Make Sure Outdoor Spaces Are Ready for Guests This Summer
After a long winter stuck indoors, avoiding the cold and snow, summer can be a time for socializing outdoors. This means homeowners may be looking for ideas to make their outdoor living spaces more inviting for gatherings with friends and family. Adding new outdoor lighting, installing a generator, or adding upgrades like a pool or hot tub can create a more exciting space for entertaining.
Add Exterior Lighting
Adding new exterior lights to a backyard can make the space brighter for entertaining and provide much-needed safety enhancements. Homeowners have numerous forms of outdoor lights available to them, such as:
Lights for Safety
For added safety outside, there are outdoor lighting options like:
- Step Lights: Steps lights enhance safety by illuminating the steps outside, whether to a deck or patio, to make it easier and safer for people to walk up and down staircases in the dark.
- Security Lighting: Security lights light large, dark spaces to prevent intruders and pests from entering a property. A popular form of security lighting is motion-sensing floodlights. These will turn on if movement is detected in the yard, giving unwanted guests the impression the homeowners have spotted them. Security lights are typically installed in high locations.
- Path Lighting: Pathway lights are installed on the ground, along walkways, to light up the path and make it easier to see and safer by preventing tripping or slip-and-fall injuries.
Lights for Decor
The following lights are typically installed outside for decoration and atmosphere purposes:
- String Lighting: Outdoor string lights create warm, intimate lighting for outdoor dinners and parties. They can be hung across a patio, on a deck, or even throughout the yard.
- Outdoor Wall Lighting: Exterior wall lighting can be used for safety and decor. As low-voltage lights, these can add light to a dark area of a yard or be hung around a patio or deck for ambiance.
- Lanterns: Lanterns are typically installed near doors or by a window. They provide additional light for dark spaces, as well as ambiance.
- Exterior Spot Lighting: Spot lighting, which can include uplights or landscape lighting, is used to showcase a feature in the yard. It can be shone on a tree, a statue, a pool feature, a water feature, or another part of the yard to illuminate it in the dark.
Get a Generator
When heavy thunderstorms or another electrical event occurs, homes can risk losing power. These power outages can last a few minutes, hours, or even days. This can cause significant inconveniences and safety risks. To avoid this, homeowners can install whole-house generators.
Generators offer many benefits for property owners, but the biggest advantage can be peace of mind that they won’t be left without power. A generator ensures residents have access to their lights and HVAC system, that essential items like medical equipment will work, and that their essential appliances – like the refrigerator – will run.
Keeping the refrigerator operating can also provide cost savings to homeowners. If a blackout lasts too long, all of the perishable food in a fridge or freezer will spoil, leaving the homeowners needing to replace it. When selecting a generator, electricians can help homeowners determine the right system for their house and their needs so the party doesn’t have to stop when the power goes out.
Add a Pool or Hot Tub
For homeowners who have an existing pool or hot tub or who want to add one to their yard to enjoy in the summer months, it’s essential to have an electrician inspect and repair the electrical wiring and lights. They must ensure the pool and hot tub follow all electrical codes and regulations to keep households and guests safe.
Before households start using the pool or hot tub each year, electricians recommend scheduling an annual electrical inspection to check the wiring. This will assure homeowners they are safe and that those in their pool or hot tub will be protected. A safety inspection lets experts inspect the wiring, allowing them to catch potential issues that need repair and giving families helpful tips for added safety.
About ICT Electric
ICT Electric has over 30 years of experience serving Rhinelander, WI, and Oneida County residents. They provide straightforward pricing, an on-time guarantee, and a satisfaction guarantee. Call them today for outdoor lighting, a whole-house generator, or pool and hot tub wiring services in Rhinelander, WI.