I cannot stress enough the importance of yearly outdoor electrical check-ups to ensure safety and functionality. Here are a few tips I would like to share with you. If you would like Farryn Electric to do this for, our electricians can handle all of our outdoor lighting maintenance needs. Please give us a call today!
Upgrade Burned-Out Lamps
Start by replacing any or all lamps that have burned out. An easy, fairly low-cost solution is to replace any medium-base incandescent lamps with screw-base CFLs, unless your building is in a cold climate where compact fluorescents are less effective. If your budget allows, consider replacing the fixture with long-lasting HID or LED lamps – their long lifetimes mean they require less frequent replacement, and the ensuing labor savings and lower energy consumption justify the slightly higher input cost.
A few ways to cut costs for lamp replacement in fixtures is to follow a relamping schedule, and replace all lamps at the same time. This way, the cost of equipment transportation is reduced. Another way to cut costs is to make sure the fixtures are not on when they are not supposed to be. A common way of dealing with lamps being on during the day is to use timers. Alternatively, photo sensors turn the lights on and off automatically.
If you notice that your fixtures are too far gone meaning excessive corrosion, the mechanical integrity has been compromised, or the lenses are broken or missing – then replacing the fixture might be the only option. Sometimes replacement is less expensive than repairs.
General Maintenance
Once you’ve replaced those lamps, take a look at the ones that are underperforming. Check to see how clean the fixtures are. If any are significantly dirty, start cleaning – you may be surprised at the results.
Start with the glass or plastic lens, cleaning both sides thoroughly. See if it’s possible to get any dirt off the internal reflectors. Then, check the gaskets to make sure they’re working as intended – if you find too much dirt inside the fixture, it could signal that the gaskets are not performing up to code.
Typically, whenever the bulb is replaced, you’d hope the electrician would wipe the lens off, we do at Farryn Electric. I’ve walked up to many fixtures at many homes that have a bulb that’s working, but the fixture’s just filthy. You’re paying for the electricity, but you’re not getting the light!
I am wanting to add some park lighting to my office building’s outdoor area, and I think having these lights last for a long time is important. I think that by maintaining, and replacing the lights when needed would really be a great way to keep the area looking professional. I’ll definitely have to keep this in mind, thanks for sharing!
My wife and I are trying to figure out better ways to light up the outside parts of our house. I realized that we still have incandescent lamps, so I’ll make sure to replace those with CFL’s since we don’t live in a cold climate. Hopefully this will help make the system more efficient. Thanks for sharing this!
I like your suggestion to use LED lights! I’ve shied away from LED in the past because I like a warm glow, but a friend was telling me that technology has improved and you can get that with LEDs now. We’ve never maintained our outdoor lights before, so I think that we’ll just go ahead and clean all the fixtures and replace all the bulbs once the weather warms up. I’m sure it’ll make our new patio even more lovely.
I love the idea to make sure you’re doing general maintenance all the time. I always forget that electrical things need to be checked up on otherwise they have problems. I’ve done my own maintenance for a while now, but I’ve also had to call an electrician a couple times, and they’ve been a huge help too. Thanks for the tips!
Electrical check ups would be an excellent way to keep your electrical features working well. I like your advice about looking around your home for any electrical problems that you might have. Being safe when working with electricity, I would agree is very essential.
This is some great information, and I appreciate your suggestion to replace the burned out lamps to keep your outdoor lighting in good condition. My husband and I just put in a deck, and we would like to install some outdoor lighting along the railing and the pathway leading to our yard. I’ll definitely try and keep all of them working by replacing any that have burned out so it continues to look nice. Thanks for the great post!
I like that you mention to upgrade burned out lamps. I’m trying to find some new lights for my backyard. It’s been a few years since we’ve replaced them. I think we should’ve replaced them a few months ago.
It is interesting that the lights that last longer also use up less energy. I think I will take your advice and upgrade my bulbs when I change out my street lamps. I appreciate your helpful information on the general maintenance of outdoor lighting, I will be sure to check all of my lamps, thanks for the helpful tips!
I like that you said that sometimes replacement is cheaper than repairs. When my lights started to fail I decided to just replace the electrical instead of repairing it. I think that it will last longer because I replaced it, but I couldn’t have done it without professional help.
My wife and I are thinking about getting some outdoor lighting for the backyard and want to make sure we take care of them. I like that you suggest making a schedule on when to change out the lights and bulbs so you can keep track of when they need to be replaced. It’d be nice to have all of the lights on the same “schedule” so we don’t need to constantly replace them at different times. We’ll have to try this out. Thanks for sharing!
My husband and I are planning on adding outdoor lighting for our front and backyard. I like that you suggested using LED lights. I think that it is just more energy efficient. We’ll make sure to talk to a professional for further advice. Thanks for the tips!
I like how you talked about first replacing any of the burned-out lamps outside when maintaining your lighting. As you stated, there are a few ways to cut costs for lamp replacement in fixtures and one of them is to follow a relamping schedule and replace all lamps at the same time. My boss is having me do some research on lighting because it seems like we have been spending a lot of money on our building’s lighting this past month. Maybe investing in some new bulbs would be a great place to start. Thanks again!