Tips For Avoiding Light Trespass When Designing Lighting For Your Pool Area

When the summer arrives and pool party season begins, you'll want to have a good lighting setup in your pool area so that you can use it in the evenings.  However, before you instruct a local electrician to put up some floodlights around your pool, it's important to give some consideration to the impact that your lighting could have on your neighbours.  Light trespass is an increasingly common urban nuisance that you'll want to avoid. 

Read on for some important tips on how to avoid light trespass when having exterior pool lighting installed.

How light trespass is defined

Any light that is cast in an intrusive and unwanted manner can be defined as light trespass.  For example, if your next door neighbour has a young baby whose bedroom overlooks your pool area, a floodlight that beams directly into the child's window could be viewed as annoying and potentially adversely impactful on their quality of life.  Light trespass is easily avoidable if you bear potential issues like this in mind when designing your pool lighting layout.

Design and equipment considerations for poolside lighting

There are a number of floodlight designs that can effectively limit the amount of light spillage, and your electrician will be able to advise you further on the practicality of using them in your design scheme.

Always choose floodlights that have an adjustable shield, enabling you to tilt the light shades down and onto your poolside area.  This simple trick is very effective at containing the light beam and preventing spillage.  If you leave the shields facing outward, the light will spread out much further, potentially trespassing into your neighbour's garden or even shining directly onto their windows.  Remember that high winds can alter the angle of the light shields so you should always check them as a matter of routine before you begin using them again after the winter.

Lights that have a very narrow beam allow you to focus the light distribution more easily, rather than allowing it to spread and dissipate over too wide an area.  It's also important to bear in mind that floodlights set low down are more likely to cause glare and will also distribute the light they emit much more widely than fittings on higher mountings.

In conclusion

When considering adding floodlights to your poolside area, remember that your lighting must not impact your neighbours' enjoyment of their property or on their privacy.  Your electrician will be able to provide you with more advice on a suitable lighting design for your property that avoids the danger of light trespass.  And inviting your neighbours to your next evening poolside soiree could be a good way of keeping them sweet too.

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