tall holland street lamp with 4 lampsbroadway street lamp top detail with globes upbarcelona walkway lamphand forged custom aluminum wall mount lamp 
Tuscumbia Iron Works
605 Highway 72 West
Tuscumbia Alabama 35674
 Phone (256)248-4926
Email: [email protected]
cast aluminum dolphin sconcemermaid sconce lightcast aluminum five light victorian street lampantique reproduction aluminum fence post light

Back to home page

Back to outdoor lighting gallery

Planning and choosing the right lamp post and fixtures for your outdoor lighting project:

Please note that our line of outdoor lighting covers everything from street lamps used in parking lots, on roadways, and lighting for parks to small walkway lamps and sconces meant to only light small areas such as walkways, garden accents, and patio lighting along with everything in between. The guidelines below are very much general considerations that should be applied to most any outdoor lighting project. We’re here to help so if you have any questions or need any assistance with planning just give us a call at 256 248-4926 or E-mail us at: [email protected]
 
While choosing the lamp post style(s) and fixtures needed for your outdoor lighting project the first thing that should be addressed is functionality. After all no matter how good the styles you choose look you have wasted time and money if it does not achieve the goals of the lighting project. Examples of poorly chosen lamp posts and fixtures could include problems such as; not enough light in targeted areas, not giving enough light at all, to much light, wrong hue of lighting, or reflecting light into undesirable areas such as bedroom windows, blinding motorists, etc… In deciding what type of lighting is needed you should carefully plan what areas you want lit such as a pathways, parking lot, recreation area, patio, docks, sidewalks, street, etc. In addition you should think about the desired brightness and color of the light. Examples of brightness and color include if it is more of a warm glow you are looking for then incandescent lamps, high pressure sodium lighting, or gas lamps could be good choices. Of course gas lamps will not give much light, incandescent lights are fine on most residential lighting projects however incandescent light bulbs require frequent changing and are not very
cast aluminum petite walkway lamp
energy efficient. High pressure sodium requires a ballast for each fixture which can add up to a high up front expense however the lighting is very powerful and energy efficient additionally bulbs generally last several years. High pressure sodium is often an excellent choice with antique street lamps especially when used for downtown lighting projects as the bulbs give an orangish glow that is reminiscent of the older streetlights. If you are wanting a white light then using compact fluorescent lamps or metal halide may be in order, most compact fluorescent lamps are self ballasted, economical, and fairly energy efficient. Compact florescent lamps are usually a good choice for residential use as far as durability and energy efficiency, advances have also been made with

compact florescent lamps to make the light color a bit more pleasing than in the past. Metal halide lamps provide a natural light color, the lamps do require ballast’s however metal halide is very energy efficient. Common uses for metal halide would be street lamps, ball field lighting, parking areas, security lighting, etc…
After the above considerations you can begin to address issues such as post heights and type along with size & wattage of the light fixtures. If using HID lighting you will definitely want to use posts that are tall enough or reflect light in such a way that the light would not blind pedestrians or motorists. Another consideration would be direction of light; reflectors are available for many of the fixtures that would reflect the light down or away from buildings. On the other hand when lighting narrow pathways or a small patio you will want to make sure and not choose so tall of a lamp post that it overpowers the area.
The next thing to contemplate is material and design, we offer posts and street lamps made from aluminum castings, wrought iron, forged aluminum, cast iron, a mix of aluminum castings and extruded aluminum, and a mix of iron castings & steel. For most projects any of the above materials would be fine to use and the considerations of materials can be based on design and budget. One exception is that in corrosive environments such as the salty air near the coastline only aluminum should be used

hand made post top lamp
because of the high corrosion resistance compared to iron and steel. After narrowing down selections from all of the above considerations it is time to decide on the design and finish for the lampposts. This is one part where you might want the 
cast aluminum street lamp

polycarbonate acorn street lamp globe

polycarbonate
globe pictured 
above



polyethylene
globe pictured
below

round polyethylene street lamp globe

opinions of others, basically look at the area and decide what designs and colors would look good and be compatible with the surroundings. If the street lamps you choose have globes as fixtures we offer both polyethylene and polycarbonate for any of the globe styles, when using HID lighting polycarbonate is necessary because of the high heat from the lamps however with other lamp types you can usually use either material. The polyethylene globes are an opaque white color. Polyethylene is also an economical material for the globes and since it is not a very hard plastic it is vandal resistant. Polycarbonate globes are clear with a texture and the material is very strong & durable.
When carefully selected and planned the right street lamps or light fixtures can accentuate almost any landscape or building project.

 

got questions or need assistance?
Contact Us on the form below or give us a call
Your Name: (required)

Your Email: (required)


Attention:


Mail Message:


commercial grade antique street lamp


 

 

 
cast aluminum victorian wall lamp

 
  
street and park lighting gallery page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 
WALL SCONCES 
replacement globes page 1, 2
 
Copyright 2008 Tuscumbia Iron Works

All rights reserved