Outdoor lighting is a great addition to your house that brightens the exteriors, helps you navigate your way, and makes your guests feel welcome.
Additionally, pretty exterior lights can also act as a protective layer to your house.
You can add them in dark areas as an effective deterrent against malicious activity.
A well-lit house will discourage potential intruders, reduce hiding spots and provide you with a sense of security.
Here is a detailed guide that will help you understand how to secure your home using outdoor lights. Read on to learn more.
Outdoor Lights: Where to Focus and Place Them?
Any lights you add to the exterior should be clearly focused on the areas of potential break-ins.
To begin with, you can use a map of your house to determine which areas require lighting.
Place the lights at the entry and exit points of your house and above doorways.
A spotlight would be a good option for these locations to illuminate specific areas.
Your driveways and sidewalks could also use the spotlight for illumination.
You should also cover the patios and the deck area with floodlights as they provide a larger beam to cover a huge area.
However, floodlights are powerful bulbs that might make it challenging to look around. So, think things through before making a decision.
You can check for other potential areas that require lighting in a similar manner.
Depending on the ambient lighting you can take a call about whether the space requires extra lighting.
Tip: Remember the general rule of keeping lights 10 to 12 feet apart while installing. The distance would prevent the place from becoming too bright or too dark, thereby making your life easier.
What Types Of Lights Should You Choose?
After deciding on the location of the lights, it’s time to determine what type of light is suitable for the area.
There are numerous lighting options available varying in size, capabilities, and functionality.
Some of the options available in the market are floodlights, landscape luminary lights, step lights, and mounted luminary lights, to list a few. Do some research while finalizing your purchase.
When shortlisting lights, you should consider buying those that have motion-sensing capabilities.
These lights illuminate movements in the area and can even send you notifications on your connected device.
Smart bulbs are a good option as they can be controlled remotely using smartphones, tablets, or laptops.
Some of them have in-built timers to set how long the bulb stays on. Such features definitely make your life easier!
Some Special Lighting Features to Incorporate
The special features of the lights help to provide additional security to your home. These features include :
- Lights equipped with motion sensors function by illuminating the area if motion is detected. It turns off if there is no activity in the area but becomes active if it spots things. In order to work well, the sensors must have a good coverage area.
- Lights that have a timer feature allow you to program timings for the light to remain active. You can set the switch-on and switch-off timings as per your requirements and even control them remotely using your smartphone, tablet, or laptop.
- Smart bulbs can be connected to your garage door or entrance door movement. Thus, the lights would automatically turn on whenever the door opens.
- Some special lights have the feature to be linked with your home security system. You can browse various home security companies to check if they offer such types of lights.
Should You Install Moving Lights?
It is not necessary to use moving lights from a security point of view.
However, if you want to install them check how the lights would pivot.
The shifting of the lights from one angle to another and time-taken to do so are to be considered before purchasing.
Some people avoid installing moving lights as they find them distracting. Overall, it depends upon you to take a call if you want to install these lights for home security.
Regular Maintenance Of Your Lights Is Important
Once you have adequate outdoor solar lights installed at the correct places, you can have peace of mind.
However, installing them is not enough, you should conduct regular maintenance checks on them.
Keep in mind the lifespan of the installed bulbs and get them replaced before they wear out.
Replace any broken or fused bulbs on a priority basis to ensure the exterior of your house remains illuminated.
Final Word
Outdoor lighting alone cannot account for a foolproof home security system. However, coupled with your existing security measures it may work as an added layer of protection.