A number of requirements are made to the lighting in the country, the fulfillment of which determines the convenience of rest and work on the site. Among them, the main places are autonomy, efficiency and safety. The need for lighting a large area, as well as frequent power outages make owners think about the proper organization of street lighting for a summer residence. For this, various types of lamps and lanterns are used, which differ in design and functions. In today's article, we will talk about the types and purpose of outdoor light and give some tips on organizing lighting in the country with your own hands.
Outdoor Lighting
The process of organizing outdoor lighting on the site should begin before landscaping and laying tracks. It is important to determine the location of the fixtures in advance and mark them on the diagram so as not to disturb the garden decor.
When wiring, it is important to take care of the safety of the connections and cable. The wires are placed in a corrugated pipe, and the connections are carefully insulated.
Lamps and lanterns must have a housing that protects structural elements from dust and moisture. It is also necessary to take care of the presence of an RCD to prevent overloads.
The convenience of turning on and off the outdoor lighting in the country can be achieved using a relay located on the site or in the house. Such prudence will especially please in inclement weather, when it will not be necessary to go outside to turn off each light element individually.
Outdoor lighting performs a number of functions designed to ensure the convenience and safety of stay at the cottage. Among them: a comfortable stay and moving around the site, deterring intruders, creating an attractive landscape. Lighting at the dacha is subject to the house, farm buildings, garage, driveway, garden paths, gates, fences, stairs, ponds, sculptural and floral compositions, landscape changes. A variety of functions performed by lighting, allows you to highlight its types: general, technical, security, accent and decorative. We will talk about them in more detail.
General
It allows you to provide a level of light comparable to daylight. In such conditions, you can not only relax, but carry out work on the site at any time of the day. Powerful lamps on poles for illumination of a summer residence, and also wall sconces provide an intensive light stream. Lamps are placed near the gate, along the access road, entrance area, by the garage, gazebos.
Technical
Technical lighting belongs to the category obligatory for comfortable movement on the site and safety. It is installed above the gate, along the driveway, stairs, on the porch. It is also necessary to illuminate outbuildings, a garage, parking, garden paths. Technical lighting is often used as general and security.
To illuminate the gate area, powerful spotlights on poles or wall lights that are mounted on a fence are suitable. To illuminate the paths in the country and the driveway, autonomous solar-powered lights are often used. For stairs, small built-in lamps are suitable. Porch, entrance area, outbuildings, garage can be illuminated with wall lights.
Security
Security lighting is designed to prevent illegal entry into the territory, because in a light-flooded area it is difficult to hide. Security lights are installed near the gate, porch, garage. Lanterns with a motion sensor located along the perimeter of the site will create the effect of the presence of the hosts and scare off intruders. Security lighting often serves as a technical one and provides comfortable movement around the site.
For security lighting in the country most often use wall-mounted models of street lamps. Lamps with a motion sensor are installed in such a way that there are no obstacles in the radius of action that interfere with the operation of the device. It is better to entrust the installation of security lighting to professionals, they will take into account all the nuances of the terrain and create an effective system to prevent invasion of the territory.
Accent
Such lighting is most often used to highlight recreation areas, benches, gazebos, and an open terrace. Sometimes a staircase, an entrance zone, a gate are distinguished in this way. In this case, lighting performs not only an accent function, but also a technical one.
For the organization of accent lighting, lamps on poles and small models stuck into the ground can be used. Lighting in the gazebo in the country can be done using wall sconces and hanging models. Flashlights can work from a network or from solar batteries. In the latter case, a significant amount of electricity is saved.
Special mention deserves lamps equipped with insect killers. Relaxation on the open veranda will become more comfortable if the annoying midge does not interfere. The range of such models can reach 40 meters.
Decorative
Using decorative lighting, landscape designers create a romantic atmosphere of a magical garden. Small colored lanterns in the form of gnomes, fairies, insects adorn flower beds and alpine slides. Lamps in the form of frosted balls look great in the depressions on the lawn. Bushes and trees are decorated with garlands and pendant lanterns. Small models of directional light are able to emphasize the grace of the sculptural groups and the architectural features of the facade. Waterproof models are used for the decor of pools and ponds. Luminous frosted balls and exquisite lilies on the water create a truly magical atmosphere.
Decorative lighting is not able to replace general or technical because of the low power of the LEDs used in the design. It is used only to create a beautiful picture of the night garden (the photo is presented above). Lighting at the cottage of a decorative nature is cleaned for the winter.
Lamp purchase
The choice of lamps for lighting a summer cottage should be approached with special attention. Each zealous owner is interested in the question of how to make lighting in the country house effective, safe and economical. In this vein, the problem of choosing lamps comes to the fore. Theoretically, all types of household lamps are suitable for outdoor lighting. Nevertheless, there are nuances that should be considered.
Let's start, as usual, with incandescent lamps. Their luminous flux is in the yellow-red spectrum, which is pleasing to the human eye. Lamps are not afraid of power surges, which is not uncommon for suburban villages. They are cheap and able to operate in a wide temperature range. They are quite large in size and can be used as general and technical lighting. And now about the shortcomings: incandescent lamps heat up and have a very low efficiency, respectively, consume a lot of electricity. If you use them to cover a large area, the hole in the budget will be enormous. In addition, incandescent lamps flicker. If you are a fan of reading in the gazebo outdoors, you should look for other options, otherwise your eyes will quickly get tired.
Halogen lamps are an improved version of incandescent lamps. They give light pleasant to the human eye, consume many times less energy than their predecessors. The small size allows you to use them for spot lighting, however, they do not tolerate voltage drops in the network.
LED lamps are the most popular for outdoor lighting. They are small in size with a fairly bright luminous flux. Consume 7-10 times less electricity. Do not flicker and do not heat up. LED life is up to 100,000 hours. They are not afraid of power surges. LED lamps come in all possible shades of the light spectrum. Their only drawback is the high price, however, taking into account the service life and saving of resources, they quickly pay off.
Moisture protection
Outdoor luminaires are regularly tested for durability by weather conditions, so they should always be protected from dust and moisture. Special waterproof flashlights are IP marked with two numbers, the first of which indicates the degree of protection against ingress of solid particles, and the second - moisture. For street use, the marking must be at least IP67. They are not afraid of either prolonged downpours or complete immersion in water.
The housing of such lamps is made of durable plastic or aluminum, and all connections have a sealing silicone or rubber gasket. The design and appearance of the lantern can be anything: in the form of a pillar, wall, hanging. Choosing a model suitable for the architectural solution of the house and the taste of the owner will not be difficult.
Solar powered lights
Solar lighting for summer cottages saves up to 70% of electricity. These lights are compact and autonomous. The design consists of a solar cell, a solar battery, a battery, an LED, a reflector and a waterproof housing. The photocell responds to changes in the intensity of illumination of the surrounding area and automatically turns on the light when dusk sets in and off at dawn. The polycrystalline solar battery effectively absorbs even diffused light in cloudy weather and transfers the charge to the battery. The latter is able to accumulate an amount of energy sufficient to illuminate the space for 8-10 hours.
Solar lights can be used for both general and decorative lighting.
Lamps with motion sensor
Luminaires with a motion sensor can save up to 30% of energy. They are equipped with an infrared, ultrasonic or microwave sensor. For street use, the last two varieties are suitable.
Flashlights with an ultrasonic sensor can successfully detect movement by capturing reflected ultrasonic waves, but may not work when moving quietly and slowly. In addition, ultrasound is unpleasant for pets and makes them anxious.
Fixtures with a microwave sensor have higher efficiency, however, high-frequency electromagnetic waves are dangerous to human health, so they should not be installed in places where people are constantly present. They are suitable for installation on the gate and around the perimeter of the site.
Lamps with a motion sensor effectively alert guests and repel intruders.
Lighting automation
Automatic on and off lighting in the area can be configured using a relay. It is installed in a junction box. The most popular are twilight, temporary and astronomical relays.
The twilight relay is powered by a sensor with a photocell that responds to the ambient light level. The light turns on automatically at dusk and turns off at dawn.
The time relay is set to the time convenient for the owners to turn on / off the lighting.
The astronomical relay operates on the basis of a microchip, in the memory of which the date and time zone are entered. The "smart" system itself calculates the time of sunset and sunrise in a particular area at a given time of the year.
Lighting in the country performs a number of functions that ensure the comfort and safety of the owners of the site. These include: general lighting of the site, ease of movement, warning about the penetration into the territory of desired and unwanted guests and decorative lighting to create a beautiful exterior.