Lighting for Patios and Outdoor Living, How to Light a Patio People Want to Stay On|How to Light a Patio|Outdoor Living Lighting Done Properly: A Homeowner's Guide

The back of the house has a different job

Front yard lighting is seen from outside. Out back the light is around you, not in front of you. That flips most of the design rules. Nobody cares how the patio reads from the road. The only test is whether the space gets used.All of which is a long way of saying the back yard is its own project. A roofline system does a great deal for the front of a house and almost nothing for where you sit. Two spaces, two separate sets of requirements to satisfy.

Glare ruins more patios than darkness does

The fastest way to make a patio feel wrong is one light source pointed at eye level. A bare bulb at eye height makes everything behind it disappear, so the yard turns into a black wall. Aim for illumination without a visible bulb.

Bistro and string lighting

The reason bistro and string lighting works so well outdoors is that they make a boundary. A patio without them has no top to it. Add a canopy of light and the space closes in. Warm and dim is what you want, since bright overhead light is the wrong mood entirely.None of this costs much more than doing it badly, because the difference is mostly placement and color rather than the number of fixtures on the invoice.

Layers, roughly in order

A patio usually needs three kinds of light. Something overhead to define the space. Something low so nobody trips on the way to the door. And a little accent on a tree or a wall. Put them on different circuits, since you want a bright option and a quiet one.

The business version

A restaurant patio is doing the https://cruziccf265.publishlane.com/posts/permanent-outdoor-lighting-systems-what-it-is-where-it-goes-and-why-people-like-it-thinking-about-permanent-outdoor-lighting-here-is-how-it-works same job for money. Warm overhead light is the difference between seating outside and not. The same rules apply, just with a stronger reason to get it right.

Lighting stretches the season

Without light, the back yard has a curfew. A lit one keeps working through the shoulder months and into the evening year round. Mild evenings happen most of the year here, and the dark is what keeps people indoors. The lighting is the thing standing between a nice evening and an unused patio.

Insects

Anybody who has sat under a porch light in summer knows what shows up. Warmer light pulls in fewer of them, which conveniently matches what looks good anyway. It will not make a patio bug free, and that is not a claim worth making. But it is a free consideration when choosing the setting.If a permanent system runs along the roof over the back of the house, keep it warm and dim when people are out there, so nothing competes.

Getting your patio looked at

Patio lighting gets designed by somebody standing on the patio, preferably at night. EverCrest Lighting designs and installs patio and outdoor living lighting for homes, restaurants and businesses in Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, out of Greenville. The consultation is free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email [email protected].

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