You can avoid glare by making sure light sources are out of everyone’s line of sight. This can be done by aiming fixtures away from windows and seating areas, by shielding lights with hoods, shrouds, or louvered lenses, and by leaning on lower output and warmer color.
If you go to a backyard or venue and you find the outdoor lighting feels harsh at night, the reason usually comes down to glare. This is very fixable once you know what causes glare to happen.
Glare happens because lights are shining into people’s eyes. This can be due to where the fixture sits relative to sight lines, the aiming angle, lack of shielding hardware, or output plus color temperature. Homeowners tend to focus the most on that last one, but that’s only one element. And in fact, turning down the lights seldom addresses the root problem, which is one of the other three causes.
It helps to start with the simplest fix first. Hide the light source behind an object. A plant, rock, or low wall will do. If you do this, that alone can often solve the glare problem better than any hardware can and it costs nothing. When that’s not quite doable, you can add a hood or shroud that extends past the lens so the source isn’t visible from the side. Honeycomb or hex-cell louvers can also do this by blocking the view of the bulb from an angle while still letting light out. Both are standard on professional fixtures and largely absent from big box ones.
All this is to say, when you have glare problems, start with hiding the source and angling fixtures first. Don’t automatically turn down the lights. That can leave you with a dim, flat yard that still has glare, and that’s a worse situation all around.
Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Memphis designs glare-free garden lighting and full layouts across Arlington and the surrounding Shelby County area. If you would like to learn more, you can always request a consultation or call (901) 446-0688.