It’s human nature to search for the best deal before making a purchase. When faced with the same product for $40 or $80, most people will select the $40 choice. However, the cheapest option is not always the best option, especially when it comes it home improvement investments. Your outdoor lighting system is no exception.
Accelerated Wear and Tear Read More
There’s nothing like summertime weather to put you in the mood for relaxation and socialization. While there are plenty of exciting summer events to attend, like concerts and brewfests, you can also make the most of your own outdoor space. Whether you have a huge three acre backyard or a small deck or patio, you can still embrace strategic outdoor lighting techniques in order to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible. Read More
In addition to beautiful stone hardscapes and strategically placed landscaping, outdoor lighting is one of the most transformative additions to your outdoor space. Whether utilized in a business or residential application, outdoor lighting extends the usefulness of a space long after the sun sets, but its purposes don’t stop there. Outdoor lighting can also be used creatively to set a specific atmosphere and emphasize the best features of your outdoor area. Thanks to cutting edge technology, all of this can now be accomplished from the palm of your hand. Read More
The 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
Outdoor 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
Halloween 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
As 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sea Turtle Nesting Season is March 1st thru October 31st. For millions of years female sea turtles have been coming ashore to lay their eggs on beaches. 
In the past the hatchling turtles were guided to the ocean by an instinct to travel away from the dark silhouettes of the dune vegetation and toward the brightest horizon which was the light from the sky reflecting off the ocean. In present times however, many coastal areas are highly populated. It is important to adjust beach lighting for sea turtle nesting. There are many artificial lights near the beach that can deter females from nesting and disorient hatchling sea turtles. The hatchlings travel inland toward the artificial lights, where they often die from dehydration, are preyed upon by fire ants and ghost crabs, or sometimes crawl onto the road where they are run over by cars.
One of the easiet ways to decrease beach light pollution is to simply replace existing light bulbs with those that emit light less detrimental to sea turtles. This can be done during a routine maintenance. Studies have shown that light in certain wavelenths does not affect hatchling and nesting sea turtles as musch as others. By simply modifying the bulbs, beachfront property owners can make a significant difference to prevent hatchling from from urban light disorientations. For more wildlife lighting information check out our webpage.
Let’s all make sure to do our part and become Dark Sky compliant. For more information on becoming Dark Sky compliant and to find out what options are available to you call Decorating Elves and we can discuss what fixtures, lamps, and shades will work for your property.
For additional outdoor lighting blogs and topics visit Decorating Elves and for a pro in your area check out Outdoor Lighting National Consumer