12 Jan

Outdoor Lighting isn’t Just for the Holidays

52376816 - hanging decorative christmas lights for a wedding ceremonyThe holiday season is always an exciting time for outdoor lighting as houses transform with festive red, green, blue, and silver lights that emphasize the cheer of winter. But once January rolls around, the lights are packed away until next year, and homes are left looking ordinary and unassuming. That is, unless landscape lighting immediately takes the place of holiday lighting. With the help of innovative outdoor lighting solutions and an experienced lighting team to implement your ideas, you can design a stunning landscape that is just as appealing as those Christmas lights. Read More

09 Dec

Attention: Watering Lights Does Not Make Them Brighter!

favim-com-23212It’s that time of year again when customers often find that their holiday lights have mysteriously decided to stop working. We know it can be frustrating but 95% of the time it’s because water has tripped the system while they were running. Here’s some simple solutions to keep your lights running uninterrupted this holiday season.

Sprinklers

To prevent your automatic or timed sprinkler system from soaking your light strands and tripping the GFCI, we recommend that you reset the timer on your sprinkler system so that watering occurs while the holiday lights are off (such as in the early morning).

GFCI “Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter” Outlet Trips

A GFCI is installed in most homes as a protection system that shuts down the flow of electricity to an electrical outlet when it senses a ground in the line. When outdoor holiday lights become excessively wet this will often cause the GFCI to trip. Should a GFCI circuit trip, it will need to be reset to restore power to the outlet.

Wait until the rain or sprinkler system has stopped and the light strands have had a chance to dry out before attempting to reset the GFCI. Should you decide to plug your lights into an alternate GFCI protected outlet, please remember that you must still reset the previous circuit to restore the flow of electricity to that outlet.

15 Nov

Three Top Reasons to Hire a Lighting Team for the Holiday Season

46044585 - christmas decorated houseTis the season! As the holidays approach, you’re no doubt busy trying to buy gifts, plan parties, decorate the house, and keep up with your other numerous responsibilities. Though you may not be able to hire a personal gift buyer, you can at least alleviate some of you stress by hiring a professional lighting team this winter season. Rather than trying to string lights up on your roof and hoping for a decent outcome, you can hand everything over to a lighting company and let the expert work their magic. Read More

15 Oct

Types of Landscape Lighting for Your Outdoor Space

landscape-lighting2Outdoor lighting is one of the most direct ways to transform the appearance of your home. Chances are that you can probably envision a house or two that you have always admired for its sophisticated and inviting appearance, especially with its carefully placed outdoor lighting after sunset. If you are interested in creating that type of atmosphere outside of your own home, these three types of lighting will help you get there. You can partner with a professional lighting company to design, install, and maintain your outdoor lighting system. Read More

21 Sep

3 Ideas for Superb Halloween Lighting

halloween-lightingHalloween is always an exciting time of year for homeowners who relish the idea of decorating with wild colors and spooky objects. More than any other holiday, Halloween lends itself to the creative and bold ideas that can’t be done throughout the rest of the year. However, if you’re like many other people out there, the thought of perfecting your own Halloween lighting can feel overwhelming, especially with the many other responsibilities piled high on your plate. Hire a professional lighting company to take care of your Halloween decorating needs so that you can trust experts with the installation, maintenance, and tear down of your Halloween festivities. Read More

08 Sep

The Importance of Surge Protection to Your Outdoor Landscape

surge-protectorAs a homeowner, your property and valued belongings are always at some type of risk, whether from an intense hurricane or a thief. But when it comes to all of your carefully placed outdoor lighting, a power surge is the most destructive enemy. It’s all too easy to assume that your lights and electronics will always function perfectly, but it only takes one power spike to lose everything and gain a quick reminder of the virtue of precaution. Read More

07 Sep

Hassle Free Halloween Lighting and Decorating!

With fall just around the corner, Decorating Elves wants to remind our customers that we offer full service installation for all of your Halloween decorating needs! Our lights and displays can vary anywhere from  spooky graveyard scenes to adorable pumpkin patches.

Commercial--Graveyard-Scene--Park-Setting-with-tombstones,-skeletons-and-wrapped-palm-trees-www.decoratingelves.com

Cartoon Themed Front Yard Halloween Display www.decoratingelves.com

No matter the theme you’re looking for, our designers can work with you to create a scene that will have the whole neighborhood talking! With our full service holiday lighting we’ll provide all the material, do all the installation, handle any maintenance, and take everything down when your Halloween festivities have ended.

Halloween Decorating Options include:

– Halloween Lighting
– Graveyard Scenes
– Skeletons, Monsters, Goblins, Pumpkins
– Hanging Props, Wire Frames
– Caskets
– Theme Colors
– Specialty Lighting, Strobes, Colors
– And much, much more.

https://www.decoratingelves.com/holiday-lighting/halloween-lighting-and-decor/

1-800-MY-LITES

www.decoratingelves.com

06 Sep

Decorating Elves Expands Its Lighting Team

Decorating Elves expands it team by welcoming the newest member to their sales and desing team. Jacob Taylor is the newest member of our sales and design team. He recently joined our team after moving from his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. HJacob Taylore looks forward to using his bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he graduated in the spring of 2016. He has an eye for lighting, aesthetics, and design, that he has displayed through his excelled work in photography. He brings a new and young creative strategy and outlook to this ever changing industry. He looks forward to enjoy the Florida weather and helping customers throughout the Tampa Bay area “Make it Look Awesome”.

 

Decorating Elves serves the greater Tampa Bay metro area including Hillsborough County, Manatee County, Pasco County and all of Pinellas County.

Landscape Lighting beautifully illuminates your Home and Property while offering Safety, Security, and Night Time Enjoyment. For all of your Outdoor Lighting needs you can find more information at www.decoratngelves.com

01 Aug

Five Benefits of Outdoor Landscape Lighting

outdoor landscape lighting tampa fl

Today’s homeowners see their landscapes as a source of pride, a refuge for relaxation, and a place to enjoy good times with family and friends. Outdoor landscape lighting brings these spaces to life after the sun goes down, providing an unmatched aesthetic effect while adding safety and usability.

  1. You add beautification with a spectacular night-time look and feel. Focal points stand out and become more captivating. Textures not seen in daylight become eye-catching detail. Architectural features can be accented, which brings the building and the landscape together for a resort-like feel.
  2. You add usability by extending hours to enjoy your yard, landscaping and the outdoors at night. Now patios, pools and children’s play areas become entertainment venues or just relaxing places to unwind.
  3. You create safe passage with illumination. Hazards such as steps, low-hanging or thorny vegetation, abrupt changes in elevation or debris in a walkway, can all be avoided with properly placed landscape lighting.
  4. You add security. It’s a well-known fact that a well-lit landscape will deter potential intruders by eliminating dark areas and shadows that would conceal movement around the property. Learn more about security lighting features.
  5. You increase your property value by bringing it to life at night. It also provides excellent return on investment by creating a stunning first impression when viewed by visitors.

If you want to enjoy your outdoor living spaces to the fullest, consider the benefits of professionally installed outdoor lighting. Decorating Elves systems offer improved safety, security and nighttime enjoyment, not to mention the investment as an addition to enhancing nighttime curb appeal. 

Click here to request a free landscape lighting estimate today.

12 Jul

Protect Your Landscape Lighting Investment – Install Surge Protection

surge protection landscape lighting tampa

Central Florida, specifically the Tampa Bay area, is known as “The Lightning Capital of the United States” because of the frequency of lightning strikes the area sees. A lightning strike is an electric discharge between the atmosphere and the earth. These strikes carry a very high level of energy and can cause extreme amounts of damage in your home – especially to your electronics and to your landscape lighting system (even more so if it is LED). It does not take a direct strike to cause issues or failures because the energy from a strike can carry up to 2 miles through the grid.

Why you should add surge protection

It is important that home and property owners add surge protection within their houses to provide protection from lightning and other electric surge issues. It is important to have surge protection added to your main panel but you should also have your electronic devices protected with inline protectors. You should have your outdoor landscape lighting system protected also, whether it is on a branch circuit or at the box for 120v system, as well as a surge arrester on the 12v secondary side of a system.

The LED’s that illuminate and emit light in our new outdoor lighting systems are small electronic components, with diodes, drivers, circuit boards, regulators, and more. Each of these components is very susceptible to surge and lighting strikes. Automation devices are also very beneficial when it comes to protecting your lighting system from surge protection. On all of our new systems that we install we protect these highly sensitive electric components by using surge suppressors and surge arresters at the main panels and at outlets. We are also adding surge protection to existing LED systems.

If you want to review surge protection on your outdoor lighting system, please contact Decorating Elves at 727-474-2628 and we will schedule an appointment.