Photo courtesy GE.
Starting last month, and in every issue this year, we explore electrical technologies, products and systems for the discerning homeowner... where cost is not an issue! This month we look at highend outdoor lighting solutions that are guaranteed to light up your clients’ nights... and lives.
Tapping into the sex appeal of
outdoor lighting
Renée Francoeur
“M
oonlight is sculpture,” wrote Nathaniel Hawthorne, but it has its limits. And for those clients wanting to draw attention to the ornamental bonsai tree in the front yard, or highlight the garden pathway after the sun goes down, a little help from artificial lighting is most definitely called for. Exterior lighting today has left the single-bulb, porchlight concept in the dust. From crystalized torch-like wall sconces to beaming tape outlining the hot tub, lighting systems can bathe a property in an elevated and ritzy guise. “At night time, light is a very powerful element that we can play with to create ambiance that just adds a quality of life to outdoor living or night time activities,” said Sean Bourquin, the managing director at First Light Technologies in Victoria, B.C. “Light has this attractive, sexy kind of appeal,” echoed Jesse Lilley, vice-president of marketing at Lumenpulse Lighting Inc. in Montreal. “It’s definitely something that makes a property look more attractive.” Endless possibilities with LEDs For GE, the first thing any electrical contractor should do when it comes to outdoor lighting is
18 • April 2015 • www.EBMag.com
pretty straight-forward: use or convert all existing bulbs to LED. “That has the benefit of tremendous energy efficiency, a very long life, great lighting output and a couple colour temperature variations,” said Linda Pastor, GE’s consumer LED product manager. In turn, some of GE’s LEDs, such as the Link Connected PAR38 spotlight bulbs (retail for about $24.99), allow consumers to remotely control their outdoor lighting from their smartphones. With Bluetooth and GE’s Wink app, the driveway’s carriage lights, for example, can be programmed to turn on as the owner approaches, said Tom Boyle, GE’s chief innovation leader. “You can run scheduled groups and lighting themes so you can start to automate turning lights on and off in a way you weren’t able to do before Link,” he added. LEDs, which are “just begging to be controlled,” really amped up the calibre of exterior lighting offerings, Lilley said. Grazing is one example where directional LEDs, such as Lumenpulse’s Lumenfacade, are placed very close to a wall. “It literally grazes that surface. It’s very precise. Like a lot of those residential buildings made of
red brick; grazing the brick is a wonderful effect,” Lilley said, because it accentuates all the detail. While Lumenpulse primarily handles commercial lighting projects, its 14W Lumenbeam Small can be used to illuminate sculptures and foliage in a variety of colours and optics (wide or narrow) with dimming control. As for what to put along outdoor railings, eaves and gazebos, Jesco Lighting Group unrolled its rope-like Infina flexible LED in late 2014 and will be introducing a hardwired version this spring. Retailing at $48.50 US/ft, the Infina is made of optically clear thermoplastic and emits 550 lumens from 4.95W/ft, said Andrij Burchak, marketing manager at Jesco. “You just plug it into one outlet and, with a run of 150 ft, you can run it around the house and you’re ready to go,” Burchak said, noting no additional power source or LED drivers are required. Jesco also recently introduced its WW2 LED series aimable outdoor wall-washers and floodlights. “Most tend to buy these for colour-changing purposes because these have a built-in controller inside and you can set a series of colours the lights can switch through over a period of time,” Burchak said.