Lighting of the site in the country: from the idea to the installation
How to make lighting in the country: from electricity and autonomous, wireless and combined. We draw up a diagram, consider all the nuances, choose lamps and give recommendations for installation.
Based on the recommendations of lighting experts and designers, we have compiled detailed instructions on how to organize lighting in the country and in the home territory of a private house. In order to implement a whole, functional and convenient lighting system, we suggest that you go through several stages, which we will talk about below.
The article will be useful not only for summer residents, but also for the owners of country houses and private cottages.
Determine the goals of the lighting system
First, decide for yourself why you want to organize mainly street lighting, what is its main function:
- Illuminate the spot to make movement through the territory safe?
- Make landscape design attractive and cozy?
- Do you focus on interesting landscape items such as statues, fountains, well-tended trees?
- Is the security feature to ensure the protection of the site from intrusion by outsiders?
- All these tasks at the same time?
A comprehensive approach to organizing street lighting is as effective as possible
If you selected option #5, you need to organize for a full picture for a full picture of lighting:
- Paths, gate, parking zone – for convenience and safety.
- Recreation areas – barbecues, benches, swings, verandas – for a comfortable rest on the site, even with the onset of darkness.
- Buildings – baths, garage, arbors, porch, porch.
- Interesting elements of the landscape – bodies of water, statues, green spaces.
For other tasks, you can limit yourself to light only for individual zones.
We are inspired by the experience of other countries in implementing garden lighting
Foreign landscape designers and lighting specialists often create projects that please the eye, cause envious looks and become an example to follow. Below are the most noticeable trends in other countries, maybe some of them are near you.
England
Street lighting in England is understated but functional
The British love nature combined with aristocratic luxury. You will not find a surplus of lamps in their gardens. Rather, several park lanterns are decorated in a vintage style, on the porch or barely noticeable lamps around the perimeter of the territory on the vintage style, on the porch. If this option is near you, then you can organize the entire garden in the English style, and not just the light.
Street lighting in the US focuses on backlighting the facade of the home
Americans love it when there’s plenty of light, but their landscape lighting is as low key as possible. On the site there are only single high garden lights on the site, and the focus is on the backlighting of the house itself. There may already be LED garlands and steps, as well as suspended lanterns and sconces. The advantage is obtained LED lights for the garden of the restrained design of geometric shapes.
Japan
The home territory in Japan is always well lit
The Japanese value comfort and simplicity both inside and outside the home. A lot of flowers and trees grow in their gardens, often there is an artificial reservoir and a gazebo from which the winding paths pass through the area. All these elements of landscape design necessarily emphasize various lamps, for example, garden Japanese lanterns.
We consider important nuances: Requirements for the lighting system of the site
Site lighting is convenient and functional only if it is designed and implemented correctly. Proper lighting of the site in the country meets a number of requirements:
- Functions in all weathers.
- It is as convenient to manage and maintain as possible.
- Subdued, does not irritate the eyes.
- All lighting devices, wiring, switches, lamps and other elements of the system are designed for street use.
- Separate machines and grounding (RCD) are installed for each group of electric lamps.
- The entire territory is quite highlighted and the boundaries of the site are clearly visible.
It is better to start organizing the lighting system until the completion of the landscaping of the territory. Then you do not have to adapt to the existing conditions or spoil the landscape.
Some street lamps are embedded in the ground or street surface. Their installation is carried out before the landscaping of the site
We make a lighting scheme
At the stage of assembling the circuit, it is necessary to think about the key type of lighting, power sources, the number of lamps, their type and location. Act as follows:
1. Make the scheme of the site yourself in the country. To do this, you can print out a map of the country trade, transfer it to a new sheet of paper using a suitable editor or simply by hand.
You need a site plan to create a street lighting system scheme
2. Make symbols on the fields.
An example of conventions for creating a schema
3. Determine the placement of lamps of different types, switches and wiring (if necessary). Consider the cone of light from the devices – an area where the brightness of the lamp is not significant, but the intersection with the light from another lamp is excessive. The diameter of the illuminated zone depends on the selected model and the power of the lamps.
Simple street lighting scheme in the country showing only lamp types
4. Consider a scheme with a landscape designer and a contractor installing the system.
If you decided to do street lighting in the country with your own hands, then we just miss the last stage.
Choose a type of lighting
We already noted above that garden lighting performs several functions at once, you even chose a key for yourself. So, depending on the function performed, 4 main types of street lighting are distinguished. They can be used separately, but more often the options are combined to create the integrity of the system.
Functional
General light lamps are installed in all areas where it is necessary to ensure the safety of movement and comfort:
- arrival and parking;
- entrance to the house;
- garden paths;
- quiet zone.
This is the main type of lighting, without which it is difficult to imagine in a country house.
Functional (general) lighting of a summer cottage – illuminate the races, paths and entrances
Decorative
Decorative lamps for the garden as an element of landscape design should decorate the territory, making it more interesting and bright. You are unlikely to get a full light, but with the emphasis of flower beds, statues and reservoirs this species will cope as well as possible. All kinds of LED tapes, LED garlands, etc. are used for this purpose.
Decorative garden lighting is primarily created with the help of LED garlands
mark
Location marking lighting is a kind of more general, but with a closer functional purpose. The main task is to emphasize the relief, to set accents correctly and at the same time create a safe environment in the dark. It is implemented by the lighting of certain zones, more often symmetrical – from two sides:
- Arrival;
- Parking spot;
- Steps;
- Garden paths;
- Architectural elements.
Marking lighting of the property by the symmetrical arrangement of the lights at the house entrance
security
It serves to prevent illegal penetration into the private area and give the residents of the house a feeling of security. Typically, safety lighting is only part of the location of the location, together with control units and video surveillance devices.
Radiaries and lamps are distributed on the site that are able to provide hig h-quality light for recording by cameras. But even if there is no video surveillance system, a sufficiently illuminated area thieves will probably not attract.
Fence lighting as an element of safety lighting
A good option would be garden lights with movement sensor. At the time of their departure, they do not consume electricity and scare intruders with their unexpected recording.
Selection of a power source
One of the main questions when organizing the lighting of a holiday home is the connection of garden lamps. The most reliable option is electricity. But not everything is so easy. There are often power failures in Datschen, and only one specialist can carry out a safe power supply.
It is therefore worth considering all possible options.
Power lines: open and closed (underground) cabling
The first thing you should think about when installing electrical lamps is the selection and laying of a cable for lighting in the country. The laying conditions and the expected load must be taken into account.
Watch a video for laying cables for street lamps.
To electrify the location, you can carry out open or closed cabling. Both options have their own properties, advantages and disadvantages. For the sake of simplicity, we present them in the table:
Comparison parameter
open wiring
Closed wiring
cabling
On the air away – on support
Underground – in a ditch
Measures to durability
Use hig h-quality cables, double isolated
The cable is placed in a metal sleeve, a box or a pipe
Easy installation and maintenance
Does not require great financial costs
Don’t be afraid of hooks in landscape design
In no way affects the aesthetics of the landscape
The cable is protected so that it lasts longer
Suitable for connecting arbitrary lights
Aesthetically difficult to insert into the landscape design
Not suitable for low floor fortifications
Low cable life due to all year round environmental pollution
Requires more work and financial costs;
Difficulties in maintenance.
Autonomous lighting in the country
An alternative option is the lighting in the country without electricity. First of all, these are sola r-powered lighting bodies. Yes, they do not give as light light as an electrical lamp, but brightness is not needed to illuminate ways of illuminating an artificial reservoir, statues and garden plants.
Sola r-powered lanterns are the best way to illuminate paths in the country
There are many lamps for giving on the market without electricity, so there are no difficulties in choosing. These are floor lanterns and wireless floor lamps and built lamps as well as suspended wall and even whole garlands.
We recommend combining the autonomous and electrical systems for maximum convenience and uninterrupted operation of the devices.
Light wireless control
Even electrical lamps can be taken over comfortably and economically to turn. You do not have to carry out additional cables, install the switch or pay extra for electricity.
Manage the light in the country:
-
. Turn on automatically and switch off without the direct participation of a person. . These are devices on LED lamps with a light regulatory. Depending on the model, it is controlled by the remote control, switch on the housing or a special control unit that you can hang on the wall and control the lamp without leaving the house.
- Installation of the relay. By installing the relay in the electrical field, you can automatically switch the lighting devices on and off on the house territory. Variable, but the convenience for the user will never go out of fashion.
We choose lamps for the website
Pay attention to the selection of lamps for a summer residence or a country house:
- For appointment – should be intended for the use of roads.
- For the degree of protection – the dust protection coefficient of at least IP44.
- Metal and glass products or high-quality plastic are the durable material.
- On the type of lamps – LED, halogen, glow or energy storage. Choose what you like, but it will be the most economical lamps at LED lamps.
- The models made of electricity are not suitable for a power source – if you are not ready to lay wires.
Next we will look at the main types of lamps for the cottage and the garden, which are designed and suitable for creating complete lighting in the house territory.
Street lights
Garden (street) lanterns for a summer residence is a classic that will never go out of fashion. Such lamps can be ground, ground, hung up or portable. They are not only functional, but also surprisingly harmonious in the room of the garden. The housing is usually made of metal (steel or aluminum), walls are strong glass or plastic.
Street lamps are attached to sticks with which the entrance area, arbors, verandas and terraces are illuminated. An interesting decoration of the landscape will turn out if you install a scarecrow with a lantern in the garden in the garden.
Electrical lighting in the garden: What is important and what is not very
We find out what to take into account when choosing a garden and a street lamp
The lamp should be a street, but this is a really important feature. In contrast to other types, the street lamp is protected from the penetration of moisture, dust and other external influences. It is best for the lighting of parks and gardens. The degree of protection of the lamp is displayed by a marking of IP letters and two digits – the protection level before the penetration of foreign bodies or liquids. The value of IP65 is optimal for the road.
A voltage system with low voltage or high voltage in the garden can be used at 12 volts and 220. Accordingly, you have to select a lamp for the system that you have intended or have already done. Everyone has their own advantages and disadvantages.
The benefit of a low voltage system is safety. From 12 V it is impossible to receive a fatal shock. Such a system does not require the wiring to be laid to a greater depth and can easily be modified if you wish to add or move the lamps.
The lack of a low voltage system when installing a step-down transformer is not cheap at all and eats up space on the site. Low halogen or LED lamps can be used as light sources.
The 220V system is very demanding in security issues. In addition to the task of electrical wiring in a corrugated pipe, which is recommended for a 12-volt system, additional protective measures are required: an armored cable laid on a sand cushion at a depth of 50-70 cm, a signaling tape warning of wiring During the subsequent excavation in the ground automatic devices to turn off in case of breakdown of the network. The advantages of the high-voltage system – it does not require a converter to connect to main networks. There are no restrictions on the types of lamps used.
What kind of lamp to choose? According to the main characteristic – the ratio of luminous flux with power consumption – traditional incandescent lamps lose to modern energy rescue. They consume a lot of electricity, most of which is converted into heat, which can harm plants, among other things. On the other hand, it is precisely about “warm lamplight”. They are very comfortable, especially on cool evenings. I notice that the bulbs have a relatively short lifespan, they need to be changed more often, so they definitely shouldn’t be placed in hard places. However, they are not sensitive to the effects of low temperatures, while fluorescent lamps for the garden can fail with severe frosts.
In the photo: Fatua Lamp, Diz. Emanuel Gargano. Aluminum, glass, PMMA, on LEDs
The advanced type of incandescent lamps are halogen, they are brighter and at the same time compact.
The disadvantages of fluorescent lamps (both linear and compact) include the fact that they need some time to warm up. Another minus is the presence of mercury fumes, so it is advisable to install the lamp in a place where it cannot break. But there are many pluses of fluorescent lamps. Durability, high performance of the luminous flux with lower energy consumption, a wide range of colors.
LED (LED) lamps have the same advantages as fluorescent ones. In addition, they are immediately included in full power and do not contain any dangerous compounds. However, this applies only to expensive lamps of high quality. Cheap can flicker (as well as fluorescent) and give an uncomfortable light that does not match the packaging declared in the box.
Warm or cold light Another important characteristic is the color temperature. It determines the shade of the radiant light, from a warm tone to cold when it comes to blue. Color temperature is measured in degrees on the Kelvin scale: warm white (up to 3300K), neutral white (up to 5000K), cool white (from 5000K).
Choosing a street shade depends on your preferences and the impression you want to create. For example, the warm color of traditional incandescent bulbs gives less contrast and the white is large. Excessive care on either side of the spectrum can distort plant colors. Therefore, if you do not plan such an effect, then it is better to stick to landscape lighting 2700-4000 thousand. You can also focus on such an indicator as the Color Reproduction Index (CRI). The higher the percentage, the closer the colors under the lamp are to what you see in daylight.
TIP: It is better if all the lamps in the landscape are the same or the color temperature. The overall impression becomes more agreed upon, more integral.
Choosing the lamp based on functionality will determine the areas of your garden that you choose lamps for. Its power and design depend on this: the angle of light, the direction of light – it is concentrated or scattered.
When you have to light a large area like parking, you need a powerful, seated spotlight. And better not one that fills all shadows. Don’t bother to create the top night lighting for the entire site. This gives a flat image. If it is also light – it will be uncomfortable and can affect the neighbors.
TIP: It is better to emphasize the beauty of the night garden with separate patches of light and lines. They will add volume and depth.
Don’t underestimate the potential of architectural facades. It not only focuses on beautiful details but also illuminates the adjacent area. In principle, this “two in one” effect has a decorative backlight – look at the lighting of the garden in the photo. If you have a small area of u200bu200bthe garden, you can highlight shrubs, and this light will be enough for the entire area.
Before you make the background in the garden with your own hands, think about what exactly you will be lighting. To light the tracks, you need an unacceptable, scattered light that evenly covers the area. The height of the lamps and the distance between them depend on the size of the track itself and its surroundings, as well as the angle of illumination of the selected model. Personally, I like unobtrusive options built into paving. But in our climate they have one significant drawback: if such a lamp is under snow or ice, then it will not perform its function. Therefore, the optimal option remains a medium height (30-60 cm). Their advantage is that if you have a curb or flower garden along the route, you can create profitable artificial lighting (example – the garden lighting in the photo) in the summer.
Steps, as well as other obstacles to the path – bridges, turns, changes in relief – is also advisable to determine. Pay attention to the angle at which the lamp shines: the light should not hit your face. Some models of lamps have a rotating head that allows you to change the direction of the light flux.
Important! Very demanding for the comfortable lighting of the resting place and here you will be guided by your feelings. If this is a party area, the top light is appropriate.
They draw decorative lighting with light and for your disposal are different forms of “strokes”: dot, bunch, stripe (LED tape helps create a flat line). Effective – not necessarily difficult. There can be a focus. First, decide what you want to draw attention to.
You can highlight a tall tree or a group of shrubs. In the first case, you need a narrow spotlight, but not too bright, otherwise it will light up all the shadows and “kill” the texture. In the second – wide diffused light. A trunk can be distinguished by the tree (then the lamp must be placed as close to the barrel as possible) or the crown). Garden lighting can be contour (emphasizing the light behind the subject) or emphasizing the front of the subject) if you want to add a splash of color.
There are many options. The result of well-made landscape lighting can be that the nighttime image of the garden looks very different than during the day.
Topiary forms are very good with lighting – light creates the architecture of the garden, lines and volume. If your pride is the lawn, the lights for the garden (in the photo) with a flat bottom lighting will help at night.
Are there bodies of water on the construction site? Be sure to highlight them, don’t miss the opportunity to add magic to the garden! This is useful for security reasons.
If at night a lamp is just a light source, during the day it becomes a small architectural form. Its appearance comes to the fore (an example – lanterns in the garden in the photo). Choose what comes to the style of home and garden and will be satisfied with the result.
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