Allow Yourself To Feel At Home With Outdoor Security Lighting

Have you ever felt threatened after hearing some strange noises out in the yard?

Outdoor security lighting gives you control of your outdoor viewing area and confidence in knowing that you have your own element of surprise at bay.

Most often found in the commercial outdoor lighting environment, security lighting is available for the home as well.

Often times security lighting is confused with outdoor landscape lighting and is used to perform both functions.

Unfortunately, landscape lighting fails at providing adequate lighting to see clearly what is going on outside your walls.

Security lighting is sometimes controlled by a panic switch from inside the house. This is usually mounted in the master bedroom but can vary in location based on personal preference.

Not all security lighting uses a panic switch. We will discuss the different types of security lighting available and it's uses.

Outdoor Security Lighting Can Help Protect Your Home

Too often we hear about burglaries in neighborhoods that you would never think this stuff would happen. Unfortunately it happens all the time.

Good outdoor security lighting gives you the best protection by preventing you from being fully exposed to any potential hazards while still keeping a watchful eye outdoors.

Fortunately for us there are different types of commercial outdoor lighting fixtures available for this purpose.

Motion Sensor Outdoor Lighting

The most common form of security lighting found in most homes is the motion sensor lighting. These sensors emit an infrared light that trigger the bulb to light when something moves across it's viewing range.

Although these are not designed for security lighting, they are often used as such. While motion sensor outdoor lighting is not the best choice for security lighting, its better than having nothing at all.

Since most burglars are keen to such technologies, many do not even hesitate when a motion sensor light goes off.

Photoelectric Lights

A better option is to use outdoor lighting with photoelectric controls. These lights turn on and off based on how much day light is present.

There are two types of photoelectric lights. Those that respond immediately to a change in light and those that have a delayed response to changes in light.

For purposes of security lighting, delayed response photoelectric lights provide a better solution. Their automated response to changes in light, especially daylight is not as obvious to burglars as motion sensor outdoor lighting.

As the seasons change, your lights will turn on at different times. These changes will discourage a potential thief since he cannot determine precisely when your lights will turn on, creating the illusion that you really are home.

A potential thief would have to study a little harder to determine that you really aren't home.

Lighting Timers

Lighting timers can provide a similar effect. More sophisticated timers can be adjusted to change the time they turn on and off daily, weekly or monthly.

Sync Your Lighting To Your Security System

The best approach to outdoor security lighting is to use it in conjunction with your security system.

Contact your security company to see how you can integrate your security lights into your system.

When installing your security lights, always install separate fixtures strategically placed to cover any hard to see areas.

Security lights are usually mounted high above hidden under eaves, in trees, and aimed downward. They should produce a ton of light so that you can easily see around your property or simply scare the threat away.

An Emergency Switch

If you don't have a security system, you can install an emergency switch giving you full manual control. This creates the best element of surprise and doesn't compromise your outdoor lighting design.

An emergency switch option should be a requirement for all the different types of outdoor security lighting types described above.

It should allow you to overide the controls of your automated security system with the filck of a switch. Therefore you have more control and flexibility over your outdoor emergency lighting, giving you an added level of surprise.

5 Disadvantages of Outdoor Security Lighting

• Often security lighting is used as the main source of outdoor lighting with no regard to outdoor lighting design resulting in a mediocre security lighting setup.

• Motion sensor lights will take away from your outdoor lighting arrangement because they can be triggered on and off according to movement. Anything can set these motion sensors off.

• Photoelectric controlled security lights will come on at night and shut off during the day. They also provide no element of surprise to any unwanted guests.

• Inexpensive timers that turn lights on and off at the same time each day are easily identified as such by professional thieves.

• Too much security lighting may cause light pollution upsetting neighbors late at night.

Keeping your outdoor security lights out of view is essential to providing that element of surprise necessary for successful outdoor security lighting design.

Although it may not necessarily fit your budget, feeling like a prisoner in your own home is not a good feeling. Let security lighting make you feel more at home in your living space.

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