If you’ve never heard the term “light trespass,” don’t feel bad. It’s not exactly what people are talking about in line at Starbucks.
But you might have experienced it — if a neighbor’s misdirected landscape lighting blasted into your bedroom window at night or blinded you as you pulled into your driveway.
Cue the swear words.
What is light trespass? It’s lighting that escapes the bounds of your property and spills over annoyingly to neighboring properties. It’s usually caused by lights that are too bright or lights that aren’t aimed correctly.
“Certainly, pointing light at a neighbor's window is a good way to start a fight, but nobody is doing that,” says Ground Source landscape designer Eric Frisch.
Or maybe they are — they just don’t realize it. While professional landscape designers like Frisch know better, not everybody has the training in landscape lighting to avoid light trespass.
How to make sure you’re not that annoying neighbor?
Let’s shed some light on it:
1. Shrouds and Shields Are Your Friends
The LED lights used in landscape lighting are designed to be aimed pretty specifically, and that skilled aiming helps focus the light where it should go, instead of at your neighbor’s window.
But sometimes they need a bit of help, which is where glare shields, or shrouds, come in.
These light shields are accessories that you attach to the top or side of outdoor light fixtures. They focus light in a specific direction so it doesn’t go where it shouldn’t.
They can be part of the original light fixture or purchased separately and added on.
Once you figure out exactly where the light trespass is happening, you can adjust the shield to avoid shining light where it hits people in the eye and makes them want to punch you.
2. Watch That Wattage — and Other Lighting Lingo
Lighting has its own unique language and it’s kind of confusing. Lumens, wattage, color temperature are all part of creating skilled landscape lighting that highlights your home and landscaping without ticking off your neighbors.
A lumen measures the amount of light that comes from a bulb. It refers to a light bulb's brightness, intensity of light and visible light emitted.
Typically, the higher the wattage, the higher the lumens, and the more light output you’ll see.
Most landscape lighting ranges between 50 and 300 lumens, depending on what you’re lighting.
So if you blast your cute little ornamental tree with 500 lumens you’ll blind the poor thing— and possibly your neighbors, too.
Color is also a light trespass factor.
One end of the light spectrum has what’s called a “warm” color appearance, showing up in the red or yellow range. The other end is the “cool” range, appearing as white or blue.
The best colors in the spectrum to use in landscape lighting are the warmer tones. They don’t affect nighttime vision and produce less glare. The cooler colors create more glare, and more potential for light trespass light pollution.
3. Don’t Get Carried Away
Landscape lighting is pretty exciting. Once you see the amazing difference it can make, it’s kind of tempting to light everything.
Whoa, that date palm suddenly looks fantastic! Let’s light the lorapetalum, too! And the front porch! And our cool columns! And the neighbor’s cat who keeps wandering through!!
Hold on, please. Too much light is, well, too much light. It’s bound to spill into your neighbors’ yards as light trespass light pollution.
Beyond that, too much lighting will just wash out your yard. And if you light everything, none of it will look special.
Start with a few tasteful fixtures. You can always add more later if needed.
4. Check Your Lighting from All Angles
It’s not enough to happily stand in front of your house at night admiring how great it all looks.
How does it look to everybody else?
Can you see lighting glare from the road? How about walking down the sidewalk? From your neighbor’s patio? Light trespass isn’t always obvious to you. It’s about what other people see. Put yourself in their place.
5. Put Your Lights on a Timer
Set your landscape lighting to turn off before bedtime, Frisch suggests. Then you don’t have to worry about it keeping your neighbors awake.
6. Check Local Light Trespass Ordinances
Orange County FL exterior lighting guidelines prohibit “glare, obtrusive light, light trespass, and visual nuisance.”
If your neighbors are sea turtles, you need to be even more careful.
The Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission set sea turtle lighting guidelines in areas where sea turtles nest, to minimize disruption to the creatures.
Sea turtles are highly sensitive to artificial light, which can disorient them and disrupt their nesting and hatching.
Unlike your annoyed neighbors, though, they can’t even tell you that your poorly planned landscape lighting is a big pain.
Light trespass laws in Florida can vary greatly from place to place, even from one HOA to another, so it’s wise to check for specific rules applicable in your area.
Trust Your Landscape Lighting to Ground Source
Experienced landscape lighting experts know the technical details needed to avoid light trespass light pollution, from using the right bulbs with assorted beam spreads and wattage, to proper placement in your landscape.
Look for a Central Florida landscape lighting company that goes beyond basic wiring and fixtures. They should know how to plan the right color temperature and expert placement so your yard looks subtly stunning, without spilling over to intrude on your neighbors.
You don’t want your lighting to shine off into the sky, into your neighbor’s window, or into the annoyed faces of people walking by your house.
Let’s get started.
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