Neglecting your exterior lighting fixtures can create dangerous conditions. Improve your home’s safety factor by regularly inspecting your fixtures, placing them in ideal locations and choosing the best lights for your home.
1. Regular Inspection:
Exterior lighting fixtures need to be inspected regularly in order to anticipate failure. All parts of the light need to be inspected, including the fixture itself, the bulbs and the wiring. If deep inspection is necessary, shut off power to the circuit before attempting to do so. Also, always inspect fixtures in dry conditions, never during or after a rain. If inspecting a wall mount, gently jiggle it with your hand to determine its stability. If it shakes, tighten down the hardware which fixes the unit to the wall. Loose light bulb sockets should either be tightened down or replaced. Seeing exposed wiring is never a good sign. Consult an electrician if the repair is more complex than you can handle.
2. Use Solar Instead of Wired Fixtures:
Some of the safest types of exterior lighting solutions utilize solar technology. Solar lights such as path lights and spot lights operate on low voltages and are safe to touch and handle. They are also very safe to install since they require no wiring at all. With no wires to trip on or accidentally cut into with a shovel, your exterior home will be a much safer place. The batteries within these units are simple AA’s which are safely contained within the fixture and are not capable of generating harmful current. Solar exterior lighting fixtures come in all the same models that wired lights do, so you won’t be sacrificing on style.
3. Use Low Voltage Lighting Kits:
If a wired system is preferred, low voltage lights are the safest possible option. Low voltage exterior light fixtures run off of 12 volts of electricity which is painful but not harmful. These lights do not run directly off your home’s 120V ground wire system. Instead, they first pug into a 12 volt transformer before being plugged into the wall. Low voltage outdoor lighting systems are most frequently employed as path lights, but other models are available.
4. Check Your Spot Lights:
If spot lights are present outdoors, make sure that they are installed high enough so that nobody can reach them. An old spot light can be easily replaced with a new one by using the same wiring. To improve safety around the home, consider using motion detecting spot lights. Intruders and shady individuals can be spotted easily with motion sensing technology.
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