Post Tops come in many shapes and sizes

May 31, 2018

Public lighting; whether it is for community areas or a street is mostly associated with safety and security of the people who use it. More often instead of planning for what lighting would be used for, public areas have too much lighting. And with every city or town corporation having their budgets tightened it’s an area where a little thought could be put in to save on energy bills.

Keeping the design of a community in perspective, lighting can aid important focal points like sculptures, landmarks, and important buildings, in addition to providing a sense of safety.

Where and how to effectively use outdoor lighting:

Whether it’s your backyard, the city streets or the university campus, efficient lighting can bring about a magical feel to each one of them.

Backyard Lighting:

If it’s your backyard a couple of things to consider are:

• What features do you want to show off?
• Are there things that don’t dazzle during the day and you want to add a little drama to those elements in your backyard when the sun goes down?
• And of course, think about functional lighting like a stair or a pathway

If you’re going to do it yourself, it’s better to employ the “less is more” principle. Rather than over lighting it’s best to highlight elements of areas that you want to impress people with. The human eye is drawn towards visual contrast and employing this principle you will be able to highlight the showstoppers in your backyard with minimum lighting.

What kind of light should you use?

Color temperature comes in handy when deciding on what type of LED you should use. Values of 3500K and above are considered cooler color temperatures. They turn bluer as the value goes higher. 3000K and below are considered warmer as they give out an amber tone with lower values. If you aiming for a relaxing and comforting atmosphere you should choose color temperatures between 2700 – 3000K.

For functional lighting you can add path lights, deck and step lights or motion activated lights which will add an element of play and solve your purpose. You can also use a LED post top for shadowing effect on a gravel pathway.

City or Community Lighting:

When planning for city street lighting or a university campus the places that need to be illuminated are many. Well lit bus and train stops help make people feel secure. Proper light poles can add height to brighten up these public transport service areas and encourages people to use them.

The various architectural nuances of a city like an entrance or archways and columns can stand out and make for a beautiful viewing at night.

Drivers would slow down their vehicles if they entered a street where the pedestrian areas are well lit. It makes them instantly take notice that they are entering a different zone and make them realize that they need to slow down.

Lighting Placement:

This is a critical element when deciding on city lighting especially for street lights. The aim should be to achieve consistent lighting and avoid long parts of darkness on the roads. DOT typically recommends lights every 125’ to 150’ for a 40’ width street. Not every street is the same, so lighting them shouldn’t be a one size fits all guideline either.

Things that should be taken into account to effectively illuminate streets are the width of the street and sidewalk, the kind of paved surface, if there are any trees or benches, length of the block, buildings in the vicinity and so on.

Ways to enhance the curb appeal are only limited by your imagination. And to add to all of it LED post tops consume have substantially lower power requirements, which translates to higher energy savings for you.

Did you know posts tops were first used as a means to protect wooden fence posts and not for curb appeal? They weren’t used as an aesthetic tool. They merely aided in stopping moisture seeping into the wooden fence posts. In the olden days, coffee cans were used for this purpose.

But today you can find a variety of LED post tops that can help you accentuate the personality of your home and your city.

If you are looking to jazz up your backyard or looking for ideas to enhance your community lighting take a look at our collection of LED post tops, poles and bases. We would love to answer any questions you have, you could reach us at 877-273-9533

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