The default answer, and its problem
Almost everybody starts with a floodlight. It feels decisive. It usually is not. One bright light produces hard edges, and anything outside the beam is now less visible than it was before you installed it.Taken together, the advice runs against the instinct. Lower output, more locations, better placement: that is the whole approach. It costs no more than the floodlight approach in most cases, and it works.
Coverage, not intensity
What you want is coverage, not output. Spread the light out and the shadows soften. Soft light everywhere removes the hiding places. A hard beam makes new ones.
Permanent lighting as security lighting
The roofline run has a second job here. Light coming down the wall reaches the ground without blinding anybody. Automatic
https://evercrestlighting.com/permanent-lighting/ is the whole advantage, because lighting you have to remember does not get used.
Finding the problem
Most people have never looked at their own property after dark with any intent. Walk the perimeter one night before you buy anything. Look at the sides, the back corners, the gate and anywhere a structure blocks a light. That walk is worth more than reading about fixtures.
The motion question
Sensors are worth having in one or two places. The good use is somewhere nobody goes most nights. Used badly, they trigger on every cat and every branch until somebody disables them. The reliable base is consistent illumination, and sensors on top of it, not instead of it.
Aiming, and being a good neighbor
Poorly aimed fixtures do not stop at the property line. A floodlight aimed at the wrong angle reaches a neighbor's house, and it was not doing much for you anyway. Proper aiming, glare shields, and thinking about where the beam ends handle it without dimming anything. It is part of doing it properly. Good outdoor lighting stops at the edge of the property that is paying for it, and a plan that respects that is a better plan for the person who owns it too.
Cameras are only as good as the light
Plenty of properties have cameras and poor lighting. Even coverage is what makes footage usable. A single bright floodlight gives it a blown out patch and black everywhere else. Good security lighting serves both purposes at once.A schedule is part of the plan. Run it full through the evening and lower overnight.
Where to start
No two properties share the same problem areas, so the assessment happens on site. EverCrest Lighting does security lighting as part of a full outdoor lighting plan for residential and commercial properties throughout Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, based in Greenville. The consultation is free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].