Investing in an outdoor lighting system can benefit your home in many ways. It can make it safer for you and your loved ones to get around after dark, it can make your home more secure by deterring criminal activity, and it can even enhance the look of your yard. Regardless of why you installed an outdoor lighting system, you’ll only benefit from it if it’s working. Don’t forget that your lighting system will eventually need some maintenance to keep it running.
The Importance of Maintenance
If it’s been longer than six months since your last service, it’s time to put in a maintenance request for your outdoor lighting system. You should have your system checked out at least once, if not twice, each year to ensure everything is in working order. This is especially important if you installed your outdoor lighting system for security purposes. The last thing you want is for your timers to be out of sync and bulbs burnt out, because that could mean showing up to a dark house after work, creating a security risk for you and your loved ones. It can also be a safety risk. If you have trouble getting around for any reason, whether you’re elderly or have a broken leg, a lack of lighting could put you at bigger risk of tripping and falling on your way into your home.
What to Look For
Do you notice that some lights are burnt out? Have some of the lamps fallen out of place? Are the lights coming on at the wrong time of day? All of these things can pose security and safety risks and should be addressed. Make sure you walk around the property to look for system damage, making notes of anything that looks off. You should also perform a full system testing to double check everything, as there is sometimes damage there that you cannot see with your eyes.
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Common Outdoor Lighting Problems
Your lighting system isn’t immune to problems. Generally, there are four main issues that cause the majority of lighting problems:
1. Burned out bulbs. Most lighting systems use incandescent and halogen bulbs. These light bulbs are typically balanced to operate between 10.5 and 11.5 volts. As you can see, there’s not much wiggle room there. When a lamp burns out, it can send too much voltage to the remaining bulbs in the system, which can cause them to burn out prematurely.
2. Faulty connections. Sometimes the connections keeping your system up and running get a little loose. In most cases, this is due to water gets in the connection and causes it to short circuit. It could also be that someone made a bad connection when they installed your system.
3. Corrosion. Over time, corrosion does occur. Typically the first place to start corroding is the socket where the lamp is installed. You can also get corrosion in the wiring from rainwater.
4. Fire ants. If you live in the south, you know fire ants can be a real pain to deal with. These pesky ants have been found to get into sealed fixtures, fill transformers and lighting fixtures, and even establish their mounds over lighting fixtures.
How Can Outdoor Lighting Perspectives Help?
At Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, we’re all about providing you with worry-free maintenance. When you purchase a lighting system with us, we offer you one year of free maintenance. That means you won’t have to adjust a single fixture or replace a single light bulb. After the first year, you can continue to kick back and relax by enrolling in our Annual Maintenance Plan. This is the most comprehensive protection plan of its kind. Our Annual Maintenance Plan covers:
- Fixtures: We’ll review the position of your fixtures and straighten them as needed.
- Bulbs: Any bulbs that need to be replaced or switched out will be taken care of.
- Timers: Our staff will check and reset your timers.
- Wires: We will repair damaged wires and bury any that have surfaced.
- Connections: Transformers, connections and voltage levels will all be checked.
- Landscaping: Have landscaping that is obstructing your lights? We’ll trim them for you.
- Warranty: The plan comes with extended warranty coverage on your system.
- Priority service: When you need us, we’re there. We provided priority responsible and repairs at no extra cost to you.
If you’re ready to install an outdoor lighting system, give us a call. Our outdoor and landscape lighting systems add beauty and harmony to your home and outdoor living spaces. We’ll work with you to create a comprehensive, custom plan to suit you and your home’s needs.
