Working with light and space

Light in the UK can be a precious commodity especially in the winter months. Garden lighting can be used to emphasize trees, shrubs and buildings during the hours of darkness or in conditions of half light.

It's a bit of a cliche to talk about 'outdoor rooms' or 'bringing outdoors indoors' but that is what garden lighting makes possible. Switching on the garden lighting and opening the curtains allows the garden to be enjoyed when it is too cold or wet to be out there. It can also stretch those rare summer evenings when it is warm enough to stay in the garden until the early hours.

Switching and control of the lighting is often the key to setting the scene in the garden that suits your mood or the social gathering that you are hosting - for example, brighter lighting for dinner on the patio or terrace, then more subtle lighting as the evening progresses. Wireless remote control gives the control of various circuits around the garden with the convenience of wireless switches in the house and a remote controller that can be taken into the garden.

As energy costs keep climbing the need to control energy use becomes more important. Finger tip control encourages us to use lighting while we need it and switch it off as soon as it is not required without having to go out into the garden.

Technology also means that the lights themselves are advancing. LEDs are now affordable and powerful enough to replace most of the low voltage Halogen lights that have been the workhorse of garden lighting in recent years. LEDs offer much lower running costs also give colour changing options.