Whether you’re interested in illuminating the area surrounding your home or your business, landscape lighting cost is something to consider when looking into hiring a professional service provider. While the cost of professional landscape lighting might seem steep compared to a DIY alternative, or not investing in any kind of lighting at all, there are a few reasons why it’s a worthwhile investment.
Benefits of Professional Landscape Lighting Installation
Having landscape lighting installed can be beneficial in numerous ways. It makes your space look better, encourages safety, and improves the value of your home for both you and the next owner, should you plan to sell. Landscape lighting includes pathway lights, spotlights, tree or shrub lights, area lights and other elements to help showcase the beautiful features of your home or business, as well as prevent unwanted elements.
Safety
One of the main reasons homeowners and businesses owners look into installing landscape lighting is for safety reasons. Having a well-lit yard or area surrounding your home can help deter criminals and animals that might be attracted to or rely on unlit areas for cover. In these instances, well-lit areas outside your home or can help ward off both of these elements.
Landscape lighting is also important for the safety of welcome guests to your home as well as you and your family. Having a well-lit landscape helps guests get around safely and prevent slips, trips or falls from inadvertently wandering off a path or catching a foot on something in the yard. By utilizing pathway lights and other area lights, you can be sure everyone knows where to step safely.
Ambiance
Another primary reason to invest in landscape lighting is to create ambiance. Especially if you’ve already invested in your landscaping and outdoor beautification. Extend your outdoor entertaining after the sun goes down. Illuminating your garden, patio, deck, porch, walkways, pool or other outdoor areas can create a special ambiance for outdoor entertaining, or just enjoying by yourself or with your family.
Despite the cost, professional landscape lighting design can really make a dramatic difference in the appearance of your home and could potentially add resale value. Having well-designed outdoor lighting adds a certain “wow” factor to your property and gives it a cozy, welcoming feel. It also lets interested buyers know that the space has been well maintained and designed for living in and enjoying.
How Much Does Professional Landscape Lighting Cost?
How much professional landscape lighting costs depends on a number of factors. It can run anywhere from a thousand dollars to several thousand dollars, depending on the size of your space, how much lighting you’re having installed, what kind of lighting you’re using, how long the installation is going to take, etc. While you might be able to cut down on these costs slightly by installing your own lighting, if you’re going to want more than a few lights in your outdoor space, it’s worthwhile to go with a professional, for a few reasons.
Hiring a professional to design and install your landscape lighting might seem like an unnecessary added cost, but it can potentially be a huge value to you, in both monetary and nonmonetary ways. First, a professional is a professional: They know what they’re doing, they know how to properly place lights, they have access to high quality materials and fixtures. Plus, with a professional service, taking care of any maintenance, upkeep or changes your landscape lighting might require is easy; just call them up and have them come over. Many services include these kinds of maintenance or checkups in their installation cost. Professional lighting installers will size the system and use the proper wiring to achieve the optimum lumens, wattage and voltage drops. They are able to provide several options such as Integral LED vs LED lamps, LED vs incandescent, and adjustable lumens vs non-adjustable. They should also provide detailed As-Built drawings which is imperative for future additions and serving. Check with the services you are quoted to see what they offer.
Going with a professional for your landscape lighting especially makes sense if it’s bundled with other professional landscaping services. If you’re having your space landscaped, including lighting in the design will save you money because it’ll take less overall time for your landscapers to plan the lighting around your landscape design and will go into the general costs for materials, labor, equipment and more. Adding lights separately after installation can create added costs in the form of landscaping changes or repairs that might need to be made in order to accommodate the lighting design. So, if you’re hesitating at the added cost of including lighting installation in your landscaping project, think about the extra added costs you’ll probably incur if you plan to install lighting in the future.
Why is Quality Landscape Lighting so Expensive?
While landscape lighting, especially professional landscape lighting, can be a splurge, as with many things in life, you usually get what you pay for. Going with a professional can save you precious time and effort (and, in some cases, money!) compared to attempting to install lighting on your own. Ultimately, it’s up to you and your lighting needs to determine whether it’s worthwhile to invest in the help of a professional service provider that can help you install your landscape lighting correctly and help you maintain and enjoy it for years to come. Many professional lighting fixtures and lamp options have up to 15 year warranties.
For more information on landscape lighting or help with your next landscaping project, contact the team at Green Turf.
