Outdoor Flood Lighting

Unfortunately residential flood lighting frequently suffers from two things; too much light in the wrong place!

How often have we seen a front walk lit with a flood light shining from the house to the side walk? Not only is the light glaring but it actually makes it harder to see the walk.

Or, have you seen floodlights lighting a parking area and the whole side of the neighbor's house? If the lights are usually on for long periods, compact fluorescent (CFL) fixtures can be a good choice. They generally won't give as much light as an incandescent flood, such as a 300-watt halogen or (2) 100-watt spots, but that's often a good thing as many exterior spaces are over lit.

• Flood lighting usually works best when done from a high angle shining steeply downward. This helps to minimize glare and light trespass.
  
  
• There are CFL flood light fixtures on the market in a wide range of wattages (9 watt to over 32 watt) and from many manufacturers.
  
  
• CFLs are temperature sensitive, so in chilly weather the lamp may take a few minutes to come up to full brightness. In really cold areas, you may want to select a fixture that is fully enclosed. This will allow the lamp to warm up faster. It's a small price to pay for the many other benefits of using CFLs!
  
  
• Too much light can actually make it harder to see. As the eye adapts to the high light levels, the surrounding area and shadows appear to be darker.