FAQs
Why Lighting?
Why should we install a lighting system?
Landscape and architectural lighting will increase your home and businesses security, safety and beauty. When we review your site, during the consultation process, we will point out where lighting can enhance your outdoor areas. Landscape lighting can enrich lives by creating outdoor environments that property owners want to enjoy well into the evening.
Cost
What does the average system cost?
Cost is affected by several things: number of lights, degree of difficulty for installation, number of transformers, etc. A rough estimate can be given during consultation and a final proposal will be provided before starting any work. Basic systems start around $1,500 installed. Southern Lights has and will install systems ranging from a thousand dollars to extensive systems that can run well into the tens of thousands. This “basic system” price represents multiple fixtures with one transformer. Keep in mind, we can always install systems in phases as your budget allows.
What is the cost to operate an "average" system?
Low voltage landscape lighting is extremely efficient to operate. Most of our clients use their systems for 4 to 5 hours a night in the summer and 5 to 7 hours a night in the winter. Most systems can be operated for less than $3-$5 a month.
Are our outdoor lighting systems efficient?
Efficiency is an important concern. Since we use high-end LED lighting, our outdoor lighting systems are more efficient than ever before. LED bulbs consume 75% less energy than your traditional incandescent bulbs, which means your entire lighting system can consume much less. You'll be surprised by how much energy the system DOESN'T consume. Here's a calculator supplied by https://www.energybot.com
Service Area
In what areas do you provide your outdoor lighting services?
We install our outdoor lighting systems all over the state of North Carolina. Our office is located in Raleigh so naturally most of our work is performed in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, and other surrounding counties near Wake County. However, we regularly travel all over North Carolina including Greenville, Lake Gaston, New Bern, Rocky Mount, Greensboro, Morehead City, Wilmington, Vilas, Atlantic Beach, etc. We will travel.
Installation
How long will it take to install my lighting system?
Most systems take between 1 to 4 days to install yet every system is different. Many apects have to be considered when factoring the time to complete an installation.
Will the installation damage our landscaping?
Our professional team is as minimally invasive as possible. We have actually been asked why we didn’t show up on a scheduled date to perform an installation and it was only until dusk, when the lighting system came on, that the property owners realized we indeed were there on the scheduled date to install their dream lighting system.