Outdoor Light Fixtures Guide
Exterior home lighting offers safety and security in energy-efficient outdoor light fixtures for your entire property.
Day or night, outdoor light fixtures improve the safety and utility of your property. The right types of outdoor lighting improve access to shaded, narrow pathways, and add to the enjoyment of a backyard patio at night. Exterior lighting sheds light on an overcast day or boosts the effectiveness of a home security camera system.
It’s important to find the right outdoor light fixture for every purpose. Review the light features available before you determine which exterior home lighting solution will work best in each area of your property.
Security Lights
Multi-functional security lights help keep your home safe by illuminating walkways, work spaces, and building exteriors. Outside house lights work with monitoring systems thanks to motion sensor technologies that alert the system to movement at all hours, and create a space bright enough to clearly show recognizable features of visitors and intruders alike.
Look for security lights that provide plenty of bright light, such as flood lights and wall packs. For enhancing visibility for safe travel along sidewalks and stairs on your property, or to be sure every corner is accented to minimize shadows, landscape lighting offers a variety of outdoor light fixtures to light the way.
Features of Security Lighting
The different types of outdoor lighting share common features regardless of style.
Bright, Long-lasting LED Lighting
LED bulbs use minimal energy while washing the surrounding area with long-lasting, clear, and intense light.
Dark Sky Compliant
For areas with specific wildlife concerns, dark sky compliant lights cast ample outdoor home lighting along the ground or against walls without creating excess light pollution.
Energy Star Rated Fixtures
Energy Star certification means the fixture will save energy and save money over time compared to older light fixtures.
Motion Detection
Keep an eye on approaching visitors or scare off unwanted animals with lights that turn on when built-in motion sensors detect movement.
Photocells
Outdoor light fixtures with built-in photocells will turn on when the sun goes down or on cloudy days.
Motion Sensor Lights
The best exterior home lighting emphasizes both safety and security. One way to achieve both is with motion detecting lights that turn on when the onboard sensors register movement in the surrounding area.
Other outdoor lighting ideas for motion sensor lights include:
- Outdoor light fixtures with motion detectors assist incoming vehicles to ensure safer parking, as well as light the walkway to the front porch from the driveway or street.
- Motion sensor lights in the side yard allow for safer access via gates, or illuminate late night trips to the garbage can.
- Motion detectors can act as a deterrent by turning on a light when an intruder walks into the sensor range. This includes scaring off the neighborhood wildlife, such as raccoons.
The lights turn off automatically when the job is done. There are no switches to flip or timers to set, as the light only remains on while movement is in range.
Features of Motion Sensing Security Lights
There are common traits among outdoor light fixtures with built-in motion detectors, though each light type will have unique features to consider.
Adjustable Lighting
Some styles of outdoor security lighting are built specifically with multiple light heads to allow the light to be angled in different directions. They act as spotlights or offer a wide splash of ambient, all-over light.
Multiple Bulbs
Two or more bulbs allow more complete and directed light coverage.
Wet-rated
If the light will be exposed to weather, such as rain or fog, look for a light fixture rated for wet locations.
Residential Flood Lighting
One of the best outdoor lighting ideas for larger home spaces is flood lighting. Residential flood lights provide high-intensity, multi-directional light spread. A single light source covers a large area. Flood lights provide all-over ambient lighting, or direct downlighting, depending on the location where they are installed.
With exterior home lighting, the intent is to optimize the use of light without interrupting the enjoyment of the area. It is best to install a residential flood lamp 9 feet from the ground or higher to get the best light range, and at a 22-degree angle to direct the light along the ground.
Features of Flood Lighting
As with other types of outdoor lighting, residential flood lighting can be found with motion sensors and photocells. This saves on electricity and reduces the amount of effort required as there’s no more flipping a light switch to turn the light on before you go out.
Flood lights work well as outside house lights and as security lights around a shed, workshop, barn, and everything in between. Some flood lamps temper the spray of light with a diffusing shade built over the light array. This softens the glare while ensuring a large coverage area.
Other features that influence light quality and coverage area when selecting flood lighting include:
- They are available with LED or halogen bulbs.
- Single head flood lights are sold alone or in packages of 2 or more for use along extended pathways, patios, or around pergolas.
- Dual- or multi-head flood lights are useful over garage doors, and corner placement allows a wide angle to cover multiple sections of the house at once.
Landscape Lighting
Unlike most types of outdoor lighting, landscape lighting is installed close to the ground. It is often installed around decks or stairs, or along pathways. Motion sensors and photocells add to the convenience of this exterior home lighting while keeping your property safe to walk at night, from front sidewalks and porch steps to the back yard.
Landscape lighting is also used as accent lighting to emphasize the best exterior features of your yard and home. Angled lighting aims up against trees, fences, trellis, and walls to use light and shadow to add depth and character. Landscape lighting is a multipurpose outdoor home lighting that is both functional for safety and security, while it also adds to the aesthetics of the property.
Features of Landscape Lighting
The best outdoor lighting for landscape purposes is focused on safety, with the secondary function of improving the view.
- For security, look for outside house lights with bright LED bulbs or multi-bulb arrays.
- Motion sensors allow for safer passage along paths, and alert you to visitors or deter wandering neighborhood wildlife.
- Lights below the home windows deter break-ins by keeping the window-access points in the same plain view as a well-lit front porch.
Other exterior lighting ideas use landscape lighting to make your home or yard look bigger with a splash of light in strategic places along the walls of the house to accent the style. Solar powered landscape lighting equipped with photocells doesn’t require a power cord to an electricity source, which increases placement opportunities away from the house and reduces the amount of energy spent to light the yard.
Wall Packs
Not all outdoor home lighting is marked for home-use on the box. Outdoor light fixtures marked for commercial use are also good for residential applications. Often found around commercial buildings and parking lots, wall packs mount to the wall, roof tops, awnings, or stairs to cast wide angle light over a large area. They are ideal for outside garages or workshops, or other rural outbuildings.
Features of Wall Packs
The basic, function-first outdoor light fixtures like wall packs can be found with multiple features to make them safe and easy for home use.
- Look for energy saving LED lights with motion sensors to quickly light the area while in use.
- Photocell-equipped wall packs will provide ample light when darkness sets in, whether at nightfall or due to cloudy weather.
Wall packs are quality outside house lights and reliable security lights for commercial properties alike.
Other Outdoor Lighting Options
There are different types of outdoor lighting solutions to fit every location and purpose. Some outdoor light fixtures serve the property by casting bright, intense light over a large area, while others offer only a slight glow as a decorative accent or to set the mood. These outdoor lighting options are focused more on style than on security and add to the overall value of your home.
Other types of outdoor lighting for your home include:
The best outdoor lighting will address each unique challenge of all corners of the property, from security and safety concerns, to finding the right outside decoration to more fully enjoy your space.
Related Articles
Shop Products