Your Outdoor Lighting Maintenance Checklist

When done properly, outdoor lighting adds a soft and subtle glow to your home after the sun goes down, emphasized your house’s best features, providing security, and adding an elegance that is hard to put into word. Outdoor lighting is essentially a home’s curb appeal at night, which explains why so many homeowners are utilizing professional lighting companies to transform the look and feel of their homes. Once you establish your outdoor lighting, it is very important to uphold a reliable semi-annual maintenance schedule. This will keep your lights in top shape and provide you with the most enjoyment and the lowest cost.

Run a Visual Check

The easiest way to examine the current state of your outdoor lighting is to complete a visual check at dusk or before dawn. Simply turn all of your lights on, or wait for them to click on with their automatic timers. Do a walk around of your property to make sure every light is on as it should be. It’s also not enough to just make sure the lights are on, but also ensure the lights are illuminating the features they should emphasize. It’s possible that tree limbs or plants might have grown enough to obscure the light fixtures, in which case you have a bit of landscaping maintenance to do. Take note of the lights that are out, blocked, or misaligned so that you can go through and fix everything at once.

Inspect Switches

The light bulbs and fixtures themselves aren’t the only things that matter. You also need to take a look at all of your battery-powered devices, like remotes and timers, and controls and switches. Your outdoor lighting arrangement won’t do you much good if you can’t turn anything on, after all. This is a good time to check that your timers still click on at the right times and all photocells can respond adequately between light and dark.

Get Out the Level

If you have ground fixtures that illuminate walkways and flower beds, use a small level to make sure they are properly aligned and situated in the ground. It’s easiest to do this at night when you can see their lighting patterns to make sure everything looks attractive.

With these simple steps, you can help your outdoor lighting investment to shine bright each night.