On November 1st, we will celebrate one of my favorite days of the year. A day of which I wish we could observe several times a year. A day that I will sleep an extra hour without consequence – the glorious fall back from Daylight Saving Day.
If you are a morning person, you may not have the same affection toward the day, but the day of time adjustment serves a greater purpose than rewarding the night owls. Daylight saving was the brainchild of Benjamin Franklin as a way to move an hour of morning light to the evening in the long summer days. This allowed for more light in the evening during a productive time of the year in an era when farming was common and lighting was a challenge. Daylight Saving begins in the second week of March to line up with the vernal equinox and then ends shortly after the autumnal equinox on the first Sunday in November. Thus, we spring forward and then fall back to the normal schedule.
Although the fall time change is in essence bringing us back to normal timing, the fact that we observe Daylight Saving means we experience a much more dramatic change of seeing nightfall sooner. This dramatic change has a major impact on your need for outdoor lighting. As we move into those cooler months, many homeowners will be returning from work in the dark and just because the sun sets earlier in fall and winter, it does not mean you’ve ended all outdoor activities such as entertaining or even safe passage to your front door for your guests. Typically the cooler temps means an increase in outdoor activity for popular fall sports and just enjoying a break from the heat. An appropriately lit space is important. This is the time of year to evaluate if your outdoor lighting is up to par. Here are some important considerations when choosing the right outdoor lighting from the lighting experts at Southern Lights NC:
Use the Right Timer
Many landscape lighting companies use mechanical timers in which you set the times the lights should come on and off. These type of timers would be great if our planet was not on a spinning axis in orbit around the sun, but since it is, so the sun rises and sets at a different time every day by about a minute. Those minutes make a big impact after a month or two and daylight saving makes a huge difference in when you need your lights to turn on and off. Remembering to adjust your mechanical timer is not something you should have to worry about.
Southern Lights Landscape Lighting only uses astronomical timers. These awesome timers are programmed by your time zone. Using latitude and longitude, the timer self adjusts to turn on and off at the appropriate times. They even self adjust for Daylight Saving.
Upgrade Your Fixtures for daylight saving
If you have been using the small plastic solar path lights from one of the big box home improvement stores, or some other do-it-yourself lighting system, you may start seeing a decrease in the lighting brightness and duration in the cooler months. The little solar path lights function best in the summer months, but unfortunately due to daylight saving, that’s when they are least needed. A problem we often see with existing lighting systems are the fixtures are not very effective because they provide inefficient light that is cool and uninviting. Southern Lights uses durable, high quality fixtures that provide efficient, warm natural lighting. All of our fixtures are made in the US and come with a lifetime warranty.
Save some green – Go green
Longer nights equal more hours your bulbs are burning, but they don’t need to burn a hole in your pocketbook. Upgrading your bulbs to LED will cut your energy costs significantly, up to a three quarters of the cost. Less energy also means a smaller carbon footprint and better for the environment. Good for the planet, good for your bottom line, Can’t go wrong. One of the few reasons homeowners or businesses are reluctant to make the switch is the cool coloring produced by LED bulbs. Fortunately, LED bulbs today come in a variety of lighting temperatures knows as Kelvin (a unit of measure for thermodynamic temperature, but also a term to describe the temperature of light). There is a true science behind lighting and the experts at Southern Lights have the experience and knowledge necessary to install a system that is naturally serene and functionally beautifully.
The longer nights are coming. Enjoy them and the daylight saving with a professionally installed lighting system by Southern Lights of NC.
Get a free consultation and estimate. (336) 451-4969. www.southernlightsofnc.com
