Deck Lighting Adds Ambiance and Safety
Deck lighting can have a beautiful impact on your deck while increasing safety for you and your guests. The increased useability and safety on your deck will allow you to use your deck into the evening and late hours without taking way from the ambiance or beauty of your deck and yard.
Safety Will Increase
In the dark, your deck can be a little treacherous as you navigate furniture, steps and stoops. Sure, you can use bright flood lights or porch lights to overcome the darkness, but it will also take away from the beautiful deck you have built and the yard you have groomed. With deck lighting, create enough soft light to move around safely without destroying the relaxed mood or that beautiful night sky.
Highlight steps, doorways, and other areas where foot traffic is likely and obstacles might be found. The really cool thing about deck lighting is that it not only provides increased safety, but it also makes your deck look better at night. Keeping the lights on even when you are not using the deck can add ambiance to your view.
Step Lights
Deck lighting is available in several basic types, with each type having a wide variety of styles. Since steps are obviously an area of safety concern, lights are specially made for that application. You can either install lighting directly into the riser or you can install lights on posts or under rails that illuminate the steps. Either method works and looks great, so it's really a matter of which type offers the look you want.
Railing and Post Lights
Since steps aren't the only place you will want to illuminate, lights are available to install on the railing posts or under the railing itself. Installing the lights close to the deck surface works best. It is also important to have the light shaded/covered so it will not shine in your eyes. Also shades/covers will help cast the light to the deck. When planning the level of the post or railing lighting consider your eye level in a sitting position on the deck- you do not want the light in your eyes.
Post Cap Lights
Lighted post caps is another great option for deck lighting. There are many different styles. Stainless steel, pvc, copper...different shapes and colors - so you can find one to suit your taste and your budget. Most are quite attractive and finish off a post nicely. Just keep in mind that they are mounted on top of the posts, so they will naturally be higher than any of the other methods. Also consider lights that you can control, rather than automatic on/off lights, since these lights are higher in your line of site and may effect your vision and overall effect.
Installation of Deck Lighting
Most deck lights are fairly easy to install yourself. The first consideration will be determining which type of power source your deck lighting system will use. A system that uses a standard 120 volt household current should be installed by a qualified electrician. Most systems are low voltage, so installation by a home owner can be a cost effective solution. All lighting will have some sort of code compliance- please check with a qualified electrician or your city inspector before you select your lighting.
Hiding the wiring is a challenge for any deck lighting scenario. PVC post and railing systems offer the best options when running wire for your lighting.
- Wood Only : Wood railing bottoms have to be routed to hide and secure the wiring. Wooden posts have to be drilled down the center to allow a wire to be hidden from view. It takes a very long drill bit and patience to do this.
- Many PVC, composite wood and aluminum railing systems are extruded and hollow and will allow for easier passage of wiring along it's rail length.
- PVC post systems are much easier to wire. PVC posts systems (which have a structural wooden post center and a pvc sleeve/cover) allow you to cut away ( with a router down the wooden post length) a channel to hold the wiring. Since the post will be sheathed with a attractive all weather pvc sleeve, your wiring will be hidden from view and protected from the elements. The sleeve surface would only have to be drilled where the light is installed.
- Cladded Posts: A third method is to clad the posts with pvc or wood. In this method the center wooden post would have a wiring channel cut down the length with a router similar to the method used with a PVC post systems described above. Then the pvc or wood boards are fitted and secured to the center post.
Solar Deck Lighting
If hiding the wiring is a problem for you solar deck lighting is another option. Solar lighting may be an especially attractive option if you are considering deck post cap lighting, since that usually presents the greatest challenge to hiding wires. The low light output is not an issue since that is what you want on your deck to start with. The drawback to solar deck lighting is that you usually don't have the option to turn the lights off or to adjust the strength of the light cast. Almost all are automatically turned on via a photocell. Solar lighting with on/off switches are available, but you would have to activate them one at a time.
Rope Lighting
Rope lighting is another option for deck lighting. It's easy to install and is relatively inexpensive. It will provide a nice effect when installed on the underside of the bottom rail.
