A home beautifully illuminated with LED landscape lighting technology fully maximized is a wonder to behold. First-time visitors to the neighborhood ease off the accelerator and slow to a crawl just to let the grandeur of the visual display soak in. Captivated onlookers circle the block, thinking to themselves, “What would my home look like with landscape lighting?”
Neighborhood walkers slow their pace or stop and linger to gaze in awe upon the beauty and mystique of the well-illuminated home. The home exudes a warm, welcoming ambiance that tempts neighbors to stop in for a friendly visit by the pool or around the fire pit.
Any home can become an aesthetic wonder with a well-designed and installed landscape lighting plan. Well-designed landscape lighting communicates visual value every evening when the sun goes down and the lights come up. The combination of jaw-dropping, traffic-stopping curb appeal, and the personal satisfaction of enjoying one’s home into the evening is priceless.
The Science and Art of Landscape Lighting: Color Temperature
The achievement of beautiful landscape lighting is both an art and a science. Here are several core design principles that illuminate this point.
Color Temperature Sets the Tone
The average pedestrian strolling by a beautifully illuminated home does not realize that all white light is not the same. LED lights are available in a wide array of color temperatures. Color temperature is different from the Fahrenheit heat temperature of the LED bulb. LED light can vary in color temperature ranging from a warm white to pure white to cool white. These different temperature options enable the designer with a keen aesthetic eye to choose a light temperature that accentuates the colors in a home’s exterior and landscape.
Color temperature, a method to describe light from a lightbulb, is measured in degrees of Kelvin, abbreviated ‘K,’ on a scale of 1,000 to 10,000. Kelvin temperatures for residential and commercial lighting applications typically range from 2000K to 6500K. The lighting design specialist who understands kelvin light temperature can select the best light temperature to set the perfect tone and make the colors pop.
For a better understanding of the kelvin temperature scale, here are some color temperatures of common light sources:
- 1000-2000 K - Candlelight
- 2500-3500 K – Traditional incandescent lightbulb with a tungsten filament
- 3000-4000 K - Sunrise and sunset with a clear sky
- 4000-5000 K - Fluorescent lights
- 5000-5500 K - Electronic flash
- 5000-6500 K - Daylight with clear sky and an overhead sun
- 6500-8000 K - Moderately overcast sky
Warm white light (2000-3000k) ranges in color from orange to yellow-white in appearance and creates a warm, cozy, welcoming ambiance. Cool white or bright white color temperatures are found between 3100K and 4500K. Lightbulbs within this color range give off a neutral white light that may also have a slightly blue tint. The daylight color temperature of light is above 4500k; lightbulbs at this color temperature give off a blue-white light that mimics daylight and is crisp and invigorating. These light temperatures have applications both inside and outside the home.
Color Temperature Applications for Brilliant Lighting Effects
The applications listed below demonstrate the importance of knowing and understanding the science of color temperature. A skilled team of landscape lighting designers and installers can use color temperature principles to achieve a brilliant landscape lighting plan that enhances the client’s home and property.
Warm white:
- Enhances surroundings with warmer colors such as cedar or brown
- Brings out natural-colored walls and other types of stonework
- Highlights foliage with red, orange, or yellow tones
Pure white:
- Enlivens surroundings with dark materials, like deep black or gray slate and granite
- Energizes foliage with blue or purple tones
Cool white:
- Embellishes contemporary homes and structures
- Emboldens commercial structures and signage
Bright white:
- Accentuates evergreen trees and shrubs
- Makes commercial applications pop
Why Partner with Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth?
The lighting design and installation professionals at Southern Landscape Lighting Systems of Acworth, GA, embrace the reality that beautiful LED low-voltage landscape lighting requires knowledge of the science of lighting technology. They also understand that a fabulous lighting design transcends the physics of light and requires talent, artistic gifting, and an eye for aesthetic beauty.
Contact Southern Landscape Lighting Systems to learn more about outdoor LED lighting. The Acworth office can be reached by calling (678) 324-6842 or by emailing lindsey@southernlls.com.
