A combination of path and spread lights, accent and in-ground landscape lighting
Deck and patio lights, path and spread lights are decorative, but the point of accent and in-ground landscape lighting is the light. You shouldn’t really notice the fixtures at all, just the effect they create.
Tree lit with Kichler Landscape Lighting
Have you seen the lighting at Disney World at night? Look at how they do it.
The two lights that are lighting the tree
A combination of accent lights on stakes and in-ground or well lights are all perfectly positioned. Have you tried to get the look yourself and had less success? It could just be your beam spread.
Even the cool new Variable Lumen Output (VLO) landscape lights from Kichler that allow you to change how bright they are come in Spots, Floods, and Wide Floods. You have to pick the degree of beam spread.
Beam Spreads… Carry Light Where It’s Needed
Beam Spreads… Carry Light Where It’s Needed
Kichler Design Pro LED Lights are available in a variety of beam spreads that allow your lighting professional to tailor the light to the application – creating the perfect end effect.
10° Beam Spread
10° Beam Spread
Tall, thin beam of light ideal for grazing trees and column features.
35° Beam Spread
35° Beam Spread
Medium height and width beam of light suited for general accent lighting.
60° Beam Spread
60° Beam Spread
Short and wide beam of light useful for broad trees and wide structures.
120° Beam Spread
120° Beam Spread
Ideal for wall washing, grazing, and short yet wide objects.
Kichler: The Premium Choice in Landscape Lighting Catalog
New LED landscape lighting may have the lamps built right into the fixtures. Kichler’s Design Pro Series Accent lights comes in 10° Spot, 35° Flood, and 60° Wide Flood beam spreads.
Beam Spread
The tall, thin beam of light from a 10° Beam Spread is ideal for grazing these cypress
It doesn’t seem like it would make so much difference, but it does. See how the narrow beam spread makes these tall narrow trees a real feature as you drive up to this home?
You see the effect of the light, but not the source of the light
A wider beam spread lights up this tree.
Kichler Accent Landscape Light with Wide Beam Spread
And an even wider flood at just the right distance makes these trees beautiful at night.
Beam Expander lenses have to match the lens on your fixture. They work kinda like the lenses in your glasses. They widen the light coming out of the fixture, evenly distributing it over a wider area.
Other lenses can change the width or direction of the lens. Lenses don’t have to be expensive, but they do have to fit.
Some lights have these controls as part of the fixtures.
You can add hoods, cowls and shrouds to further control the light, if they don’t come as part of the fixtures.
They don’t have to cost much, but they do have to fit.
Landscape accent lights graze the stone wall. The shroud keeps any backwash from the light out of our eyes.
You should see the effects of the light, reflected. You should never be looking directly into a bulb. You never want to bright light anyone.
Kichler landscape lights remain invisible, just the landscaping is highlighted with the shadow of the plantings on the wall.Kichler landscape lights are behind the plants so that the silhouette is featured in contrast.
MR11 and MR16 Lamps
A lot of landscape lighting, both accent and in-ground, uses MR11 and MR16 lamps. You don’t have to change your lights to change the effect of the lights.
Bipin MR11 and MR16 lamps are available in 15° Spots, 25° Wide Spots, 40° Floods, and 60° Wide Floods. Specialty lamps are available in an even wider variety of beam angles.
Conclusion
If you are still planning your landscape lighting, be sure to consider your beam spread.
If you already have landscape lighting, you may be able to get the look you want by just changing your lamps or adding cowls.
Have you ever been to the Rainforest Café restaurants? They have these amazing star ceilings. I’ve seen beautiful star ceilings in other restaurants, too. They are in quite a few design books. When my son was little, I put little glow-in-the-dark stickers on his ceiling. They are in a lot of kid’s books, too. “’The…
Monorail lighting is a great choice for many homes. If you are looking for a simple monorail layout, a monorail kit might work for you. These kits have all of the hardware you need for most basic layouts and include pendants or fixtures. Tech Lighting now has these great new kits! Tech Lighting Onyx Complete…
November 2014 Redbook has a great article in the Design School series. Make any room feel bigger Tiny space? No problem. Listen to this wisdom and you’ll swear that someone snuck in and added some serious square footage to your home. Opt for a dark accent wall-it will make that area recede and the room…
Any do-it-yourselfer can install 12 volt landscape lighting. What makes it look professional is a great lighting plan. The first step to create a landscape lighting plan is to draw a sketch or map of your yard. What to Light Draw in any of these features you want to light onto your sketch. Pathways Steps…
Here is a Landscape Lighting Plan provided by WAC Lighting. You can see that it has longer runs. With LED, you don’t have to worry about voltage drop. Here are the instructions WAC Lighting provides. Step 1: Design Select the focal points in the yard – these will be the main viewing objects on the…
Is your kitchen bright enough? “Many older kitchens aren’t bright enough after the sun goes down. The most pleasant kitchen lighting comes from several sources. Lighting designers classify kitchen lighting as either task lighting, general – or ambient lighting – lighting, or accent lighting. That doesn’t mean you need three different types of fixtures; many…
