
- George Winterling Lighting Inc.
1. Professional Lighting Designers can specify better and more custom equipment than are available to the general public and often at better prices than well advertised brands.
2. Professional Lighting Designers contemplate the entire property and needs of the home owner rather than just up light a few trees and provide path lights. Complete plans can be phased in as budget allows. Proper outdoor lighting takes into consideration decorative lighting on the home, views from the interior, security, aesthetics and equipment that is energy efficient and lasts a long time. I suggest the best quality that the client can afford and try to hide the fixtures as the landscape matures. There are fixtures that are really attractive, but when lighting trees and landscaping, it is not about what they look like, it is about what they do.
3. A Professional Lighting Designer will be on the job with the installing contractor to insure proper placement of equipment as well as supervising the adjustments at night.
4. A Professional Lighting Designer can show you examples of their work and examples of what similar homes will look like.
5. A Professional Lighting Designer will discuss the features, functions and benefits of the equipment and assist the client in comparing equipment and costs.
6. A Professional Lighting Designer will prevent costly mistakes by non-lighting professionals. Mistakes waste time, money and equipment. Bring in the lighting designer at the beginning of the project. I have been called too many times after the architect and electrical contractor could not make the client happy and it is sad that it could have all been avoided. It also makes the architect and electrical contractor look like the bad guys when the lighting designer fixes the project. The real problem is that the architect and electrical contractor get to be paid 3 times and the lighting designer only gets paid once. We also lose future referrals from the architect. Lastly, the client may really like what we did, but doing the work 3 times creates a bad experience for the homeowner.
7. Not every project requires a lighting designer! If you just want to uplight a few trees and place pathway lights, flag the locations yourself after the trees are installed, and tell the electrical contractor to run power to those locations. Fixtures can be installed anytime. Tell the contractor where and how you want to switch the lighting. Why pay a professional to do that?
We actually offer a lighting review service to look at homeowner plans for very little cost. We will not design, but may suggest equipment and offer location ideas. We can suggest places to purchase equipment that are not in the big retail stores.
8. How your home looks at night is as important as it is in the daytime. Consider a lighting effect that illuminates the perimeter of your home all night. The new lamps take little energy and any law enforcement agency will tell you that the bad guys will go to a dark property rather than take a chance of being seen in the light.
Do not turn the lights on when you go out to advertise that you are not home or turn lights off when you go to bed. That’s just an invitation. Put certain lights on a photo cell or time clock and never establish a pattern of whether you are home or not. Never come home to a dark house. There is no excuse with the new technology.
9. A Professional Lighting Designer keeps up with the new technology and knows the best manufacturers and installation specialists.
10. A Professional Lighting Designer is an integral part of your design team. Working with the architect, landscape architect, interior designer and contractor, very early in the design process, can help you provide a beautiful and unique way for you and your guests to experience your home at night.