We’re sure you’ve heard this time and time again. Company owners tell you they want outdoor cameras on their fences as a layer of defense. Your reply is always the same: We agree with you, security cameras are absolutely necessary, but in order for them to perform optimally—to perform at all, really, at night—you need perimeter security lighting.

They then say, “But I can’t afford it—just get me a better camera.”

We Defer to Our Motto: If It’s Not Lit, It’s Not Secure

You know as well as we do that expensive  cameras exist, but are very hard to sell —and they neither make up for a security guard’s inability to monitor the property because it’s too dark nor act as a real deterrent for criminal or mischievous behavior.

Mythbuster: Low-Voltage Security Lighting is Now Available & Affordable

Now you can confidently tell the owners of these companies that you have a low-cost security lighting solution that will solve their problems: low-voltage security lighting.

Purchasing and installing pole-mounted security lights fixtures will cost between $7,000 and $10,000 per pole. That translates to $84,000 to $120,000 when lighting a 1,200 foot perimeter. Now consider other costs involved to get pole lighting installed: engineering, city permits, electricians, wire trenching, concrete foundations, pole installation, not to mention the ongoing cost to power the high power lights.

With low-voltage lighting, it’s low cost all around. Your own technicians that can install a data cable can install low-voltage lighting. Picture introducing low-voltage lighting to your clients at 50 to 80 percent less cost for material, labor, and service—all the while making your cameras work at night. You become the consultant in the customer’s eyes and close more business because you offered a better solution at a better bottom line.

For example, CAST perimeter security lighting fixtures don’t require a tough, time-consuming install involving an electrician. They are simply tied securely to your fence and turned on. Compared to the 1,200-foot legacy pole-mounted light project considered above, you are showing them a $84,000 job can now be done for $21,000, and your profits are close to $12,000 just for the lighting. You might be able to increase your sale by adding other products you sell including cameras, VMS, cable, access or any other solutions you offer. Being the consultant commands more authority in the sale.

What’s the Cost to Actually Light My Property?

The light bulb used in your home is generally a 100W bulb. If you choose CAST’s CPL1, it’s a low-voltage light that uses just 7 watts—a fraction of the energy consumed by a typical in-home bulb. That equates to running 14 of CAST CPL security light fixtures—or 285 feet of light coverage—for the cost of running one in your bedroom!

Now, let’s recycle the example above. If you’re lighting 1,200 feet, that equates to powering just four light bulbs in your house each month!

Low-Voltage Outdoor Lighting Makes Cents

A penny saved is a penny earned, but with low-voltage perimeter security lighting, your clients be saving a lot more than pennies both on their initial installation and the decades to come. And as you can see, you’ll also be earning big with larger profit margins, more competitive bids, and more sales as a result.

1. Plant Hardy Winter Plants

Most of the drab winter landscape comes from lack of color. We don’t mean a white-out of gorgeous snow, though, we mean the opposite: When the snow melts and you’re left with muddy brown fields and bare branches.

To combat this, colorful plants, trees, and shrubs can make all the difference. Think evergreens and different varieties of holly, which retain their brilliant greens throughout the winter—and female holly bushes offer the bonus of producing stunning red berries. Perhaps even more exciting and magical is seeing these pops of color after the first big snow of the season.

There are many varieties of hardy plants that will compliment your landscape as well as a number of native cold-weather bloomers that will do the same. One of the major benefits of adding native plants to your residential landscape is that they are used to area’s seasons and weather conditions. A few plants that are native to Pennsylvania include American Holly, American Witchhazel, Winterberry, Blackhaw, and Virginia Roses.  

Finally, another wonderful benefit to adding these types of plants to your back or front yard is the wildlife they attract—generally a variety of birds that feed off the plants or use them as shelter. Birdlife includes the Northern Mockingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Bluebird, American Bluebird, White-throated sparrows, wild turkeys, and the Northern Cardinal.

2. Hang a Bird Feeder

Another way to attract birdlife, rather than adding plants to your landscape, is to hang a bird feeder or two! Or three! Hanging a few feeders with quality bird seed throughout your property and near windows will breathe life into any dreary landscape by adding colorful movement and activity throughout the winter.

You don’t have to be an enthusiastic birder to get enjoyment out of spotting new and familiar beaked faces at your kitchen window. It adds to your routine, something to look forward to, and is a fun, safe, (and warm) indoor activity for young children to monitor throughout the seasons.

3. Add a Permanent Pop of Color

One fun winter project that will surely bring joy is painting pots, window boxes, or even your front door! If you’re beginning to notice that your outdoor clay pots are becoming dirty or discolored, your painted ceramic pots are chipping or losing their luster, or your window boxes are becoming weathered, cleaning them or painting them vibrant colors may be just the ticket! Similarly, consider repainting your exterior door or front gate. Opting for a brighter color will cheer things right up. It’s surprising how one little detail can change the entire feel of a property. Embarking on this small home improvement will also add value and curb appeal to your home.

4. Install Landscape Lighting

Naturally, one of our favorite ways to brighten winter scenery is to add outdoor lighting to your property. Illuminating your home, walkways, driveway, and especially your garden and outdoor living space can truly lighten a dreary winter night. The benefit of installing landscape lighting is that it is the only way to address the winter blues in the evening. All other measures are aimed at daytime enjoyment. Adding outdoor lighting helps extend that enjoyment into the evening hours. It helps you appreciate (and show off!) all the ideas above: the bright colored pots, the new window boxes, front door, gate, and your colorful winter-hardy plants. It enhances the beauty of your home and landscape while adding a level of safety and security to it, too.

5. Introduce Tropical Elements

Even if you have a sunny indoor pool or sun porch with big windows, these rooms can still feel a bit bleak come winter. So, bring the outdoors in. Or, better yet, bring the tropics to the northeast and bring them inside, taboot! Adding some lush green tropical plants and wild-colored tropical flowers can give you that vacation-like sense of relaxation; it can take you out of your everyday routine in the northeast and provide some stress relief as well as a cure for the wintertime blues. You can take it a step further by adding landscape lighting and showing off these cheery new additions.

Take Your Gray Skies Away

Any of the suggestions above will help add some color and life to your winter landscape. Our goal is to help take those gray winter skies away and make your home a colorful retreat for you, your family, and your guests. While it may be cold outside, these tips will surely bring some warmth to your surroundings and smiles to your faces. Happy Winter!

Your clients say they need outdoor security cameras to protect their property and assets. They say they are willing to spend extra on quality cameras, but the problem is, not even the good ones have the ability to see and record clearly at night. You remind them, while every camera works flawlessly during the day, it’s the cover of night that criminals prefer, and that’s when these cameras fall short.

Why Waste Money on Low-Light Cameras When You Don’t Have to?

Most standard cameras used outdoors are 1080p and, unless paired with a good security lighting system, are rendered useless in terms of what your clients need them for. The lens at night  cannot see or record anything of value (evidence) at night. If your clients are insistence on only using security cameras, their only other alternative is a low-light camera that are meant to perform in the dark. They meet your client’s requirement, but they will set him or her back $3,000 to $5,000 per camera which is a harder sell.

The issue that still remains, however, with only employing top-end low-light security cameras is that they don’t deter potential criminal activity as well as other perimeter security defense solutions. It’s merely a piece of the pie. And specifically, without an outdoor lighting system, security guards cannot spot any of this activity from the onset.

The Solution: A Low-Cost Outdoor Lighting System

The simple solution is to provide your clients with an inexpensive low voltage, perimeter security lighting system that offers light for their security cameras so they can work well at night—without having to spend a fortune on low-light cameras. Perimeter security lighting will also bring these cameras’ nighttime black and white images back to full color. (Those grainy black and white images are the result of an area that is lit poorly, causing the camera to perform improperly and default to a black and white image.) Specifically, when you add the CAST Lighting solution, the cameras can perform as they were meant to work both day and night—in full color.

If you provide quotes for security cameras with inexpensive, high quality outdoor lighting, you’ll have a competitive advantage against anyone you’re bidding against. They’re just quoting cameras. You’ve taken it to the next level. Their cameras will provide clear daytime images and insufficient nighttime images while yours will be superior no matter the time of day.

Perimeter security lighting also more effectively deters trespassing and criminal behavior, and further allows your security guards to monitor the premises actively.

Perimeter Security Lighting Installation: Before & After

Let’s use an actual example. Even with some security lighting, one water treatment plant in Oregon was constantly having an issue with people cutting its fence, messing with its trucks, equipment, and stealing catalytic converters. One of the main issues here was that the security lighting system would cause some of the camera footage to be blown out, making it impossible to see what was going on directly under the lights. At the same time, the inadequate lighting resulted in difficult-to-decipher black and white footage, which also contributed to the frequent break-ins.

Once CAST perimeter security lighting was installed—specifically our 7 Watt CPL1 fixtures—light was evenly distributed 14 feet on either side of the fence offering 28 feet of light, and the break-ins immediately stopped.

How Expensive is it to run CAST Perimeter Security Lighting?

Let’s put this in terms your client will understand: The light bulb used in your home is generally a 100W bulb. CAST’s CPL1’s are low-voltage lights using only 7W. That equates to running 14 of these security light fixtures—and therefore 285 feet of light coverage—for the cost of running one in your home!

Now Your Have a Competitive Bid & Greater Margins

When you share this statistic and the Oregon case study with your client, you now have a competitive advantage on every bid. You’re quoting outdoor cameras with security lighting while your competitors are not. Thus, your cameras will work at night while the competitors cameras will not. This allows you to sell more outdoor cameras and more lighting, provide your clients with peace of mind, help save them money while giving yourself a greater margin for profit.

Pennsylvania and the Northeast can be a cold and dreary place come winter, but with a little landscaping magic, it doesn’t have to be. We are lucky enough to live in a region with several lovely native plants that can offer a pop of color and bit of cheer during these gray months. Another major bonus is that these plants offer food and shelter to colorful bird species that winter in the area—another way to add life, energy, and movement to these bleak months.

A thriving native garden and bright colored birds might just be the remedy you need for any northeastern wintertime blues.

Below is an introductory list of native plants found in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland—specifically within the Brandywine-Christina watershed, a major tributary of the Delaware River. The Brandywine-Christina watershed runs through these three states and provides drinking water to approximately 60 percent of Delaware’s residents, according to the Nature Conservancy. This list of native plants was sourced from the Brandywine Conservancy.

1: American Holly

American Holly is known for producing bright red berries in the fall and its waxy evergreen leaves and their sharp edges. Because it is an evergreen, the American Holly provides shelter for wildlife throughout the harsh Northeastern winters. Its berries are also a valuable commodity for many regional bird species including the American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, and Cedar Waxwing, according to The University of Connecticut’s College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources.

When it reaches maturity, the American Holly is a tree that can grow as large as 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide. It is a tolerant, low-maintenance plant that does well in full sun to partial shade and can thrive in different types of soil. However, exposure to lots of wind can dry out the leaves.

2: Winterberry

The Jolly Red Winterberry is another type of holly, but unlike the American Holly, the Winterberry’s leaves turn a warm burgundy in the fall, then produce colorful red berries amongst its bare branches during the winter, hence its name.

Winterberry will fruit more berries in full sun and prefers wet area, but still does well in dryer conditions, according to The University of Connecticut. It can grew between 6 to 15 feet tall. Winter avian regulars include the American Robin, Hermit Thrush, and Eastern Bluebird.

3: Blackhaw

Blackhaw is a medium-sized deciduous shrub that can grow upwards of 15 feet. It’s a looker all seasons of the year, blooming lovely white clusters of flowers in spring, and pink flowers that mature to black oval-like fruit in autumn and winter, which offers a gorgeous purplish color during fall foliage.

Blackhaw is perfect for someone with—dare we say—a black thumb. It’s easy to grow and is adaptable to many conditions, according to The University of Connecticut. What we love about Blackhaw is its fruit’s ability to attract striking red cardinals against a snowy white backdrop as well as the Cedar Waxwing, Hermit Thrush, American Bluebird and White-throated sparrows.

4: Virginia Rose

The Virginia Rose is a native rose shrub that grows between 4 to 6 feet tall. It yields pretty pink flowers in the spring. At the close of summer, the Virginia Rose’s flowers turn to red rose hips that feed many species of birds and other wildlife throughout the winter. According to The University of Connecticut, its nutritious rose hips provide food to birds including wild turkeys, Brown Thrashers, the Northern Cardinal, and the American Goldfinch.

5: American Witchhazel

American Witchhazel is a large deciduous tree that can grows 10 to 30 feet tall. Deciduous means that it sheds its leaves seasonally—during cold months. In the American Witchhazel’s case, it flowers in late October to early November after its autumn foliage has fallen. The flowers are yellow with witchy, spidery petals. We love this tree because of its unique color—unordinary for the time of year and very different than the bright greens and reds seen with evergreens and hollies. Its branches are also an attractive site for birds to nest.

Enjoy Your Winter Landscape More with Outdoor Lighting

Electing to plant flora native to Pennsylvania and the Brandywine-Christina watershed is a great choice for a year-round landscape. It’s a simple and wonderfully natural cure for the wintertime blues as these native plants, shrubs, and trees come to life during the coldest, bleakest months. They also attract wildlife and bright-colored birds for quiet onlooking and birding.

Further, because this flora is naturally occurring in the area, it requires less attention and promotes a better likelihood that it will thrive. Additionally, it is often naturally resistant to the region’s pests and require less maintenance.

Once your native plants are blossoming and thriving come winter, we recommend adding outdoor lighting so that you can enjoy your gorgeous winter landscaping day and night. We can’t think of anything prettier than little bursts of color from plantlife after a freshly fallen snow!

We hope this quick list of some of our our favorites was helpful and inspiring, and become your top picks, too. Happy winter, everyone!

If you’re securing your perimeter with fencing and barbed wire, you’re likely protecting something very important. Here’s are five ways to stay extra secure with 24-hour protection:

#1: Security Cameras & Surveillance

The most obvious benefit of security cameras and 24-hour surveillance is that it deters crime, offering you more peace of mind. Generally speaking, the mere sight of a camera staring back at potential intruders is enough to ward them off. Should an intruder approach or breach your perimeter, hidden cameras are just as important to have to monitor and record suspicious and potentially criminal activity. This recording will become evidence if a crime is committed.

It is important to recognize, however, that your high-quality video cameras and surveillance are only as good as your perimeter security lighting system. In order to capture clear images and solid evidence, you must use security lighting that is compatible with the video surveillance system providing glare-free even light coverage in the field of view.

It’s also important to note that security cameras can be vulnerable to damage or misuse. Obvious security cameras can be destroyed, allowing trespassers to enter the premises unidentified; security camera systems can also be hacked, allowing criminals to disable your system or, worse, used against you to spy on your business.

#2: Automated Gates & Access Control

In conjunction with fences, automated gates and access control systems are used on many properties including industrial, commercial, hospitality and public properties. They play an important role in a security system, providing and controlling access to private and sensitive areas—controlling visitors, customers, and guests who enter a facility while keeping unauthorized people out.

Automated gates and access control also add a layer of convenience and cost savings in addition to security. Manual gates require additional staff and can be subject to human error. This isn’t the case with automated gates and access controls. Electric gates are also very difficult for criminals to force open, which not only secures your property, but also makes customers and employees feel safe around the clock.

A few common automated gates include: Swing gates with double or single drive applications; cantilever gates that use a counter-balance load-bearing design to support the entire weight of the gate as it reaches across the entryway; and rolling gates, which use a wheel to support the weight on a track embedded in a parking lot or driveway.

#3: Security Guards

Having a security guard on premises is a great way to deter and prevent crime. Even more so than a security camera, trespassers won’t think twice about abandoning their mission when they come face-to-face with a uniformed guard.

A security guard’s training, however, can vary when responding to a crime. Some may take a more passive approach, jotting down details and contacting the police. Others may be more active and be able to detain suspects. Hiring a trained and licensed guard from a reputable company ensures that the guard is both sensible and capable of performing his or her job effectively when faced with criminal activity.

#4: Motion Sensor Detection Systems

Motion detectors are a great addition to you security system, alerting you of possible intrusion and activating surveillance cameras and security lighting. Motion sensors allow security guards and remote security system personnel to react immediately and kelp keep your property and business safe.

#5: Perimeter Security Lighting

Perimeter security lighting is one of the most important features of an effective security system. In fact, perimeter security lighting should be your first defense—and really the only one you need to keep intruders out. Perimeter security lighting is critical because trespassers fear being seen—it immediately and without question deters crime. Fences can be vulnerable alone, but paired with security lighting, they become significantly more effective. Light also allows professional guards to do their jobs better while ensuring that video surveillance footage will produce clearer images to catch criminals in the act.

Security Lighting Increases Effectiveness

CAST Lighting’s design engineers have developed the first safe low-voltage dedicated perimeter fence illumination system designed to work seamlessly with modern intrusion detection systems and video surveillance cameras, making them more effective.

Further, not all security lighting systems will blow your budget. CAST’s security light fixtures are are compact, durable, and mount directly onto fences, offering low-cost, highly customizable solutions. We can’t emphasize enough how adding security lighting to your property will make it safer and more secure while making your other security measures more powerful, giving you plenty of restful nights.

In this blog, we’ll cover the basics of wall washing versus wall grazing.

What is Wall Washing?

Simply put, wall washing is an outdoor lighting technique typically used to light flat walls. The result is visual uniformity: a nice, evenly distributed light, which draws attention to the wall’s large, smooth vertical surface.

A true wall wash effect eliminates shadows and highlights the smoothness of the wall by flooding it with bright uniform light at a wide angle. Generally, light fixtures are placed no closer than 12 inches from the wall being lit. This landscape lighting technique is used to create the illusion of space, making the wall or building feel larger and more grand.

When Not to Use Wall Washing

Wall washing should not be employed if the goal is to accentuate features or textures. As its name suggests, it washes details out rather than emphasizing them.

What is Wall Grazing?

The opposite of wall washing is wall grazing. Wall grazing is a landscape lighting technique meant to enhance a wall’s texture by creating shadows. Wall washing eliminates shadows.

The wall grazing effect is achieved by placing directional lights close to the wall and lighting it at a narrow angle. This angle draws the eye to the wall’s texture by creating shadows. Shadows can be intensified or softened by moving the lights closer to or further from the wall, which changes the angle. (For a more detailed description of how to achieve perfectly executed wall grazing, read our blog.)

Wall grazing is ideal for highlighting unique textures and surfaces such as a property’s walls, a home’s facade, veneers, or bark on trees. You can also graze stone graze pillars and columns for a more stately or Romanesque feel. Grazing also works really well with statues and carvings, adding more character, depth, and drama to the piece.

Where Should Wall Grazing Not Be Used?

Wall grazing is not recommended for walls with extremes—walls with a lot of hangings or ledges—as these can create excessive shadows and extended darkness which can be visually unsettling. Wall grazing is also not recommended for poorly designed or constructed walls; wall grazing only accentuates this poor quality rather than make up for what it lacks.

To Recap

As you can see, wall washing and wall grazing are outdoor lighting techniques used to emphasize architecture and wall elements for decorative and landscape design reasons; but, they produce two very different effects.

Fixture placement plays a large role in creating these two distinct effects: For wall washing, the fixture is typically a minimum of 12 inches away from the wall, creating an evenly distributed light that makes the wall texture appear flat and expansive—ideal for creating visually smooth surface. For wall grazing, the fixture is positioned close to the wall—a maximum of 12 inches away—to highlight and accentuate the wall’s most interesting features, such as color and texture, through shadows. Each effect is very beautiful and distinctly different.

Grazing is the ideal outdoor lighting technique for highlighting beautiful or unique textures or irregular surfaces such as a property’s walls, a home’s facade, veneers, stone columns, or bark on trees. Because wall grazing produces a particular gradient of light, it does a superb job of accentuating these textures and adding more depth and complexity without any major home renovations. This translates to enhancing the look and design of your home for a fraction of the time and cost.  

Grazing works especially well on natural stone or wood, emphasizing the unique textures and the detail of the material. Other textured surfaces, such as faux stone and stone veneer look great under wall grazing, too. The weathered surface of stone is particularly suited for this landscape lighting technique, creating little shadows in the natural indentations of the rock and highlighting raised areas. Even simple concrete walls look more interesting as grazing accentuates its rough surface.

How to Implement a Wall Grazing Design Like a Pro

When installed correctly, wall grazing does a fantastic job of showing off a material’s texture, but when installed improperly, the surface material becomes washed out and the primary focus becomes the lighting itself—a cardinal error in the landscape lighting industry.

In places like the Southwest, rock is plentiful and is a primary building material for homes and businesses. We love this fact because it offers wonderful textures and rich colors that are begging to be lit up and showed off in a different way. During the day, the color of the stone is what is prominent, but at night—with expertly installed landscape lighting and employment of the wall grazing technique—the focus becomes the amazing rough, natural surface.

This is where the right fixture, light color, light level, and beam spread come into play. First, consider the color of the rock. Dark colors absorb light while light colors reflect it, right? The color of the stone or other façade determines the light level or lumen output necessary for the project and lighting objectives. Too low of a light level on a dark wall fails to deliver the desired effect, but, too much light on a very reflective surface causes glare and visual discomfort. Here are some quick rules of thumb: With walls that are no more than 10 feet tall, use between 100 to 150 lumens. For walls that are 10 to 20 feet tall, use between 150 to 200 lumens, and for walls that are 20 to 30 feet tall, use 200 to 350 lumens.

Next, consider the beam spread or beam angle. Generally speaking, beam spreads on the narrower side, or a beam angle of about 36 degrees, are used for wall grazing.

Now, unlike the beam spread and light level, the color or temperature of the light is primarily personal preference. The color of the surface may help you decide the light temperature. A warm light will bring out warm earthy colors like red or brown, while a whiter light will make cool blues and whites really stand out.

Finally, let’s discuss the type and placement of lighting fixtures required to achieve a successful grazing effect. We recommend wall lights or directional lights. We also recommend positioning your outdoor lighting fixtures directly beneath or to the side of your surface at a steep angle. This helps accentuate the texture on stone, stucco, brick walls, and tree trunks by creating broken shadows and interesting patterns on the irregular surface. Placement is also determined by the material being lit, but generally speaking, you should position fixtures within 1 foot of walls or tree trunks. Tilt the fixture away from the wall or tree to minimize the potential for a hot spot while providing a more even light distribution from top to bottom.

Practice Makes Perfect

Advanced landscape lighting techniques like grazing require a lot of practice. As you can see, it takes a great deal of planning, skill, and, experience to create a landscape lighting design that includes grazing, which is why we recommend relying on a seasoned professional to assist with this project. After reading all that’s involved in the art—and science—of grazing, we hope you do, too!

In the first blog of this two part series, we discussed how legacy pole-mounted security lighting was inadequate and the saying “more is better” when it comes to light is an antiquated approach to effective perimeter security lighting.

We took a look at some of the primary challenges that contributed to second-rate security lighting—including glare, shadows, reflectivity, and changing surface conditions. In this blog, we will dissect the remaining factors that pose problems for most perimeter security lighting systems and CAST’s lauded solutions to these issues.

Horizontal and Vertical Illuminance

Understanding Horizontal Illuminance

Most lighting designs use the common horizontal lux or foot candle light distribution plot to design a lighting system layout. This plot is essentially a scaled numeric rendering displaying in a grid format of the light that will fall on the “horizontal” ground surface using a chosen lumen fixture, beam spread, fixture spacing  and mounting height. So, imagine turning on the lights in your office. The light that hits the ground is the horizontal ground surface or horizontal illuminance. Now, hold that thought as we explain vertical illuminance.

Defining Vertical Illuminance

If you’re still imagining the office scenario we just described, vertical illuminance is the light that reflects off walls and lands on objects or a person’s face. Previously, vertical illuminance was disregarded, but as security lighting experts, we began carefully exploring this as a valuable security tool.

According to the IESNA, “one lux of vertical illuminance is sufficient to obtain a 90 percent probability of correct detection of an approaching person (but not facial recognition).” The 2003 IESNA findings reported, “Facial recognition can be made at levels as low as 2.5 lux. The IESNA Security Lighting Committee recommends that for facial identification the minimum vertical illuminance should be 5.0 lux.”

One inherent flaw when using pole-mounted fixtures mounted 20 feet or higher and typically spaced 100 or more feet apart is the difficulty projecting vertical illuminance on faces for identification, to read body language, to identify those who are familiar or threatening, and for security camera image capture.

The CAST Perimeter™ lighting solution resolves this issue by placing fixtures typically 10 to 12 feet off grade with spacing of 20 to 30 feet apart. This provides a light closer to the subject and better, more directed light that delivers both horizontal and vertical illuminance to enhance both camera imaging and on-site security detection.

Uniformity of Light Distribution

We believe uniformity of light is far more important than the amount of light falling on the ground. Even, consistent light distribution spread across an entire perimeter fence line is critical to avoid eye fatigue, eye strain, and quality night camera images.  Avoiding contrasting brightness levels, especially total darkness (what we call “black holes”) to full brightness (“light bombs,”) is paramount for security personnel and camera systems.

These site conditions must be avoided at all costs. Such extremes of uneven light levels severely reduce an individual’s ability to process images and capture site-specific threats.

Using the CAST Perimeter™ Security Lighting system, you provide even and consistent light distribution across an entire fence line or property border, which eliminates hot spots, black holes, or light bombs with a light level that bleeds off gradually into the darkness to extend the range of the viewing field.

According the IESNA, light uniformity refers to the evenness of light distribution on surfaces. For security, the lower the minimum to maximum, the better the eye adaptation at night. This reduces the necessity for eye adjustment when scanning or using an area, making it more comfortable and effective for guards to do their job while improving the CCTV camera images at the same time. A common uniformity ratio for security lighting is 4:1 minimum to maximum horizontal illumination—the light falling on the ground. Take note: 10 lux divided by 2.5 lux equals the 4:1 ratio.

Lux Levels: The Human Eye & Camera Imaging

The human eye has an amazingly effective working range. For example, the brightest full moon—a harvest moon—is only .108 lux while the typical lux value on a sunny summer day at noon is 107,527 lux. Most high quality 2-megapixel cameras and the human eye operate quite well at between 2 to 4 lux.

The CAST Perimeter™ Security Lighting system delivers the right light lux level for both effective camera imaging and optimal eye performance at night with the added benefit of greatly reduced glare for both. This achieves the main objective of producing a more secure site condition.

A Better Defensive Lighting Line

Legacy pole-mounted light covers much larger areas, but, this isn’t a solution by itself. The typical pole spacing is usually 100 feet, or 30 meters, apart. However, should a legacy pole-mounted fixture fail, the resulting unlit area is considerable, which creates significant vulnerability to the security of the perimeter.

CAST’s Perimeter™ Lighting System, on the other hand, spaces poles typically 20 feet (6.09 meters) to 30 feet ( 9.0 meters)  apart for added security. Should a CAST perimeter fixture fail or break, coverage is not completely lost as the two adjacent fixtures provide overlapping or backup light coverage. This redundancy is extremely valuable when properly securing a defensive perimeter.

Nighttime Video Surveillance Data Storage

Combination day/night surveillance cameras operate as two cameras in one: a day light camera during the day and in infrared camera at night. All video surveillance camera systems use some sort of digital storage to record events or perform video analytics, and the cleaner the image, the less storage space is required on the DVR or cloud storage system.

Better image quality lowers bandwidth and maintains a high frame rate, providing better real-time video. Even the best night cameras provide “noisy” or fuzzy images in darkness. This noise on the screen, which resembles snow, is the result of low-light conditions, which can require 50 to 100 percent additional data storage than during daylight image capture. Thus, a need exists to improve surveillance images at night while, at the same time, reducing the data storage requirements of the system. This is especially important when dealing with large surveillance systems as the data space requirement can add up exponentially.

The CAST Perimeter™ Security Lighting system applies the right amount of light to enhance camera image quality and also decreases the data storage requirements of the camera system at night.

Producing Better Security Lighting Systems

As you can see, there are vast and varied factors that play a significant role testing the effectiveness of a perimeter security lighting system: horizontal and vertical illuminance, the uniformity of light distribution, lux levels, camera imaging, glare, shadows reflectivity, changing surface conditions, and how the human eye interacts with light. Each of these influencers has revealed that today’s security lighting falls short.

In the last several years, CAST Lighting has painstakingly studied and researched each and every one of these troublesome sticking points and carefully prototyped, tested, and developed security lighting products that have proven to be solutions to the industry’s biggest issues. As a result, CAST Lighting has developed the best line of active defense using perimeter security lighting.

In our last blog, you learned The Biggest Problem with Today’s Perimeter Security Lighting is that legacy pole-mounted security lighting was never designed with perimeter security lighting camera systems or on-site security personnel in mind. It was meant as a passive defensive that would—in theory—keep intruders away. The logic was, “If it’s lit, it’s safe.”

But, as we know now, there are tons of problems with improper legacy pole-mounted security lighting including the old-fashioned “more light is better” mantra, which we debunked in our previous blog.

Let’s take a moment to take a deeper dive in what factors contribute to making most perimeter security lighting inferior and CAST’s innovative solutions.

Glare

Glare is a result of artificial light. It occurs at night when the human eye is most sensitive, which is an important factor to consider when designing any high-security lighting system. Glare isn’t only a problem for the human eye, but also CCTV cameras. Virtually all legacy pole-mounted lighting systems create glare.

Disability Glare Vs. Discomfort Glare

It is important to define the two types of glare: disability glare and discomfort glare. According the IESNA, disability glare is the effect of stray light in the eye whereby visibility and visual performance are reduced; discomfort glare, on the other hand, produces only discomfort and may not interfere with visual performance or visibility.

Disability glare causes the light-sensitive rods and cones of the eye to become temporarily overloaded, which renders an individual momentarily blind and susceptible to attack. The resetting of the human eye, or adaptation to darkness, can take anywhere from 15 to 120 seconds depending on the severity. This blindness creates vulnerability for onsite security personnel and should be eliminated or significantly reduced. That being said, disability glare can be a useful tool against intruders, which we will discuss in the second blog of this mini blog series.

In addition to eliminating disability glare, the right light level must be delivered to allow the eye to adjust to the artificial light and become comfortable in the night setting. This eye/site acclimation allows the individual to see into the surrounding darkness, become better aware of the property, and pick up movements that otherwise would be undetected.

The improved lighting condition allows security to identify and respond more rapidly to threats than in a glare-filled environment. Glare must also be avoided with all cameras as it reduces resolution quality and increases image contrast, making it more difficult to review captured footage. CAST Perimeter™ Security Lighting uses glare-free technology to avoid unsafe situations that create vulnerability, breaches in security, and poor image capture.

Shadows

Mounting fixtures 25 feet or higher on large pole lights that are typically spaced 100 or more feet apart unquestionably creates shadows with low plant material and provides intruders a place to hide. The better solution is  placing fixtures directly on the fence line at a lower mounting height with fixtures spaced 20 to 30 feet apart to reduce or eliminate these shadows. The result: better overall lighting and the reduction of cover for perpetrators to hide in.

Difficulties with Illuminating Tight Mesh Anti-Climb Fencing & Walls Using Legacy Street Lights

Most cyclone fencing provides ample open mesh space allowing in light and an unobstructed view of a property. This allows for active on-site security monitoring inside and outside the fence line. With the hardening of the fence line at many critical facilities such as airports, military installations, and substations, the fence height is often increased from 8 feet to 10 feet, and incorporates tight anti-climb fencing to create a nearly impenetrable perimeter line.

Often times, a “louvered mesh”, composite thick cell or a tight-wire cell is used to prevent any hand holds for a perpetrator to use to scale the fence. This is a great way to secure the perimeter, but proves challenging to illuminate with conventional street lights as the new high-security fence systems allow little light to pass through, especially at a 45-degree angle from the light source which occurs between street light spacing.

As a result, dark shadows are  created—an ideal place for intruders to hide. The darkness on the outside of the fence starts at the top of the fence and extends outward to the base. Distances of exterior fence darkness on the exterior of the fence are as little as 10 feet to as much as 20 feet depending on the mounting height of the fixture and the distance the street lights are mounted inside the fence line.

We recommend placing the street lights directly centered over the fence line, which requires precise construction, extensive fine tuning, and the ability to problem solve and create custom solutions for turns along the fence line usually situated on   uneven site conditions. Such circumstances can make effective security lighting using legacy pole systems extremely difficult and extremely expensive.

See Figure 1.1 for further details.

CAST lighting was the first perimeter security lighting system designed specifically for the fence line as well as these new tight mesh fence systems. This is achieved by providing even illumination on both the inside and the outside of the fence line, eliminating any space a perpetrator can hide while also producing better camera images and an overall better security lighting solution: The CAST solution is easier to install, easier to maintain, and provides 60 to 80 percent savings in materials and labor to the end user compared to legacy pole mounted systems.

Reflectivity & Changing Surface Conditions

Unfortunately, reflectivity and changing surface conditions happen all the time. Closed-circuit camera systems struggle with the reflectivity of changing ground conditions caused by rain on plant materials, puddles that create mirrored surfaces, and the reflective value of white snow. Overly-illuminated areas cause these conditions to worsen significantly, which interfere with camera images by creating unwanted glare.

The CAST Perimeter™ Security Lighting system delivers the right light level, reducing this potential problem before you even knew it was an issue.

Understanding How to Produce Better Security Lights

As you can see, glare, reflectivity, changing surface conditions, and shadows all play a large role in impacting the effectiveness of a perimeter security lighting system. In the second and final blog of this two part series, we will examine horizontal and vertical illuminance, the uniformity of light distribution, lux levels, how the human eye interacts with light, camera imaging, CAST’s solutions to the biggest issues troubling the industry, and how to develop the best defense using perimeter security lighting.

Are the homeowners you’re working with considering a landscape lighting system for their residence? We think that’s a superb idea!

Now, are you trying to help them do their research and provide them with accurate information so they can be informed buyers? Well, that’s an even better idea!

In this blog, we’ll help you master the complicated math used to determine the energy cost of any lighting project you do using LED technology. This may help decide the project’s scope—whether you light just the front of their home, for instance, or splurge and light both the front and back of their home.

But, before we jump right in, let’s discuss the number of fixtures that will be required to complete the project successfully. The amount of fixtures needed varies depending on the grandeur of the landscape package (how elaborate the landscape design is) and the scope of the lighting project (how extensive the homeowner would like the lighting project to be.)

How Many Fixtures Do I Need to Light My House?

Generally speaking, 12 to 15 fixtures are used to light a home that is about 2,500 square feet. This 12- to 15-fixture system will achieve three main goals for any quality lighting system: increase the usability, beauty, and safety of a property. This outdoor lighting system will include safety-enhancing path lights along the walkway from the driveway to the entrance of the home; path lights will also be used to beautify flower beds along this route; uplights will graze the facade of the home to further enhance its beauty; and spotlights will illuminate focal points around the front of the home such as large trees.

About 25 to 30 fixtures can be used for two primary of landscape lighting scenarios—either to light the front of a 4,000-square-foot home, employing the same design theory as mentioned above, or to light the front and back of a 2,500-foot home. The lighting of this homeowner’s backyard or private space would likely focus on lighting entertainment spaces such as the patio or pool deck area—unless the back of the home offers beautiful brick, stone, or stucco sides, which we would then recommend incorporating this feature in the overall design.

A 50-fixture system would likely be used to light the front and back of a 4,000-square-foot home. Again, this all depends on the scope of the project and landscape package, but we think it’s a pretty fair estimate.

Updating Your Outdoor Lighting Vocabulary

In order for a homeowner to truly comprehend how to calculate the energy cost of lighting his or her home with a landscape lighting system, a few terms and averages must first be understood.

First, because we are dealing with LED lighting, the homeowner must learn what a “VA” or volt ampere is. This is the term of measurement used for LED lighting. It is identical to “watts,” however, when referring to LED measurement, it’s known as a volt ampere.

The second is wire resistance. When electricity is being pushed through a wire, it requires more power over longer distances to get delivered to its final destination. This is known as wire resistance.

Thirdly, a typical light uses an average of 5 VAs or watts per fixture.

And finally, try to digest Ohm’s Law of Power:

Amps = Watts/Volts

Watts = Amps x Volts

Volts = Watts/Amps

Example: 8.33 Amps = 100 Watts/12 Volts

What’s the Energy Cost to Light the Outside of My Home?

Now that the homeowner understands these terms and concepts, we can explain the formula used to calculate the energy cost for his or her outdoor lighting system.

Let’s use the example of the 15-light fixtures used to light the front of a 2,500-square-foot home.

1. Multiple the number of light fixtures in the system (15 fixtures) by the average VAs per fixture (5 VAs): 15 x 5 = 75 VA.
2. Now add 15 percent for wire resistance: 75 VA x .15 = 86.25 VA
3. Divide the VA per second by 1,000: 86.25/1000 = .0825
4. Multiply your answer by the electrical rate in kilowatt hours (Kwh) to determine the cost per hour to run the system. Let’s say it’s 15 cents per Kwh: .0825 x .15 = .012
5. Multiple your answer by the average number of hours the lights will be on each night: .012 x 5 hours = .062
6. Multiple that number by 7 days a week: .062 x 7 = .433
7. Then multiply that number by 52 weeks: .433 x 52 = $22.50
8. The average cost to light a 15-light fixture system for one year is $22.50.

Using that same formula, a homeowner can deduce that the average annual energy cost for a 30-fixture system is $47 and the average annual energy cost for a 50-fixture system is $78.50.

It’s a little complicated, but this formula can be used to see how much money homeowners want to spend in energy costs each year, and therefore many fixtures they may elect to use to light their home.