control allows you to configure the automatic activation of various system components.

Illumination of the facade of the house

Festive. The most common option is New Year's illumination. Perhaps you also decorate the garden for the birthday of your loved ones and other events.

3. Marking lighting

It is both part of decorative and functional lighting. Its role is to make the movement of people and cars safe. The following objects are marked with light:

Stair steps(both located in the garden and external staircases of a residential building). Models intended for outdoor use (seasonal or year-round) are selected. They are made from impact-resistant materials and are designed to last for many years.

The edges of the playground, the boundaries of the recreation area or tracks. For this role, universal lamps are selected that are resistant to temperature extremes, atmospheric moisture and dust.

Leisure area marking

4. Security (duty) lighting

Security lighting is part of the security system; it is designed to play a purely functional role - to report an illegal intrusion into the homestead territory. Security lighting of the garden plot has the following characteristics:

Consists of separately located gas-discharge light sources equipped with motion sensors (SNiP 23-05-95 recommends sodium and halogen lamps, incandescent lamps and LEDs are also acceptable).

Locations of lamps are chosen in such a way that the sensors block all approaches to the doors.

When installing check for dead zones where there is no sensor action. Lamps are installed to the left or right of the camera lens, which allows you to get more uniform lighting when the image is perceived by the camera.

The system is triggered(spotlights and lamps turn on) automatically, when a moving object is in the coverage area, and turns off (goes out) after a few minutes (the interval is configured at the request of the owners and can be from five to thirty minutes).

Emergency lighting

Security lighting can play the role of an escort and be used for occasional lighting of paths or outbuildings. This is convenient because the owners do not have to spend time turning the lights on and off or keep them on all the time.

On our website you can find contacts construction companies that offer landscaping and electrical services. You can directly communicate with representatives by visiting the exhibition of houses "Low-Rise Country".

Lighting a suburban area: requirements for the organization

When organizing lighting, it is necessary to adhere to the rules related to both the safety of use and the aesthetic qualities of the system. Conditions to be set include the following:

Wiring. Taking into account the installation rules will make it safe for the residents of the house. RCDs and circuit breakers are certainly added to the circuit; this will help protect the network from a short circuit and de-energize it (in automatic mode) if overloads occur.

Protection. All elements of the system intended for outdoor use must be protected from mechanical damage and dust. The supply cable is laid in a corrugation or plastic pipe; light sources, sockets and switches are used, additionally protected from moisture.

Video description

About the choice of street lighting in the following video:

Ease of control. The owners should have free access to all elements of the system and the possibility of local or emergency shutdown of any light source.

Saving. For savings best solution will use energy saving lamps: LED and solar powered. Installing such devices will save from 40 to 70% of electricity.

Site lighting scheme. It is compiled in advance and implemented before the start of landscape work. Otherwise, there is a great risk of spoiling the work of a landscape designer by laying underground cables through ready-made lawns and flower beds.

About the lighting scheme of a suburban area

If you do not want to be the owner of a chaotic, poorly functioning collection of lamps, the issue of lighting the backyard area should be taken systematically.

Lighting scheme for a summer cottage

To do this, it is not enough just to choose the lamps you like; Before the start of installation work, a detailed lighting plan is drawn up, including the following information:

Plan-scheme with markup the location of all light sources, the zone of necessary illumination and the routes of underground cables. In order not to have to spend time and money on rework, the locations of the fixtures are applied to the site plan, which shows all existing (and future) buildings and landscape elements. The places of many lighting fixtures can be outlined only after the project of the terrace, garden paths, gazebos is ready.

Connection points for lamps and connection of individual power lines. Depending on the ease of use, a place is chosen for the location of switches and waterproof sockets.

Specify the type, size and style of lighting fixtures taking into account climatic features (lighting for the garden should perform its functions all year round, with any frost and snow cover).

Video description

About street lighting Smart Home systems in the following video:

Developed circuit diagram connections. To ensure that the system does not cause trouble in the future and is as safe as possible, it is recommended to entrust its installation to a specialist.

What to choose for garden lighting

Manufacturers offer a huge number of lamps designed for outdoor use; they are classified according to the place of installation in the following way:

Street lights and bollards different heights . Such products attract attention with their elegance and practicality.

street pendant lamps, garlands and sconces. They decorate the gazebo, the entrance to the house, tree branches; there are original fiber optic varieties.

Wall lights . Available in classic and modern style, which allows you to choose such a lighting device for any facade.

Facade lighting. Such lanterns have a reflector that directs the flow of light in the direction you need (up or down).

street garland

Recessed luminaires. They are used for hidden lighting, mounted in holes in walls or roofs, where they are almost invisible.

Recessed luminaires. They are designed for installation in soil, track material or asphalt pavement. Path lighting in the country can be complemented by spectacular lighting of the porch, pool, fountain or flower beds.

Floodlights and luminaires with motion sensor. Such electrical appliances, equipped with powerful lamps, are often installed at ground level. With their help, you can get a bright, narrow beam of light that will effectively highlight a building or a beautiful tree.

Video description

About the visualization of the area lighting in the following video:

Decorative lamps. In addition to the usual traditional models, there are many bright solutions with non-standard design. Modern or high-tech options are popular, as well as in the form of sculptures that give the setting a sophisticated look.

Lamps operating outdoors all year round must have certain performance characteristics, do not be afraid of high humidity and temperature changes. To work in such rather harsh conditions, several types of lamps are suitable, which include:

Incandescent lamps. One of the most common lighting methods. Products have a low cost and a service life of several thousand hours; The disadvantage is low efficiency and heating, which imposes requirements on the heat resistance of the lamp material.

LED sources and strips. They give bright light, last a long time, and consume little electricity. Some varieties are equipped with brightness control.

Vintage lamps on a pole

Halogen and fluorescent. Compared to an incandescent lamp, they last much longer, have a high light output, and consume much less electricity, which ensures savings in operation. Fluorescent lamps have a limit on the number of on-off switches, therefore they are not recommended for use in a circuit with motion sensors.

Fiber optic systems. In fact, this is a cable that can be pulled in a place inaccessible to other lighting fixtures.

Sodium lamps. They are characterized by a pleasant warm spectrum and a long service life (about 30 thousand hours).

Solar lamps. Non-volatile devices accumulate during the day solar energy(they are also charged in cloudy weather), and with the onset of twilight they emit a soft diffused light. They work for 8-10 hours, are convenient for simple installation and unpretentious maintenance; if necessary, the arrangement of spot lighting is easy to change.

Solar Landscape Lights

Conclusion

Owners who decide to arrange a modern lighting system on their site should choose lamps based on their purpose. When improving the habitable space, the widespread use of built-in and fixed light sources is allowed. For landscape lighting new land plot it is advisable to choose sources on vertical supports (columns). This foresight will allow you to change the location of the lamps as the garden grows.

Light at night is a comfortable movement around the yard and garden. It creates a cozy and romantic atmosphere in the recreation areas, and competent lighting of the garden will turn it into a fairy-tale kingdom.

But light is primarily electricity, the consumption of which is limited by the capabilities of the transformer and your budget. That is, when planning the illumination of the site, first of all, it must be made functional and economical, and after that, pay attention to the decorative part.

Nobody argues about the aesthetic side of the issue: in this regard, the broadest the lineup luminaires for outdoor lighting with a waterproof housing. These are wall, floor and ceiling instances that require a power source to connect.

The important thing is where to place them and what type of lamps to choose in order to ensure the most convenient movement around the site and rational energy consumption. The shape and size of the yard can vary greatly, so it is customary to install the light based on individual needs. But there are places where it must be.

! Lighting the entrance to the yard (gate, gate) is your protection against injuries and the safety of the house from unauthorized intrusion. The intensity of illumination in this zone is chosen moderate.

! Shine in the porch area and front door, and so that shadows do not form on the steps, otherwise the descent from them may end in a fall (there is additional side lighting for this). Here you can set the average intensity of evening lighting and additional bright light for the moments when you need to open and close the door with a key.

Make visible outbuildings and approach to them. This technique will protect their integrity and the safety of the content. The intensity of the light must be sufficient to see what is happening around them.

It is customary to combine such local lighting with perimeter lighting, and if the latter is usually on constantly during the night, then the local light is turned on only as needed.

There are several ways to turn the light on and off: manually by installing a relay on the switch and using infrared sensors.

With manual lighting control, switches for all points are installed inside the house, and the control of the illumination of the porch, main path and gate is regulated at the entrance to the yard. It works like this:

• leaving the house in the evening, you turn on the lighting around the perimeter and illuminate the way to the exit;
• having closed the doors, before leaving the gate, you turn off the local light with one movement, and the perimeter will act as general lighting;
• when you return home, you turn on the light on the way to the house, and turn it off only when you enter the room.

Lighting of outbuildings is best controlled from the house and switches located inside them.

Motion sensors will help replace manual activation. There is no need to flip the switch: as soon as the door or gate opens and the movement around the yard begins, the infrared device will work and turn on the desired lamp. The sensitivity of the sensors can be adjusted, so fears about cats and dogs in the yard are in vain. With a well-adjusted adjustment, you can exclude them from the "list of incoming".

And for general illumination of the perimeter, the installation of an automatic relay is suitable. It is triggered when the daylight level decreases and turns on necessary lighting, and with the onset of morning extinguishes it.

The choice of the type of lamps for functional lighting of the yard and garden will be discussed later.

Light on the site is not only a necessity caused by security, but also a luxurious element of decorating the yard, garden and building facade.

Complexity decorative lighting lies in her design solution: compatibility of the style of the lamp and its location.

A garden bench can be illuminated with a garland of small lamps (by no means an LED tape - here it will look cold and uncomfortable), wrapped around a nearby deciduous tree and sometimes hanging from the branches. Leaves will mask light bulbs and mysteriously shimmer in the dark with flickering light.

Lanterns are hung on a tree by wrapping an electric cable in a thick winding around a branch or trunk. The other end of the cable is connected to the wiring (read later in the article).

Ground lamps-balls with matte shades look luxurious and modern. Their light will not hurt the eyes and favorably illuminate the surrounding area.

To illuminate the water surface, floating and underwater lamps are suitable, built into the bottom of the pond even at the stage of its laying. Water gratefully accepts the color change, so you can safely experiment with the evening coloring of the surface of the pond.

In my opinion, floating lamps most effectively illuminate the calm expanse of the pond.

Underwater lighting is especially good at illuminating a waterfall. It is directed from bottom to top along the line of falling water or behind a water screen.

The pool or bathing pond is illuminated so that its edges (outdoor lighting) and the bottom of the reservoir (underwater lights) are clearly visible.

You can entrust the installation of such lighting only to specialists involved in this type of activity.

A separate story is the lighting of plants. There is no point in singling out each. In the garden, several of the most spectacular trees, shrubs, tall grasses are selected and illuminated from below.

The easiest way is to illuminate the garden paths: ceiling lamps on the posts will look beautiful and natural in this role, they are made either from frosted glass, or they direct the light down so as not to blind the eyes. Patios and terraces are decorated with the same lamps.

Avoid holding electrical work solar-powered lamps will help in the garden - their light is not bright, but sufficient for decorative purposes and lasts until the morning.

Small lamps scattered around the garden look charming with low power, pulling out fragments of a mixborder from the paws of darkness, garden sculptures, stone placers.

LAMP TYPES

It goes without saying that only Street lights in a waterproof case. Any initiative in this regard is punishable by accidents.

Incandescent lamps have long passed into the category of endangered specimens, since their use is completely uneconomical. The best indicators of rationality for LED (light-emitting diode) lamps. Despite their high cost, they are the lowest energy-consuming and practically eternal (11-15 years of operation - such an indicator cannot but cause respect).

LED tapes are hidden under the lower part of benches, gazebos, road decking. When the light is turned on, the effect of soaring and weightlessness of the structure appears.

If LEDs seem expensive to you, opt for less economical, but optimally priced compact fluorescent lamps. Their place is where there are doors and a very good degree of illumination is required.

But halogen lamps have reflectors, which is appropriate only when illuminating the porch, steps, facade and tall objects - where you need to give a long light beam.

Avoid placing lamps with reflectors around the perimeter of the site, especially if their light can be directed into the eyes. You are not guarding a food warehouse, but decorating your beloved yard with light!

The convenience of solar-powered lamps has already been described above, but they have another indisputable advantage - you do not need complex verified calculations for the power supply location. You can improvise with their location as long as you like until you find the most best places accommodation. By the way, this is a great tool for learning the tricks of light decoration. Minus - fragility.

So, the supply of electricity on the site can be ground and underground. In the first case, it without fail hide in an insulated and impact-resistant box and lead to those places where walking is excluded.

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