Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of San Diego is always looking to expand our product selection. We are now able to offer our clients Orbs by artist Tracy. Tracy specializes in Art Glass for water and land. These (orbs) are outdoor lighting fixtures that easily connect to a 12v low voltage transformer system which means we can easily incorporate these beautiful pieces with our lighting systems. What a great way to add art and color to your already fantastic landscape. These pieces are... Read Full Story

Landscape lighting can do wonders for lighting up those dark places around your home. It has been proven that "dark" homes are more likely to be broken into than homes that are well lit at night. When we design lighting systems we keep your security in mind. To go one step further in adding to your safety, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of San Diego has teamed up with Brinks Home Security. We can now offer our clients a complimentary installation of their standard residential security system... Read Full Story

Any business requiring travel and commuting will feel the impact of rising gas prices. I service clients all over the county and because of the rising costs I've made significant changes to my marketing strategy and how I schedule for client appointments. I have geographically altered where I actively market and how appointments are made. All business in a particular area happens on the same day. In the past I serviced my clients within a 24 hour period and now I've extended that to 48 hours... Read Full Story

There are tons of product on the market for making low voltage wire connections and I use different models depending on the job - large or small. The point of showing this particular connector is to show what a typical connector will look like. For low voltage wiring connections, it is critical to use a corrosion proof connector for your copper wiring. Electrical tape is not waterproof or corrosion proof - and it will fail as some point. What you want is a connector that will not let water... Read Full Story

Outdoor Lighting is what we do...and troubleshooting a system is fun for me! I enjoy the challenge and get a great deal of satisfaction in helping homeowners restore their systems. But if you are up for the challenge in getting your system back in optimal working condition you will want to organize yourself for efficiency. Everyone will have their own way of organizing but this is how I like to operate: -Start at the power source - the transformer. Turn it on manually (override the timer... Read Full Story

Light bulbs are a very important component in landscape lighting. When it comes to the use of MR16 bulbs (in uplighting, downlighting and accent lighting) I prefer to upgrade to GE bulbs. Not only do they last long, the reflectors will last as well. The "silver" lining of a bulb is what reflects the light out of the fixture. If you find your lighting seems to be dimming over time take a look at the bulb. If the "silver" mirror-finish is flaking, your light is not being pushed out of the... Read Full Story

Many of my clients have voiced their frustration with maintaining their low voltage lighting system. One common frustration is changing the bulbs or figuring out why the system is not turning on. What I find is they usually have a small problem (one bulb out) which is not corrected and leads to bigger problems (several bulbs out). I recently serviced a client's system of over 100 fixtures. The couple had not enjoyed their system in over two years. The original installation was well done in... Read Full Story

This is what I've come to understand about landscape lighting in San Diego. A good percentage of residents in San Diego have some sort of lighting system in place. For some it is the do-it-yourself kit by Malibu and for others it is a high quality system installed by your landscaper or professional lighting company. So this is what I offer my clients. It is not my goal to sell you an entirely new system when what you have is in good shape. If you are happy with your system but require... Read Full Story

On Saturday I spent my day installing a lighting system for a client. She had a system in place so to save her on the costs, I incorporated what she had (still in good condition) with the new fixtures. What I found to be the biggest problem was the wiring she had in place. She originally had her landscapers install the lights and what they did is run one long wire run from the back of the house to the lights in the front. The voltage at the front light was at 3.4v; so dim you didn't know it... Read Full Story

I'm very new to the world of blogging and I can say, Wow. There is so much to learn and so much to do but what I'm told is once you are established it all seems to roll. Talking to myself isn't the most exciting thing to do but at least I do enjoy my company. Lighting design is more than putting a fixture in the ground under a tree and connecting it all to a wire. It takes a great deal of planning for proper placement, fixture selection and the wiring diagram must be completed properly. The... Read Full Story