Choosing the Right Outdoor Lighting for Your Sydney Home

The Leading Electrical team share their tips and tricks to ensure your new outdoor lighting enhances the look, safety and function of your exterior lighting. 

Before choosing outdoor lighting, we recommend having a clear set of goals for your outdoor area. The best outdoor lighting will depend on how you use the external area and the primary function the lighting is intended to perform. 

Understand Your Outdoor Lighting Needs

Exterior lighting technology has evolved significantly over recent years. Most advances have created outdoor lighting solutions that add style and ambience while also providing safe and functional lighting for all outdoor areas including driveways, paths pools and yards. 

While each homeowner’s needs vary, common priorities for outdoor lighting include energy efficiency, ambience and safety. The team at Leading Electrical have been helping Sydney’s residents choose the best outdoor lighting for more than 20 years and will always consider the following elements. 

Safety and security lighting

One of the primary benefits of outdoor lighting that performs is the safety of your family, home and possessions. Adequate lighting will illuminate safety hazards such as steps, pathways and entrances. 

Adequate lighting can also improve the security of an outdoor area. Energy-efficient security lighting can deter intruders while also making safety hazards visible. LED security lighting and motion sensors can be used to illuminate dark corners, blind spots and walkways. 

Landscaping and Aesthetics

With a cleverly chosen outdoor lighting solution, you can highlight the beauty of your home, garden and landscaping features. Exterior accent lighting can enhance the look and feel of even the most simple outdoor spaces. Accent lighting can be mounted directly to homes, paths, fences and retaining walls. Delivering light for safety and security, exterior accent lights will also enhance the architectural features of any home. Gardens, plants and trees can also be illuminated adding elegance and style. Wet areas such as pools, spas and water features are also great for feature lighting. 

Considerations for Outdoor Lighting

Energy Efficiency

Advances in LED lighting have meant that installing exterior lighting doesn’t have to come with huge energy bills. Unlike older halogen globes, LEDs can produce stunning lighting output while using significantly less energy. Exterior lighting can also be connected to exergy-saving devices such as motion sensors and timers. 

Dust and Water Resistant Lighting

The IP rating system can help you choose the most suitable outdoor lighting for your application. Using a 2-digit system, the IP rating determines how effective the light fixture is at resisting the ingress of foreign bodies, such as dirt and moisture. 

For garden lighting, the Leading Electrical team uses and recommends outdoor lighting with IP44 is sufficient. IP44 ensure your new light will be protected from dust particles of more than 1mm in size. It will also resist being sprayed with water from any direction. 

For illuminating the areas around pools, spas, and water features, the electricians at Leading Electrical recommend an IP68-rated light. This means the light fitting will be resistant to dust ingress and waterproof during constant exposure to water and moisture. For pool lighting that is to remain submersed, IPX8 is the recommended rating. 

Lighting Control

Motion Sensor Lighting

Motion-activated outdoor lighting is perfect for areas that don’t need light to be on all the time. Considered the benchmark for security and energy efficiency, LED lights that are activated by movement have been a staple of the outdoor lighting world for many years. Homeowners can have adequate amounts of lighting when it’s needed and the lighting is turned off. 

Lighting Timers

Perhaps the only lighting control system that has been around longer than motion sensors is a lighting timer. Light timers range from simple powerpoint mounted timers that offer value for money control. Modern lighting timers are now available with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and can be controlled from a smartphone or device. This allows almost unlimited customisation when it comes to timer settings and automation. 

Smart Outdoor Lighting

Of all outdoor lighting systems, smart exterior lighting has an ever-expanding range of features and functions. With access to a smartphone, you can now control:

• Light timing
• Light temperature output
• Light power output and dimming
• Light colour output

In addition to a significant amount of control and customisation, smart outdoor lighting is proving the ultimate solution for homeowners looking to elevate ambience and atmosphere in outdoor areas. 

Expert Advice for Outdoor Lighting

The team at Leading Electrical enjoy helping their customers get the most out of their outdoor lighting installation and fit-out. Whether you are looking to replace a single light fitting for security, or you wish to take your landscaping game to the next level, be sure to speak to our helpful team today.