Considering an outdoor landscape lighting installation for your home? When choosing your home lighting system designs and fixtures, there are several factors you should consider to ensure that you make the right choice amongst the broad range of options available in the market.

Here are a couple of things to look at when choosing your residential outdoor lighting system to get spectacular yet cost-efficient landscape lighting installation that will perfectly illuminate your outdoor space.

Important Factors To Take Into Account

Residential outdoor lighting is a long-term investment that enhances the elegance and safety of your home. However, your investment go to waste can easily go to waste if you do not take certain aspects into account/

Here are our top 5 factors we believe every homeowner must take into account before taking the big step.

Purpose

What you intend to use your lighting system for should dictate the type of landscape lighting you choose for your home. This will ensure that you get the most out of your lighting system and utilize it to the fullest extent. For example, simple pole lamps with low-wattage lights are ideal for illuminating garden paths while colored lights work best for decorative purposes.
Aesthetics

Outdoor lighting perfectly complements the beauty of your home’s exteriors and garden spaces, allowing you to leave an amazing first impression on your guests. The right lighting choices will enrich your surroundings at dusk or night while providing the right amount of illumination necessary for improving the visibility of the specific zones you are targeting on your landscape.
Here are some aesthetic considerations you should take into account.

Size of fixtures

The size of your lighting fixtures should be proportionate to the dimensions of your house or garden. While large fixtures are more noticeable, oversized fixtures will upset the proportionality of your overall property and degrade its appearance.

Design and colour of fixtures

The design and colours must be compatible with the style of your home and requirements. Contemporary designs would generally suit modern houses better while classic designs will go well with traditionally designed houses.

Light colors and intensity

The light color and intensity play a major role in setting the mood of the surroundings. Consider less bright and deep colored lights for relaxation and decoration. To create a lively ambience with high visibility, you can opt for bright colors instead.

You should also make sure that your light colour blends well with the environmental colours. In general, you may prefer yellow lights to bring out the richness of the surrounding colours on your landscape and white light for maximum brightness in working spaces.

Cost efficiency and durability

LED lights offer higher cost-efficiency in the long run compared to other types of outdoor lightings. Moreover, using low-wattage lamps will reduce energy consumption. While solar lights are ideal for avoiding electric consumption altogether, they come with high one-time costs.

Another great way of lowering the power consumption of your landscape lighting system is utilizing special fixtures that concentrate light in a particular direction, allowing you to illuminate only the areas you need with low-wattage lamps.

When it comes to durability, high-quality LED lights and enclosed metal fixtures are generally more durable and should be your first choice if you are looking for long-lasting solutions. In general, it may be ideal to go for LED lamps that have only the required intensity depending on their intended purpose and use fixtures that protect the light against environmental forces.

Technology

Technology is a major consideration in selecting lighting in modern times. From Bluetooth-controlled colour-changing lights and smart timer lights to home assistant-controlled lighting, it is very easy to automate your lighting system by integrating smart technology to get full control at your fingertips.

Safety

Outdoor landscape lighting not only adds to the visuals of your home but also enhances security. It is important to lighten the dark regions or paths in the exterior of your house to deter criminal activity while reducing the risks of accidents caused by poor illumination.

You may also choose bright lights with higher wattage and fixtures that spread light over a larger area, allowing you to effectively illuminate all your dark exterior regions.

Challenges to expect when choosing residential outdoor lighting systems

While the abovementioned factors go a long way in helping you decide the best lighting system, you still might face a few challenges along the way, including the following:
Making a compromise

Several factors come into play when choosing the right lighting system, especially when you happen to have conflicting choices and a hard time setting your priorities. You will not only need to strike the perfect balance between cost, durability, practicality and use, but you will also need to keep lighting system design parameters in mind.

Sourcing

Finding and buying the right lights can be difficult if the lighting fixtures you need are not available locally and you have no means of sourcing them. This setback may cause you to make a compromise by looking for other alternatives or even require a complete lighting system redesign, bringing you back to square one.

Plan conflicts

There may be confusion and plan mismatches while personally selecting the lights and design. As a result, your landscape lighting installation process will be more complex, costlier and time-consuming.

Why you should choose a professional to make the entire process easier.

From planning and designing to sourcing fixtures and more, a comprehensive outdoor lighting service provider such as Waterworks Irrigation will handle all stages of your landscape lighting installations.

Our experienced professionals will conduct a meeting with you to discuss customized lighting solutions that align with your lighting goals. Moreover, all our installations come with a warranty and if you require, we will perform regular maintenance to keep your residential outdoor lighting system operating at peak performance for prices that don’t break the bank.

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Controlling your sprinklers remotely seemed farfetched years ago, but thanks to smart home technology, it is possible with a few taps on your smartphone. Wi-Fi irrigation timers allow you to manage and control your home sprinkler system from wherever you are, allowing you to automate the watering of your landscape.

You may be wondering if investing in a Wi-Fi irrigation timer or giving your old sprinkler controller an upgrade is worth it. In short, absolutely! However, there are a few factors you should take into consideration before making the big step to ensure that you get the most value out of your investment. 

 

Why You Need Wi-Fi Irrigation Timers 

Apart from going digital, a bunch of benefits come with putting power in the palm of your hands by installing Wi-Fi Irrigation timers. 

Some of these benefits include the following:

Automate your landscape irrigation process.

Gone are the days you had to take a quick trip to your garden to start your sprinkler system. By automating your landscape irrigation process using a Wi-Fi-powered irrigation timer, you can set the time you want your sprinkler system to turn on and off automatically. As a result, your landscape will always get the hydration it needs without you having to worry about forgetting to water it.

Save water and cut down on your electric bills

Studies show that homeowners with WiFi sprinkler controllers save up to 30% of water which would have been wasted from overwatering. Sprinkler control systems allow you to control the volume of water you need to water your plants and greenery. By installing them, you can give your landscape just the right amount of hydration it needs without wasting water. As a result, you will not only save water but also lower your utility bills in the long run.

Choose the parts of your landscape you want to water

Most landscapes do not consist of just lawns. You may have different types of plants that require different amounts of hydration to thrive. Thanks to Wi-Fi irrigation timers, you can now choose how much you want your sprinkler to water certain areas of your landscape by creating irrigation zones. As a result, you do not have to worry about overwatering or underwatering your plants.

Detect problems in your irrigation system lines.

Wifi irrigation timers constantly monitor your sprinkler system’s water flow. Whenever there is an irregularity in the way water normally flows so you can prevent problems before they happen. Moreover, if your pipe is leaking or broken or when there is any damage to your irrigation system, your WI-FI sprinkler controller will notify you immediately, allowing you to fix it and prevent further damage.

Control your system from wherever you are.

One of the biggest advantages of having WiFi irrigation timers is the convenience that comes with it. You can easily control your system remotely from wherever you are, allowing you to maintain the healthy greenery of your landscape from work, a different city or even a family trip overseas using your smartphone.

 

Choosing The Right Wi-Fi Irrigation Timer For Your Landscape 

With a lot of wifi irrigation timers in the market, finding the right one can be overwhelming. To narrow it down for you, here are a few factors you should consider to help you choose the best Wi-Fi irrigation timer for your needs.

How many zones does it support?

A zone is a particular area on your landscape with specific water needs of your plants. Typically, you can create zones based on the slope, type of vegetation, amount of sunlight the particular area receives and more.  It is thus best to choose a sprinkler that supports the adequate number of zones your landscape has.

Is it compatible with your sprinkler system?

Whether you need a new sprinkler control system built from the ground up or want to upgrade to a Wi-Fi Irrigation timer, you need to ensure that the one you choose is compatible with your irrigation system.

Does it support sensors?

Most smart irrigation sensors rely on weather data to determine the amount of water your plants need. However, weather data alone is not always accurate. Some sprinklers measure the moisture content of your yard and automatically make adjustments as needed while others do not. As a result, you should base your choice on what you need and your budget.

 

Waterworks Tip:

We usually recommend Wi-Fi irrigation timers from Rain Bird as they offer a broad range of products with diverse features, making it easier for you to choose the best one that works for you.

 

Why You Should Get Professionals To Do The Installation 

Getting the best Wi-Fi sprinkler system is the easy part, but installing it the right way requires a high level of skill, precision and professionalism.

Waterworks Irrigation Wi-Fi irrigation timer installation specialists will work closely with you in choosing the best Wi-Fi sprinkler controller for your landscape before carrying out the installation process.

So whether you need a new irrigation Wi-Fi timer installation or an upgrade to your sprinkler control system, we are here for you. 

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