Site lighting: design and construction of effective and colorful garden lighting (125 photos)

Outdoor lighting is an important component of the landscaping of a summer cottage. It not only warns uninvited guests, but also facilitates the movement and maintenance of the garden, vegetable garden, greenhouses and other extensions. Artificial light in a new way sets off the natural beauty, allowing you to enjoy not only clean air, but also a wonderful view of your own farm until late at night.

Summary of the article:

Technical features of outdoor lighting

Both a simple lamp fixed at the gate and a specially designed landscape lighting project will require, first of all, compliance with electrical standards - lighting fixtures must withstand external influences, and the power supply system must be correctly isolated and grounded.

It is also important to ensure the functionality of the system - to think through the control modes and the power supply system.

For outdoor lighting of a summer cottage, you need to use special lighting devices with mains or battery power. The power cable is laid in trenches at a depth of 30-50 cm with a special protective coating for the wires.

Installation of the system should be carried out while maintaining safety standards, special boxes are used for connections, insulated and protected from the effects of temperature and moisture. Grounding required.

Creating a convenient control of on and off modes, taking into account the range of devices on the modern market, is not difficult. It can be either network panels or remote controls.

It is also possible to install machines that will control the lighting autonomously, in combination with a common security system, or as part of a Smart Home.

Before you make an independent installation or repair of electrical equipment, you need to familiarize yourself with the instructions and safety standards for street lighting.

Types of Outdoor Lighting

Any light source installed in a private area performs the functions of protection, access and decoration. When developing a common project, various modes and functions are superimposed on each other, but the following conditional separation helps to develop the best option, combining the requirements of functionality with a common architectural and landscape style. This also takes into account the size and location of the site, residential, office and decorative buildings.

According to their purpose, lighting systems are divided into the following groups:

Security lighting indicates the presence of people. To do this, it is advisable to use an autonomous power supply for the luminaires equipped with a time relay or photocells to automatically turn on when dark.

Security points are located around the perimeter of the site, at doors and gates, and in areas that are under video surveillance. In such systems, an audible alarm can be mounted. Another scarecrow can be infrared sensors, which turn on the light when approaching living things.

A functional lighting system provides access to all areas of the site in the dark. Lamps are usually installed along the edges of paths, stairs, bridges. They are part of landscape lighting, and in addition to ensuring safe movement, they also have a decorative function.

Such a system should be as durable and easy to operate as possible during all seasons.On it you can test various methods of energy saving - solar panels, touch sensors, photocells, etc.

Decorative lighting performs the function of decorating and transforming the site in the dark. It is akin to architectural and artistic lighting, only in this case lawns, trees, arbors, artificial ponds and alpine hills become the object of decor. If desired, you can make and highlight the facade of the country house.

A kind of such lighting can be considered the festive decoration of the site and the country house in the form of neon garlands, which can be confined to traditional dates, or simply become a hobby and entertainment during a summer vacation.

All three types of lighting are combined in a single project, complementing each other functionally, and creating a general light picture of the object.

Rules for the lighting of a summer cottage

When designing and implementing a lighting project, several universal factors must be taken into account.

It is necessary in every possible way to avoid enumeration in the quantity and power of lighting devices. Calculations and schemes are best done at a minimum. After all, there is always the opportunity to add new elements.

The exact location of the lighting device, especially in cases where the angle of illumination is static, is best determined during experiments in a specific area, with specific lighting devices. Only in this way can the decorative and functional lighting effect be adjusted.

The site should look well-groomed and harmonious also in the daytime. The style and decoration of lighting devices in the bright period of the day are striking, therefore they must be selected in harmony of color and form. It is possible to apply also masking of lighting devices.

Lighting nearby houses and plots can cause dissonance, spoil the decoration by the intersection of light rays. Lighting of neighbors should be considered, and considering options for lighting your site, it is better to agree in advance with neighbors on issues of functionality and aesthetics.

Outdoor lighting should not create discomfort indoors. Zoning of the site will help to avoid both excessiveness and lack of lighting.

The presence or absence of street lighting adjacent to the suburban area or if it is still in the project stage should also be taken into account when calculating and marking lighting points.

Types of fixtures

For night decoration of areas, upper or lower illumination is used. At the top illumination, for example by means of column lamps or searchlights, objects should be at a certain distance.

With lower backlighting, which is increasingly used not only for design, but also for lighting paths, light sources are located in the vicinity of lighting objects.

The photo with a general view of the plots shows examples of lighting with illumination at different levels.

Classic park lamps and spotlights, as well as ground lamps and high-tech posts, allow you to realize any fantasies. The range of festive lighting, sculptural and multi-colored lamps for landscape design is wide enough.

When choosing a project design and lighting, in addition to individual preferences, you need to be guided by the quality parameters of goods and services.