By Kristin Waites

Warm weather makes it more appealing to be outside after the sun goes down, and do-it-yourself lighting projects can add a distinctive flair to outdoor gatherings. Mr. Electric® has ways to power your tomorrow and help make your backyard the place to be on summer evenings with these great DIY backyard lighting ideas.

This inventive project uses a small can, a thrift-shop vase and a wooden stick to create outdoor lighting that looks store-bought. It requires a few simple tools, but is very quick to put together. Real or battery-operated candles inside the vase will cast a dreamlike glow across your yard. Try making a few of these and lining a sidewalk or porch with them.

Recycle old wine bottles by making a mosquito-repelling torch. All you need is a bottle, washer, wick, and citronella oil. You can add decorative stones or rocks to the bottom of the bottle to decrease the amount of oil you need. This can also help weigh the bottle down if you are worried about stability. Place the torches around the backyard where the flame won’t be blown out.

This project turns recycled cans into lanterns that can be painted and hung outside. Some of the steps require extra time, so plan ahead. Lanterns are a simple way to add color and light to your backyard or porch. Not only are they fun and easy to make, you can customize the paint colors and design to fit the atmosphere you want.

This is a simple project that can add lots of character to your yard. All you need is an opaque glass light shade and a string of lights. The string lights can be coiled inside of the shade and when placed around the yard, add a muted glow. They are also simple but striking decorations during the daytime. A benefit to this project is that the orbs are easy to reposition throughout the yard. Invest in a few extension cords to make sure you can put the lights exactly where you want them.

When it comes to crime, it’s evident that there’s an appeal to darkness. Less visibility means less chance of getting caught. The 2014 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)—an annual Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program publication that’s released by the FBI—includes detailed crime data, such as time of day and type of offense. More than 18,000 law enforcement agencies participate in the UCR Program and provide data voluntarily. NIBRS’ Crimes Against Persons data shows that of the 1,093,466 incidents reported in 2014, 562,104 (51.4 percent) were between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Crimes Against Property data shows a lower—yet significant—39.4 percent of 3,493,904 reported incidents taking place between those same hours.

In an attempt to lessen crime and increase energy savings, many cities and businesses have started replacing traditional high-intensity discharge (HID) lights with LED bulbs, light engines, and fixtures. These actions have paid off. In 2008, Los Angeles began a project to retrofit 215,000 lights with LED lights. Since implementation of the project, color-rendering indexes (CRI) than HID fixtures. CRI refers to how accurately a light source reveals the true colors of objects, people, and surroundings. The CRI of an HID bulb can range from zero (high-pressure sodium) to about 65 (metal-halide). LED fixtures are capable of having CRIs of 75 and higher. Lights with a CRI of 80 or higher are considered to show colors most accurately and increase visibility, which is especially important for security purposes and parking lot surveillance.

For anyone who is in control, manages, or even owns a facility that has a parking lot for either employees, customers and clients, or both; you know that security and protection of everyone is paramount.

With outdated, inefficient, and low quality output per watt, which is all that matters when it comes to getting the most efficient lighting. The reasons behind this is because let’s say you have two different LEDs products, one outputs 135 lumens per watt while the other is at 120 lumens / watt. To power a light that outputs at 18,000 lumens; the 120 lumen per watt fixture will take 150 watts to reach 18,000 total lumens. While the 135 lumen per watt fixture will only require approximately 133 watts to generate same exact amount of light that the other higher watt fixture products.

See the important of lumens per watt? It’s everything, and we believe

Here’s another project of ours where we retrofitted an existing fixture in a parking lot (before and after):

The image list could go on, but the gist is this: LED has and will always improve your facility’s lot. Just look at the images yourself for the proof!

By choosing LED parking lot products for your facility, you are choosing higher quality along with higher efficiency products. LEDs (more specifically MyLEDLightingGuide’s) offer a better Color Rendering Index rating talked about before is about lumen depreciation. Metal halide and HPS experience greater and quicker depreciation in lumen output than any LED product does. So while a brand new and freshly installed metal halide fixture may look the same as an LED to start off its life; give it a few years and watch the difference. LED is almost guaranteed to be brighter for longer.

On the topic of saving money, how about the final benefit that will make you fall in love with LED technology and what it can do for your business.

While you need to be careful which LED products you purchase and from where you buy them from; commercial LEDs are just as open to rebates as any other.

Something called DesignLights Consortium (DLC for short) qualifies products and lists them on their site if they pass vigorous tests set by them. They offer two types of listing: commercial rebates but they also prove to be lesser of quality. Think; if a company offers quality lights what’s their reason not to get qualified? There isn’t, and that’s exactly our point.

Thankfully there are many DLC qualified products out their on the market, including ours. You can always take a look around just to say hi!

Ah, yes, the kitchen—the hub for social interaction, a space for culinary inspiration, and if you’re not careful, a prime spot for electrical problems. Truth to be told, kitchen lighting in Fairfax, VA is more important than you realize. You’re probably used to passing through your kitchen so many times on a daily basis that you don’t really take the lighting into consideration. But if by chance that you do notice it, you may looked around and said, “Wow, this lighting really needs to get in with the times.”

The living room seems a little dim, you think. Here’s the DIY solution you cook up: you head over to the hardware store, buy a brighter bulb, screw it into the nearest lamp and bask in the incandescent glow. Easy, right?Not exactly. Using a lightbulb with higher-than-recommended wattage for a specific fixture is known as overlamping. This seemingly innocent practice is actually surprisingly dangerous, and is one of the leading causes of house fires in the United States — right up there with candles, smoking and cooking mishaps.

Overlamping is one of the most commonly overlooked mistakes a homeowner can make, and it can be deadly. A 2011 electrical fire that killed 11 people in Brisbane — the according to home improvement blogger Taryn Williford. When you place an incandescent bulb with wattage that’s too high in the socket of a lamp that cannot provide the required electrical output, the ensuing heat and intensity of the bulb can scorch or melt the socket and the insulation of the lamp's wiring.  

Now you have prime conditions for arc fault. An arc fault occurs when a spark jumps through the air between exposed wires. This sounds dangerous, yes? It is — in fact, the National Fire Protection Agency and the National Association of State Fire Marshals electrical power. A CFL often has a tubular shape atop the familiar screw-bottom.

An LED (light-emitting diode) light is directional, rather than radiant. This allows the LED to use much less energy than an incandescent light or even a CFL. LEDs can also directly replace incandescent bulbs in some cases.

CFLs use a much lower wattage than incandescent bulbs and create far less heat, making overlamping situations far less likely. LEDs also use much less electricity and even remain cool to the touch. The risks of overlamping are negligible.

There are drawbacks to any lighting solution. Incandescent (even halogen) lights are energy inefficient. CFLs are made from materials that are terrible for the environment. LEDs burn out at a quicker rate. The right light for you is the light that makes you most comfortable in your home — and that’s a decision you need to make.

If you live in Maryland, Northern Virginia or Washington, D.C. and need schedule electrical repair service online now.