When you see beautiful lighting, your immediate instinct isn’t going to be to do a bunch of math. But you might be surprised at just how much the hours can add up when you add quality outdoor lighting to your home. Think of all the time after the sun sets when you could otherwise be outside. It adds up to more than 250 hours over summer alone. We’ll explain how we arrived at that figure in this post.
Suffice it to say, professional outdoor lighting is what makes those hours possible, turning patios, decks, outdoor kitchens, walkways, and landscaping into spaces you can use after dark instead of abandoning at dusk. So the real question is: what would you do with 250 more hours outside?
Where Does the "250 Extra Hours" Come From?
We’re counting summer as Memorial Day to Labor Day. That’s about 100 summer evenings. If you gain two extra hours every evening, that comes to 200 hours total. If you gain three extra hours every evening, it’s 300. We split the difference and call it 250, assuming that you can do a lot of outdoor living between 8 pm and 10:30 pm.
Not every homeowner is going to spend 250 more hours outside. But the option is there, and even much smaller amounts of evening time add up over a whole season. And we’re not even counting spring or fall when the days are shorter and the weather is often still comfortable.
What Could You Do With 250 More Hours?
You could have more dinners outside. You could spend more time with family and friends since entertaining doesn’t have to end at dusk. You can stay cozy around the fire pit with seating comfortable, usable, and crucially, still easy to find in the dark.
You can enjoy the landscaping you spent time and effort on for longer whether you’re outside or looking out the window. And you can just relax more outside. The whole point is to use your yard at nine on a warm evening.
You Don't Have to Light Your Entire Yard
More hours outside does not require a million lights. A professional design prioritizes the areas where you spend time. They pay attention to how people find their way in the dark. They look for the features worth highlighting. Then they design around that.
Picture a warm evening where an early outdoor dinner naturally stretches late into the night. As the sun drops, your patio and landscape lighting quietly take over. By ten o'clock, the fire pit is still going and guests are still lingering. Proper lighting makes it easy for nights to run long.
Is It Worth It If You Already Have a Great Backyard?
It’s even more worth it then. If your outdoor spaces feel wonderful but you don’t use them when the sun goes down, then you can get a lot more enjoyable time with a relatively small investment. If you already have landscaping, a patio, a deck, an outdoor kitchen, or a fire pit, lighting lets you use those spaces for longer.
If you are weighing timing, our guide to the best time of year to install landscape lighting is worth a read.
Looking for Outdoor Lighting in Northern Ohio Near You?
The best way to picture those extra hours is to see your yard lit after dark. We are glad to walk your property and design a plan around the spaces you want to use. Outdoor lighting is all Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of Northern Ohio does, and we work with plenty of homeowners in Westlake, Hudson, Aurora, Brecksville, and across the region.
Call Outdoor Lighting Perspectives for outdoor lighting companies near me.
For experts in outdoor lighting design, installation, and maintenance, call one of the most trusted names in the business. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives is eager to speak with you. Call us today at (440) 336-8650.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many extra hours can outdoor lighting give you?
Spending two to three additional hours outside after sunset can add up to more than 250 hours over a summer. The exact number varies, but even small amounts of evening time add up across a season.
Does outdoor lighting make a backyard more usable?
Yes. It improves visibility and creates comfortable, intentional light around patios, decks, walkways, and gathering areas, so those spaces stay usable after dark.
Is landscape lighting worth it?
For homeowners who want more use out of their outdoor spaces after dark, yes. It helps you get more value from landscaping, patios, decks, and other investments you have already made.