From day to night – lighting done right

Posted on April 20, 2011 by 33social

One of the things we offer is a free nighttime demonstration so that you actually get to see what a particular lighting design will look like for your home and property – prior to an installation.  That eliminates all of the guesswork and surprises – and you will know exactly how much you will have to invest to achieve that desired lighting effect.

Most of our typical lighting installations in Colorado range in price between $3,500 and $6,500. Not surprisingly, most homeowners have no idea how many lights they may need or want – or what their investment range might be until we do the evening lighting demonstration.  And that’s perfectly OK because we do not want you to purchase a lighting system sight unseen.

Additionally, we do our nighttime demonstration for these other reasons:

  • It is your house, not our’s – and you know best how you would like to have your house and property illuminated in the evening.
  • Exact placement of the fixtures can be determined in order to safely light steps and other hazards, and to effectively light architectural features.
  • We can show you several different lighting options that you may not have considered previously.
  • The evening lighting demonstration is an event that your entire family can participate in and provide input to the lighting design.

Here is what you will see.

 

Outdoor lighting Colorado before and after
Outdoor lighting Colorado before and after

Filed under: Free outdoor lighting demonstration, Garden Lighting, Home-Community Security/Safety, Residential Lighting, Security/Safety | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

See Our Lights at the Colorado Garden and Home Show

Posted on February 13, 2011 by outdoorlightingofcolorado
OLP’s Exhibit Showcasing the Latest in LEDs

The 52nd Annual Colorado Garden and Home Show started yesterday, and Outdoor Lighting Perspectives is proud to be making its 12th appearance in this important show.  Our exhibit is centrally located in the Colorado Convention Center Exhibit Hall in booth # 1442.

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives Showcases the Latest in Internet-Based Lighting Control Automation(TM)

Several new products and services are being launched at this show including new internet-based Lighting Control Automation™, new LED products and LED retrofits, Do-It-Yourself Kits, and Lighting Energy Audits/Retrofits for both the residential and commercial markets. We can show you how to have beautiful outdoor and indoor lighting, while decreasing your carbon footprint and your monthly electric bills.

Residential and Commercial Lighting Products on Display at the Colorado Garden and Home Show

The show continues for eight more days – through Sunday, February 20th. With the 60-degree weather expected to last through much of this week, now is the time to start planning your outdoor projects for the upcoming year. So enjoy the show and we look forward to seeing you at the Outdoor Lighting Perspectives exhibit.

Filed under: Commercial Lighting, Community Events, Do-It-Yourself Lighting, Garden Lighting, Green Energy, Home-Community Security/Safety, Installation Techniques, LEDs, Residential Lighting | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Colorado Garden and Home Show Is Less Than a Month Away

Posted on January 18, 2011 by outdoorlightingofcolorado

The 52nd annual Colorado Garden and Home Show is less than a month away. So plan on visiting with Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Colorado to see the latest in outdoor landscape/architectural lighting, lighting control automation for energy savings and convenience, garden lighting, LED lighting fixtures, and do-it-yourself high-quality, customized lighting packages for the hands-on homeowner.

Our Updated Home and Garden Show Exhibit

February 12 – 20, 2011

Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO
Booth #1442

The Colorado Garden and Home Show with over 400,000 square feet of exhibit space, 45,000 square feet of gardens, over 600 exhibitors from 25 states and Canada, and 60,000 attendees during the nine-day show is the largest home and garden show between the Mississippi River and the west coast.

Stay tuned for more information about the show and our exhibit and products.  We hope to see you there!

Filed under: Community Events, Design, Do-It-Yourself Lighting, Green Energy, LEDs, Lighting Control Automation, Residential Lighting | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

What Is the Best Lighting Design for Outdoor Steps?

Posted on January 11, 2011 by outdoorlightingofcolorado

     The answer to that and just about any other lighting design question is that it just depends. While that answer may not be satisfying to most homeowners, it’s the best answer that we can provide until we’ve fully evaluated the site and have fully understood how the homeowner intends to use the space after dark.

Typical Recessed Step Light

     Most homeowners immediately think that the commonly used step lights shown at left are the easiest and best way to illuminate the stairs leading to their deck or raised patio. With any good lighting design, however, the final design should be based on the bulb itself and resulting lighting effect. In other words, the fixture selection and type should actually come last in the design process.
     These lighting fixtures are relatively easy to install on a wood or Trex deck – either during or after construction. However, if the lights need to be installed in poured concrete steps, then a lot of pre-planning needs to be done before the new steps go in.
     During the last twelve years we have been in business, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Colorado has only installed a handful of recessed step lights. The primary reason for that is because there is a much better way to proper illuminate the steps for after-dark safety – and that design effect is commonly called downlighting or sconce lighting.

Entrance to Property Requiring Proper Lighting for Steps

     We recently completed a lighting installation at a home built in the 1920s near the Governors Mansion in Denver. The property is accessed from the public sidewalk through a large wrought iron gate. To reach the upper terrace and front entrance to the home, you can access the steps immediately to the left or right side of the gate. With an existing and historical home with stone and concrete work quickly approaching one-hundred years old, the last thing you would want to even consider would be recessed step lighting. The good news is that installing these  copper BB08 sconce lights is much easier and they provide much better lighting as well. A close up of the completed installation is shown below.

Close Up of Completed Sconce Light Installation

     That being said, there have been a few occasions where recessed step lighting was our only option for providing any lighting to steps. In those situations, the steps from side to side were over ten feet wide, with no handrails or any other possible location to mount any sconce lights. In that situation, we made sure that we installed at least three step lights on each riser so that the steps could be safely illuminated. 

     The last photo shows the lighting effect of these copper BB08 sconce lights (made in the USA at our factory in Nashville) on a deck with many steps among the pines.

Deck Lighting and Step Lighting Among the Pines

Filed under: Design, Home-Community Security/Safety, Installation Techniques, Residential Lighting, Security/Safety | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

COME SEE US AT THE COLORADO FALL HOME SHOW

Posted on September 10, 2010 by outdoorlightingofcolorado

Come see us at the Colorado Fall Home Show which is being held September 10th thru the 12th at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. The hours on Friday and Saturday are from 10 a.m. thru 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. We’re located in booth #514.

We’ll be exhibiting the latest in LED landscape lighting products as well as a new and expanded product line and services for holiday lighting. So come on by and say hello.

Filed under: Community Events, Green Energy, Holiday Lighting, LEDs | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

Celebrate Earth Day Today!

Posted on April 22, 2010 by outdoorlightingofcolorado

Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day today – April 22, 2010. I’m actually old enough to remember the first Earth Day when I was a sophomore at Penn State. Earth Day has certainly come a long way since then. Fortunately more and more people worldwide are beginning to live their lives and run their businesses as though Earth Day were every day of the year!

At Outdoor Lighting Perspectives (OLP) of Colorado, we certainly emphasize the use of energy efficient lighting products such as low voltage quartz halogen, low voltage LED, line voltage Ceramic Metal Halide, line voltage induction fluorescent, and Lighting Control Automation™ for our residential and/or commercial customers. For interior lighting, Compact Fluorescents (CFLs) and LEDs are helping to greatly reduce homeowners’ energy usage as well.

Sometimes, even the little things add up. In OLP’s business operations we recycle copper wiring and the copper cores of low voltage transformers, stainless steel transformers, office papercardboard, and aluminum cans. For service calls and installations, we route and schedule our crews/vans to minimize travel time and mileage.  To improve fuel economy, we off-load unnecessary inventory/tools and ladders on roof racks before heading off to that day’s job tickets.

To take part in Earth Day festivities being held this week in Colorado, please take a look and participate in the events shown below:

EARTH DAY 40TH ANNIVERSARY – NREL Visitors Center, Golden; April 19 – 23; free events during the week; www.nrel.gov

EARTH DAY ON EAST MOUNTAIN – 240 – 262 E. Mountain Avenue, Old Town Fort Collins; April 22. Block Party – celebrate Earth Day with live music/food, demos and presentations about growth and sustainability. www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=105316966166440&ref=ts

DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS – 1007 York St., Denver; April 22; FREE DAY for Colorado residents; www.botanicgardens.org

EARTH DAY AT RED ROCKS – Saturday, April 24; Red Rocks Amphitheater; Morrison. Eco-friendly events – musical performance by Aspen Meadow, wolves from W.O.L.F. Sanctuary, clean up event at the park and environmental displays. www.windstarcoloradoconnection.org

PIKES PEAK EARTH DAY – Saturday April 24; Cornerstone Arts Center – Colorado College, Colorado Springs. Theme – 40 Years of Earth Day – ReVision, RePurpose, ReNew. www.Pikespeakearthday.org

EARTH FEST 2010 – Sunday, April 25; downtown Boulder – Central Park, Bandshell and Farmers Market. Eco activities/events – renewable energy demos, 5th Annual Dirt Day Advanced Challenge/EXPO, live music and organice food. www.earthfestboulder.net

So whether you celebrate at one of these events or by doing something for Mother Earth at home, have a good time and remember that Earth Day should be every day of the year!

Filed under: Bulb Technology, Ceramic Metal Halide, Commercial Lighting, Community Events, Green Energy, LEDs, Lighting Control Automation, Residential Lighting | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Sleeves Make Landscape Lighting a Lot Easier

Posted on April 12, 2010 by outdoorlightingofcolorado

Examples of 1.5-, 2.0-, 4-inch diameter sleeves

Many homeowners this time of year are contemplating or even starting home improvement and landscaping projects, including new walkways, patios or driveways. With any type of hardscaping project, please make sure that sleeves are installed beneath any new concrete or brick pavers so that irrigation pipes/control wiring, lighting wiring, and speaker/sound system wiring can be installed at any time after the new hardscaping surfaces have been completed. Above you can see examples of the typical sleeve diameters used for most residential installations.

So what are sleeves exactly? They are heavy-duty polyvinyl chloride (PVC) conduits through which sprinkler irrigation and other wiring can be easily run whenever that phase of the project is ready to begin. Typically, hardscaping contractors will indicate the positioning of the sleeve(s) by a “vee”-shaped notch in the edge of a sidewalk or driveway for example. This saves a lot of work searching for sleeves as well as a lot of unnecessary disruption to the surrounding landscaping.

Since sleeves are relatively inexpensive compared to the increased time and labor cost of boring under a wide driveway, for example, my recommendation is to always install more sleeves than you think you’ll ever need. The other rule of thumb is not to use the same sleeve for both electrical wiring and irrigation pipes, for obvious reasons.

In fact today our crew was doing a lighting installation at a community entrance where the sleeve under the street has become a major headache. The original landscaper installed only one 4-inch diameter sleeve under the street – and then proceeded to run both the 2.5-inch irrigation pipe and all of the irrigation control wires through that same sleeve. Of course, the water and the electrical wiring should have been in separate sleeves. If that had been the case, our low voltage wiring could have easily been pulled through the wiring sleeve. As it is now, we’ll have to investigate other options including directional boring at $18 to $20/foot.

Community developers should also plan on providing line voltage power either behind entrance monuments or nearby to facilitate the installation of irrigation controllers, outdoor landscape lighting systems, and holiday lighting.

So the next time you’re planning an outdoor project, please do not forget the sleeves!

Filed under: Commercial Lighting, Installation Techniques, Residential Lighting | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

My Landscaper Did the Wiring

Posted on March 12, 2010 by outdoorlightingofcolorado

Twice during the last week I heard the five most dreaded words that a lighting contractor can hear from a homeowner – my landscaper did the wiring. They invariably follow that statement by saying that he did a really great job with the landscaping, but that he apparently wasn’t an electrician.

At one homeowner’s house, the electrician tapped into an existing circuit inside the house to power two 1120W low voltage transformers on a 15-amp breaker. Not only was the 120V circuit overloaded, but the landscaper had overloaded each of the transformers as well. The homeowner mentioned that when the lights came on at night, the interior switches and outlets inside the house would become very hot to the touch. That’s certainly not what you want to hear.

At another customer’s house where we’re about to install a new lighting system in the back yard, we have yet another landscaper electrical issue to resolve before the new lighting system gets installed. In this instance, the landscaper tied into an interior circuit to add an exterior outlet (to power some existing landscape lights), as well as to power two massive pumps for the water feature. This is also a no-no with the National Electrical Code.

Over the years, we’ve also seen serious mistakes by landscapers on the low voltage side. Loose connections result can result in higher amperage loads that can cause arcing and fires. And, we’ve often seen the charred remains of wiring where instead of cutting the wiring to the proper length, the landscapers will just coil it up in the ground or in the mulch. That of course results in ever increasing amp loads in the coil causing a meltdown.

The basis of every good low voltage lighting system first relies on the quality design and installation of the line voltage circuit that powers it. That is why we always rely on the expertise and experience of qualifed master electricians to ensure that any line voltage work is done to code – for not only the safety of our customers and their homes but for the reliability of our lighting systems as well.

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No Street Lights? We Can Help

Posted on March 9, 2010 by outdoorlightingofcolorado

OLP Exhibit at HBA Home & Garden Show

We just finished a three-day HBA Home and Garden Show in Colorado Springs last weekend. The low voltage LED landscape lighting fixtures were a big hit at the show. Many visitors to our exhibit commented that the fixtures were beautifully crafted and were so bright and white that they could not possibly be LEDs!

There seemed to be a lot more interest at this year’s show due to the financial difficulties being experienced by the city of Colorado Springs, not unlike many state and municipal governments nationwide. You might wonder what budgetary cutbacks have to do with landscape and architectural lighting, but the fact of the matter is that the city has literally turned off one-third to one-half of the streetlights throughout the area.

That has effectively created vast expanses of “dark and scary” areas throughout the metro area. Some of our existing customers have lighting to deter vandalism and others have lighting so that they can see the neighborhood bear or mountain lion before letting their dog out after dark.

The good news is that our energy efficient lighting systems can provide lighting for safety and security to those homeowners who no longer have the use of their neighborhood streetlight.

Filed under: Community Events, Green Energy, Home-Community Security/Safety, LEDs, Residential Lighting, Security/Safety | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

2010 HBA Home and Garden Show

Posted on March 4, 2010 by outdoorlightingofcolorado

Come visit us at the 2010 HBA Home & Garden Show – March 5th through the 7th at the Phil Long Expo Center – 1515 Auto Mall Loop in Colorado Springs. We’re located in Booth #602.

The show hours on Friday are from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

We’ll have residential and commercial fixtures on display, as well as our new and innovative low voltage LED landscaping lights that won a Hot Products award from 9News at the Colorado Garden and Home Show.

We look forward to seeing you at the show!

Filed under: Ceramic Metal Halide, Commercial Lighting, Community Events, Green Energy, Home-Community Security/Safety, LEDs, Residential Lighting | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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