Outside house lights are a great way to accent your outdoor surroundings, adding curb appeal with modern designs that uptick the value of an already-beautiful home. That said, before shopping around for the perfect fixtures to brighten up your spaces, it’s important to envision what you want and how to get it. While some homeowners strive to have resort-style lighting—ambient and cozy—others prefer their home to be lit up like the Vegas strip—for safety and security. Wherever you find inspiration, we’re happy to offer suggestions based on our experience with outside house lights. To start things off, have you asked yourself the question, “how bright should my outdoor lights be?” Continue reading to learn the low-down on how you should be lighting up your home.

How bright should outside house lights be?

There was a time when the design of outside house lights was just some floodlights throughout the property. As technology has vastly developed, lights have become more subtle, using a variety of fixtures with varied brightnesses for an overall effect. In terms of brightness, LED lighting is the most popular choice for modern lighting designs, and when referring to lights, manufacturers use lumens to describe the wattage. Moreover, how do you select from the many options that are available when you have a certain brightness in mind?

Select your outside house lights based on the lumens needed for the space

Since there is no single way to objectively measure how many lumens you need for a particular application, it’s best to do your research to know your lighting preferences.

As a rule of thumb:

Path lights are usually between 100-200 lumens
Step lights are usually between 12-100 lumens
Floodlights are usually between 700-1300 lumens
Pond lights are usually between 200-400 lumens
Landscape lights can vary but are usually between 50 and 300 lumens

Some things to consider when selecting the best outside house lights

Depending on your desired brightness or the application it’s needed for, there are some other things to consider before placing your next light order.

- Avoid the light bomb: The light bomb effect refers to stepping from a darkened space into a brightly lit area. The sudden change in illumination can be overwhelming and almost blinding. The best way to avoid this is to use more subtle and even lighting to avoid the “bombing” effect.
- Avoid light pollution: Climate change is evident, which is why it’s important to consider how many outside house lights you’re using and how efficient they are. Light pollution occurs when the light goes somewhere that you don’t want it to. Many modern fixtures are available with built-in glare and trespass guards so that light only shines in the intended direction.

What did you learn from today’s blog? Drop a comment below to share with our readers.

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How bright should your outdoor lights be?

How bright should outside house lights be?

Select your outside house lights based on the lumens needed for the space

Some things to consider when selecting the best outside house lights