By Vic LeBlanc

(All photos courtesy of www.lightsbylighthouse.com)

It used to be that homeowners would buy cheap spotlighting at home improvement stores, then take it home and tack it up.

Now, Lighthouse Landscape Lighting (lightsbylighthouse.com) and other companies who care to "do the job right" utilize lighting design plans and quality fixtures that are 100 percent solid copper and brass and carry a lifetime warranty.

Low voltage, 12-volt systems are less expensive to put in and maintain, and burn a fraction of the energy required by high voltage systems, which operate at 120 volts. These systems are made even more energy-efficient and easy to use because they are controlled by a transformer, usually installed on a pre-programmable timer, so lights come on and turn off automatically.

A Dynamic duo ­ together, Lighthouse Landscape Lighting founder Paul W. Anderson and his marketing guru (and dad) Paul M. Anderson are helping raise benchmarks in the fledgling outdoor lighting industry for providing quality service and products.

Setting sights on outdoor lights

Lighthouse Landscape Lighting first came on in the Washington, DC area. Established by Paul W. Anderson in 1994, the company began expanding its visionary beacon by offering franchise opportunities in early 2003.

The Andersons’ vision, as Paul M. explains, was to appeal to the owners of upper end homes, not necessarily the million dollar homes, and world of possibilities that could be introduced regarding aesthetics and security through the proper design and installation of outdoor lighting. By combining customer needs and wants the company and the fledgling outdoor lighting industry have both taken wing.

As Paul’s dad, Paul M. Anderson explains, "We actually got introduced to the business by another individual. My son was in his mid-20s at the time, had been a golf pro, and decided that you don’t get to play enough golf or make any money in that career path."

"Papa" Paul, a recent early retiree from a career as a sales and marketing honcho for a Fortune 400 company, helped his son start the business in late 1994, watching "from a distance" in Atlanta as he waited to pull the ripcord on his "golden parachute."

The two agreed to combine forces, utilizing dad’s business marketing background and junior’s actual experience in the field to maximize local business and then look at a franchising model that could help others to build on its success.

The 12 Lighthouse Landscape Lighting franchises are independently owned and operated separately from the Andersons’ DC company, but all share resources, including marketing tools such as a global web site presence. The Andersons currently serve the DC-metro area, including the high-end neighborhoods of Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Fairfax, Vienna and McLean.

Lighting the way for outdoor living

According to Paul M., professionally installed outdoor lighting is becoming a huge trend. "When (Paul W.) got into this industry 10 years ago, it was a pretty immature market. More of these kinds of products and businesses were appearing in California, Phoenix, and in the Sunbelt, but most of the country hadn’t been exposed to quality lighting and products.

"Then (as consumer interest increased), over the next 10 years, the technology and products got a whole lot better...products made of copper and brass never rust or erode and develop a great patina, whether you’re at the seashore or in an urban weather system. The less expensive aluminum fixtures with powder-coat (color) finishes deteriorate and when the powder dissolves the fixture falls apart."

Lighting design plans can provide illuminating artistic focus on ornamental trees and hardscape details, such as the risers along a brick garden wall.

Media coverage on outdoor living topics continues to grow in response to consumer interest. For example, he states, "The Washington Post ran an article called ‘The Outside Is In,’ acknowledging that outdoor living is a $43 billion industry right now, and includes furniture, pools, patios – all the things that frankly proper lighting really makes look a lot more attractive, particularly at night. Backyard living used to be some patio furniture and Tiki torches; now, people are investing quite a lot of money in what they do outdoors and lighting has become a big part of it.

"A lot of people have spent a lot of money, sometimes six figures on landscaping, so they obviously care a lot about how their property looks. That doesn’t even count the backyard patios, pools and decks where people spend a lot of their time."

A huge trend, he notes, is people who have been used to taking great vacations to exotic places deciding "why can’t we do this at our house?" Then they begin creating "mini-vacation" spots in their backyards. Also, in many markets, homeowners are choosing to "invest and nest" in their current homes, making major "quality of life" improvements rather than opting to move on a the "next level" house.

What to consider before ‘lighting up’

When looking to install outdoor lighting, consumers are primarily looking for curb appeal, according to Anderson. Proper lighting can help set off a nice lawn, the paint and texture on the residence, and literally turn up the appeal on the whole property.

Following many installations, Anderson says that homeowners experience such an emotional reaction, "the pure dramatic sense of the impact," as he calls it, that they wait for dusk to do a "walk up" from the street and some even get into their cars, drive around the neighborhoods in order to admire their new lighting as they approach up their driveways.

Safety and security is also a prime consideration for adding outdoor illumination. Proper lighting of dark walkways and otherwise shadowy landscaped areas creates more peace of mind and helps deter crime.

Dramatic lighting maximizes the "stately" night time presence of this estate home while providing security.

An average outdoor residential lighting system of Lighthouse Landscape Lighting design will integrate about 10 to 12 lights. "If you want to do it right, with a transformer, the lights, installation, including labor and wire will run about $2,000 to $2,500 and include a lifetime warranty to cover if anything breaks," Anderson says. Compared to Home Depot, he admits, the cost is not cheap but the results are well worth it.

In fact, he says, people generally like their lighting systems so much they add on to it later, as their budgets allow, or as they make further home improvements.

When designing an outdoor lighting system, Anderson says three "workhorse" kinds of lights are used:

• Uplighting, used to illuminate the front or façade, creates a soft, subtle, elegant look and also helps illuminate large trees.

• Downlighting removes shadows from walkways, paths, patios, step stones, and gardens.

• Wall washers and area illuminators provide light in to an area, garden, planter, or waterfall.

Augmenting specialty lights might include deck lights and stair lights that take away shadows, pool lights, among many others. "There’s even a barbecue light with a little gooseneck we can install, so you’re not grilling in the dark," Anderson laughs.

Requests for holiday lighting designs are stepping up. According to Anderson, "We have a couple of franchisees that do holiday lighting for their customers where they design a system and install it, get everything set up for the holidays, then take it down and store it for the winter, and next year put it back up. It’s a very unique business and short season. It’s unusual to talk to someone in July about your holiday lights to get it done but the franchises that have gotten into it are Dallas and Melbourne (Florida)."

An elegant, intimate backyard lighting plan uses low-key lighting, effective placed around the pool area and at the base of the palm trees.

When selling home lighting systems, Anderson explains, Lighthouse Landscape Lighting personnel actually schedule appointments just before dusk, wherever possible, and bring equipment to "give a demo" by setting up sample lights.

"Folks can see what it’s going to look like," he says, while they discuss specific areas where lighting might be desirable as well as other needs, and Lighthouse Landscape Lighting staff will share their opinions, if asked. The process might take about a half hour and once a client’s decision is made, an outdoor lighting package is generally set for delivery within two weeks. The actual installation time, which takes about four hours, is generally scheduled for the morning hours.

A few ‘idea bulbs’ re: hiring a lighting contractor

If you are in the market for a lighting contractor, Anderson cautions, look for solid experience. "One of the challenges [to the industry] is a lot of people do it as a sideline and consequently don’t know how to design a system or install it.

"We do about 20 to 30 installations a month (at our DC location), versus another contractor who might be doing one.

"Pricing volume is lower with us, and we offer a lifetime warranty, too, if a light or transformer goes bad, so [our customers] don’t have to buy another."

Training franchisees involves an intensive four days of initial training, plus quarterly and annual meetings.

Water elements and edges come alive at night with accent lighting that complements their design.

Anderson says that while the craft of installing low-voltage lighting has specific requirements, such as expert knowledge of voltage drops and the maximum allowable voltage on a wire, installers don’t need to be licensed electricians nor charge the requisite $150 per hour rates.

The Low Voltage Lighting Institute of the Americas, based in Phoenix, Arizona (www.lvlia.com) is charged with advancing the growing outdoor lighting industry. Currently, there are a scant handful of member companies that are national in scope, such as Lights by Lighthouse, but membership ranks are steadily increasing to include a number of locally based companies that include landscape lighting in their list of services, along with industry suppliers.

Just by responding to marketplace demand Anderson believes Lighthouse Landscape Lighting will expand from 12 to 20 franchises in the short term and, within the next five years, grow to between 40 to 50 franchises. In fact, the company has been so busy, he says, they have yet to explore opportunities in the state of California, where outdoor living is more than a trend, it is a long-established way of living.

"I’ll bet we have more than 100 leads already we haven’t begun to follow up," Anderson laughs.

Contact Lighthouse Landscape Lighting toll-free at 888 531-5483, or visit www.lightsbylighthouse.com.

Current franchise locations service Phoenix, Arizona, Melbourne, Orlando, Jacksonville (along with West and South) Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Maryland and the DC-metro area, Las Vegas, Nevada, Columbus, Ohio, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Charlotte, Columbia and Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston, Texas.