When it comes to lighting up your outdoor decking space, you want to make sure that you’re doing it right. Lighting can add safety and aesthetically pleasing quality to the space; however, the wrong light choices or placement can detract from both of those and create a host of other issues. So, what do you need to pay attention to when it comes time for you to choose and place your deck lighting? Listed below are some quick tips about proper placement and brightness of deck lighting:
Place Deck Lighting A Few Inches Above Head Level
If there is someone walking on your deck at night, they don’t want their head in line with a strand of lights if they look up – just imagine how blinding that will be and how quickly it could result in a trip and fall accident. So, make sure to place your deck lighting a few inches above head level to help maintain everyone’s safety.
Keep Your Deck Lighting at Eye Level or Below
A secondary problem that can arise as a result of placing your deck lights too high will be that people won’t even notice them! If you’re looking to create an ambient atmosphere by using deck lighting, then this won’t be helpful if those around can’t see where the light is coming from.
There Are 3 Types of Deck Lighting Components: Fixtures, Cable and Bulbs
When it comes time for you to choose and install your deck lighting, keep in mind that there are three components involved: fixtures, cable, and bulbs. Each of these pieces should be handled differently to maximize their effectiveness:
- Choose The Right Fixture for Your Space: Decking spaces come in different shapes and sizes and you want your deck lighting fixture to reflect that. Picking the wrong fixture could put it too close to the ceiling or down near floor level, both resulting in poor illumination. Just take a look at our Lighting Fixture Guide to help you determine which type will work best for your outdoor decking space.
- Use Cable as Directly as Possible: The longer the distance between where your light is emitting from and where it’s pointing at, the lower the brightness will be. This means that if you’re using fixtures with long cables, like pendants, you should try to avoid drilling holes in the ceiling and instead run cable along the length of your decking, or underneath it.
- Plan for Future Lighting Options: You may not know exactly what types of lighting options will exist on your outdoor decking space when you first install your deck lights, but it’s important to plan for future alterations. For example, if you can foresee wanting to add additional fixtures further down the line, make sure that the location you choose now will be compatible with this option later.