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Porch lighting plays a huge role in the overall look and feel of this area. Not only are they practical and good for making a space safer to navigate, but they can also increase the curb appeal and therefore the value of your home. Below, we explore some of the frequently asked questions surrounding porch lights and offer a few ideas for choosing LED porch lighting for your home.
What Is a Porch Light and What Are the Options for Lighting a Porch?
Modern porch lights are exactly what they sound like—illumination for the exterior entryway of your home. They can create a warm area to welcome guests to your home while adding a layer of safety. Most homes have porches, and there are many decorative and functional lighting options to consider to welcome guests safely and in style.
This means not every porch will benefit from just any outdoor wall light stuck to the walls. Like lighting in any other area, considering lighting in this area is important before implementing the design for porch outside lights.
Below are a few general lighting styles you can consider for your porch, depending on how it is shaped and laid out:
– Flank the Doors –
Putting an exterior wall light on either side of the door can create a welcoming area. It will light up the door itself while also giving the porch a bit of symmetry.
– Use Vertical Space –
If you have a tall porch, you can make the most of all of that open area with a porch ceiling light that hangs down. A pendant light that has a long cord and a decorative shade will make a huge statement with little effort on your part—all while providing ambient lighting.
– Recessed Lighting –
Adding a recessed porch light as your ceiling porch light is a particularly good idea if your porch is smaller or has a lower ceiling. This will prevent the space from feeling cramped by large fixtures and will therefore be more inviting to your guests.
– Globe Ceiling Lighting –
One tried and true way to use front porch lighting is to install globe-style lighting above. Just one medium-sized globe can give the porch a homey feel and make it seem cozier.
– Wall Washing Lights –
LED wall lights that have a wall washing effect will not only provide ample illumination, they will offer an artistic feel to the space, too. This type of light reflects light back onto the walls, providing a nice warm glow and potentially showing off any architectural features of the area.
– Light Up the Steps –
Ground lighting is an important type of lighting when it comes to porches with stairs. This type of lighting is crucial for making the space safer and easier to navigate and making your home feel more -inviting.
How Much Light Do You Need To Illuminate a Porch Area?
The first thing to consider with lighting a porch is providing enough light for safely moving over the threshold and getting rid of any dark corners. You want to do this without causing any glare as well. As a general rule, you should try to have multiple fixtures of approximately 200 lumens each. This will of course depend on the size of the porch itself and how many fittings you choose.
You should also take into consideration any other sources of light in the area, such as street lamps and lights coming from nearby windows or through panels of a glass door. You can always choose a dimmer switch to give you control of the brightness, so you can have dimmer lights early in the evening and brighter lights as the night deepens.
What Is an IP Rating? Do You Need To Use IP Rated Lights on a Porch?
An IP rating, or Ingress Protection rating, refers to the protection that a light has against both solid and liquid particulates. The first digit in an IP rating indicates protection against solid materials. The second number is indicative of how well it is protected from moisture damage.
First Digit – Solids
0 – No protection from solid materials
1 – Protection against solid materials larger than 50 millimeters
2 – Protection against solid objects larger than 12 millimeters
3 – Protection against solid objects larger than 2.5 millimeters
4 – Protection against solid objects larger than 1 millimeter
5 – Protection against dust in limited quantities
6 – Protection against harmful deposits and all dust
Second Digit – Moisture
0 – No protection against moisture
1 – Protection against dripping water
2 – Protection against dripping water positioned at a 15-degree tilt
3 – Protection against spraying water
4 – Protection against splashing water
5 – Protection against water jets
6 – Protection against powerful water jets
7 – Protection against immersion as deep as one meter
8 – Protection against immersion under pressure or deeper than one meter
For a porch light, you should have a light with a minimum rating of IP44. Most outdoor lights are rated IP44 or IP65/67, so you can have peace of mind that your lights will enjoy protection even if they are constantly in the path of the weather.
What Are the Options for Switching Porch Lighting On and Off?
There are a few different types of light switches you can use for your porch:
- STANDARD LIGHT SWITCH. A standard switch will let you control the light and turn it on and off manually. You will need to remember to turn the light off to save energy in this case.
- MOTION DETECTING SENSORS. Lights that have a built-in sensor to detect motion will turn on when there is movement in the area and turn off once more when no more movement is detected. This is a great energy-saving option, as you won’t have to worry about accidentally leaving the light on for any longer than you need it.
- DUSK-TIL-DAWN SENSORS. This type of sensor will turn the light on when it detects that the natural light level has fallen to whatever preset levels are indicated. When the light level begins to rise in the morning, they will automatically turn off. This leaves you with lights running in the middle of the night when they might not be necessary, so some consider this sort of switch to be less energy efficient.
Why Is Porch Lighting a Good Idea?
LED porch ceiling lights, wall lights and ground lights are important in keeping the space usable and easy to pass through. Even an LED wall light fixture can contribute to this by ensuring no dark corners go neglected. Outside of practical purposes, you can also install lights such as LED ground uplighters to add a decorative effect while spreading light along the vertical space in the area.
A few other benefits of porch lights include:
- Being able to find your door keys in the middle of the night
- Staving off any potential intruders; most people will not try to break into a door that is well lit where they cannot hide in the shadows
- Turning a dark area of the house into a welcoming entryway for your guests
- Increases the curb appeal of your home and therefore the overall value of the property
- Providing ample lighting for you to enjoy sitting outside at night
- Making the entryway feel safer and easier to navigate
What Colour of Light Is Best To Use for Porch Lighting?
LED colour temperatures are one of the biggest perks of this type of lighting. Colour temperatures refer to the Kelvin rating that a light is given. This rating indicates the warmth and coolness of a light; the higher the Kelvin rating, the cooler the light.
In between these two points are various other shades of colour, and past the 6000k mark, you get into “natural daylight” territory. All of them can serve their own purposes depending on where they are placed.
Many homes use warm white light that hovers around the 3000k rating area, for instance. Businesses and shops will often rely on 6000k cool white light to show off products and other areas in a crisp, detailed way.
Generally speaking, it is a good idea to use 3000k warm white light on porches and in garden areas. This type of light is gentle on the eyes while still being a good colour for providing a soft and warm glow. The colour makes the area seem more inviting, which is exactly what you want for a porch light.
On the other hand, you may benefit from 6000k cool white light if you need to illuminate an area for a security camera to see. Such a light colour can help your camera capture and process clearer images in greater detail.
Creative Porch Lighting Ideas
The LWA215 6 Watt LED Black Outdoor Wall Down Light is a simple yet effective way to light your porch. With its wide beam angle of wall washing illumination, it spreads out over a large area of the wall. This light is especially suited for large porch areas that have dark spots. It has a simple black finish that allows it to fit in well with any colour of paint you might have on the porch and won’t clash with its surroundings. An IP65 rating ensures that it won’t be damaged by moisture from the elements.
With the LWA705 7 Watt Square Black Outdoor Wall Light on your wall, you can make a modern statement while ensuring the area is well lit. The boxy, cage-like design of this square light makes it great in pairs, placed on either side of the door to create a symmetrical look. It is durable with an IP65 rating and won’t succumb to the effects of weather. Its 3000k warm white light makes it ideal for a porch.
Keep it simple and classic with the LBL272 5 Watt LED Black Finish Globe LED Porch Light as a part of your lighting design. This globe light needs no frills to make its presence known. It has a smooth globe diffuser attached to a black base, making it neutral enough in appearance to fit into porch styles of any kind. This fitting outputs 430 lumens of 3000k warm white light to make the space inviting and well lit without being glaring.
The LWA383 Round 6 Watt Outdoor LED Wall Light is sleek, simple and effective at illuminating a porch. It consists of a circular base plate with a small hood over the circular diffuser, available in either black or white. The minimalistic nature of the light makes it ideal for placement on either side of the door or along the walls to light up dark corners. Against the wall, it shines a soft, glowing halo of illumination for added appeal.
If you want to go for a classic porch style, the LWA381 3 Watt LED Black Finish Globe LED Outdoor Wall Light is a great choice. This globe light can provide gorgeous symmetry on either side of the door with its soft 3000k warm white light inviting guests closer. It outputs 300 lumens of light, providing adequate illumination without glaring in the middle of the night. It measures 190 millimeters in height by 125 millimeters in width, so it fits easily on any area of the porch.
In terms of architectural lighting, the ODL029 9 Watt 316 Stainless Steel Recessed LED Ground Light is a great choice. The fitting can be placed around the exterior of the porch to shine onto it from the ground up. This sort of perimeter lighting separates the porch from the other areas of the garden or driveway, defining it as its own space while decorating it at the same time.
Another important use of ground lighting is to illuminate the stairs leading up to the porch. The ODL047A 1 Watt Square Brass Finish LED Ground Or Decking Light can be installed in the stair risers, not only elevating the appearance of the porch from the ground up but also making the stairs safer for your guests to navigate in dark areas.
