Lighting used to illuminate paths, drives and timber decking are called demarcation lights – it allows you to determine where one area ends and another begins. Lighting Styles offer a wide range for you to choose from.
See notes below for information on demarcation lighting.
Demarcation lighting is used around paths, drives, jetties and timber decked areas to highlight where one area finished and another begins.
Basic design principles – all areas
Wherever possible avoid creating glare – particularly near the edge of decking or around stairs and steps. If there is not much ambient light in your garden and you position a buried uplight shining straight up near or on a pedestrians route you will cause glare. The intensity of the buried uplight can be 500x brighter than moonlight or low ambient lighting. In bright light the eyes iris contracts to restrict the light entering the eye and in the above scenario may find yourself or your guests disabled by the bright light which can result in loss of balance at worst or discomfort at best.
Pathway lighting
If your garden does not have high levels of ambient light from street lamps or your own general lighting you may wish to highlight the path to avoid inadvertently treading in flowerbeds or borders. This lighting can be very valuable not only to ease navigation but also provides a little life to dark areas at night.
Timber decking
On a timber deck you do not want guests to trip or fall and a low level light provides assistance to avoid tripping as well as providing soft and subdued lighting that gives a pleasant effect. Colours that work well include white light, amber or yellow and red. In some locations blue led do look effective – but beware as blue light does seem more intense to the eyes at night.
Driveway lights
If you have a curved or sweeping drive or if you regularly have to reverse in or out of your drive you may wish to mark the edge of the drive with buried lighting either in the drive or in the lawn. This lets you and your guests see the driveway and avoid driving on lawn areas.
Piers and jetties
On jetties low level, glare free lighting is imperative to negotiate around hazards that would cause injury or endanger life. Marine use require fittings with resistance to corrosion and high ingress protection. |