Landscape Design and Construction
By Cruz R. Pérez
omeowners' love of outdoor living shows no signs of
slowing, according to the American Society of Landscape
Architects (ASLA). ASLA's 2012 Residential Landscape
Architecture Trends survey ranked landscape and outdoor
lighting as one of the top five trends for outdoor living
features.
In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, professional landscape
lighting serves further purposes. It provides home security, allows for
safe passage throughout a property, and enables homeowners to extend
their amount of time spent outdoors.
Prior to beginning a landscape installation, it is important to consider voltage and lamp type during the design process.
H
Low-voltage landscape lighting
Safety should be top of mind for lighting professionals. Underwriters Laboratories recommends the maximum safe voltage to which individuals are subjected to not exceed 15 volts. Ideal for landscape
lighting, 12-volt systems are less expensive to operate than 120-volt
systems and have lower wattage lamps available that do not require a
conduit.
The wide variety of lamps and fixtures available in 12 volts allows
the amount, intensity and pattern of light to be controlled as desired.
Being small in size, the fixtures are less obtrusive than 120-volt systems,
10 Landscape and Irrigation November/December 2013
and considering the lower voltage involved, a 12-volt lamp filament
can be wound much more closely together than a 120-volt filament.
This creates a small point from which light is produced, which is characterized by focused sharp shadow lines when mounted inside a clear
bulb. In addition, the color balance in 12-volt light is truer to the color
of sunlight than most 120-volt lamps.
After selecting a voltage system, the second step is to consider the
lamp type that will best complement the project.
Add light, not energy
Since 2002, average electricity rates in the U.S. have risen by more
than 25 percent, and the demand for eco- and budget-friendly solutions has been on the rise. Experts predict that high-efficiency lightemitting diodes (LEDs) will rapidly replace traditional incandescent
sources, providing equal light output while using 80-90 percent less
energy.
An LED is a semiconductor that converts electricity into light. It is
a solid-state device that does not contain a breakable filament. Each
LED diode is small — typically one-quarter inch or less in diameter
— and multiple LEDs are arrayed in patterns to create the desired
amount of light output. These systems are naturally best at providing
light in a focused direction, so advanced optics are often combined
with the LED arrays to create carefully controlled, glare-free lighting
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All photos provided by Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting
Save Money, Conserve Energy
with LED Landscape Lighting
