Working with Your Neighbors

It’s an all-too-familiar scenario: Your neighbors were worried about security, so they went to the big-box hardware store, bought the brightest lighting fixture on display, and hung it over the garage door. Now it’s splattering light everywhere, including onto your property and in through your windows. You want to stop this wasteful, annoying light trespass, but you also want to stay on good terms with your neighbors — so what can you do? Above all, be tactful. Approach them in a friendly, understanding way.

Chances are that your neighbors think that lighting up the yard will improve home security. But that’s rarely the case. Usually most break-ins and burglaries occur during the daytime, when no one’s at home (check with your local police for the actual statistics). And unless your neighbors are in the habit of looking out a bedroom window all night, those lights only serve to put their yards on display for passers-by or even would-be thieves.

Explain that a bright, glaring light is actually counterproductive to good nighttime vision. Glare diminishes your ability to see well at night, because the pupils of your eyes constrict in response to the glare — even though everything else around you is dark. Overly bright light also casts harsh shadows that could mask the presence of dangerous obstacles or even intruders.

Finally, point out how much energy is wasted by casting light indiscriminately. A bright, dusk-to-dawn security light will end up costing far more in electricity than its initial cost. As a rule of thumb, a light that’s on all night, every night, uses about $1 of electricity per year for every 2 watts of power used. For example, a 200-watt floodlight will run up an electric bill of more than $100 per year. Click here to see a table comparing common light-bulb types.

If the neighbor seems agreeable to remedying the situation, you can offer some specific suggestions:

• • Make sure that outdoor fixtures direct their light onto the ground, rather than spraying it upward or onto adjacent property. Most exterior fixtures are easily adjustable. You can control the distribution from standard floodlight bulbs with an inexpensive PAR Shield (about $10 each). Shields also exist for older-style mercury-vapor fixtures.

  • Use the right amount of light for the intended purpose. If a 60-watt bulb will do, why use 200? Compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs are great energy savers, but avoid the temptation to put one in an outdoor fixture that’s too bright for the intended task.

  • Avoid the use of dusk-to-dawn lighting, both for entryways or security lighting. One easy way to improve home security, cut energy use significantly, and reduce light pollution is to install motion sensors on outdoor fixtures. When the sensor triggers its light on, they’ll know that something or someone is moving around outside. A security light activated by a motion sensor costs only a few dollars per year to operate. Most models have override switches to keep them turned on (or off) continuously.

Working with Local Businesses

Sometimes local businesses have the worst lighting, because they think flooding their property with lumens will provide better security. But that’s rarely true. Law-enforcement officials are starting to realize that harsh glare from security floodlights makes it difficult for an officer to see what’s going on as the police cruiser drives by.

In most cases, business owners are completely unaware of their poor-quality, energy-wasting lighting. Most really want to be seen as “good neighbors,” and they’re often very receptive to approaches that are more night-sky friendly.

The best solution is to replace what’s there with well-designed commercial fixtures. While these might be costly to install, the energy savings can be so dramatic that the replacement pays for itself in just a few years. As noted above, a light that’s on all night, every night, uses about $1 of electricity per year for every 2 watts of power used. If nothing else, ask the business owner to consider installing timers so that the lights aren’t on all night.

If trying these positive approaches doesn’t work, your town or city may have an ordinance or bylaw that regulates the installation of outdoor lighting. Sometimes these address only commercial installations, and they rarely apply to lights that existed when the regulation went into effect, but it pays to check.