Chicagoland Landscape Lighting
Lighting for Your Chicago Home
Chicagoland is well-known for its architecture. People from around the world come to Chicago to study and enjoy its beautiful buildings. Architects have been coming here for decades to study as well. Chicago is home to the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) that was formed in 1966 as the Chicago School of Architecture Foundation. There is so much to see here. The CAC offers 85 tours of the impressive and unique architecture of the city structures, including the Chicago Board of Trade, the Arquette Building, the Monadnock Building and John Wellborn Root’s Rookery, not to mention the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Building, and many more. Visitors can also take a docent-led cruise along the Chicago River from April through November and admire the variety and beauty of the architecture. What makes these structures so stunning is not only their intricate detail and engineering during the day, but also their beautiful Chicagoland landscape lighting at night.
Why is Chicagoland Landscape Lighting Important For My Home?
As you can see, good lighting placed strategically changes everything! It can highlight architectural features, or create a comfortable and beautiful ambiance in the suburbs. Whether you live in Mundelein, Waukegan, Naperville, Wilmette, or in the heart of Chicago near Wrigley Field or Printer’s Row, the lighting in the evening makes all the difference. It may be that you are planning to live there from here on out. You may possibly be looking to put your home on the market in a few years. The right Chicagoland landscape lighting in the right places can make all the difference in your asking and selling price. We know real estate can be expensive in our area, so you want to make sure you take care of your investment so that it looks its best at night when prospective home buyers are driving through your neighborhood looking at properties that are available.
Why Should I Think About Lighting Now?
Residents in Chicagoland know winters can be pretty brutal here. Chicagoans hunker down and stay inside while the weather brings cold temperatures, wind and snow. But as you know, summers are just spectacular in the Windy City. It is the perfect time to invite friends and family members over for grilling out and enjoying the weather. When the sun goes down, it is important to have beautiful and strategically-placed lights in the front and back yards, so you can continue the party when the sun sets and you have your grilling going on!
What Can American National Do For Me?
American Standard Sprinkler & Lighting can assist you with a variety of lighting services. Think of your home’s exterior, and see if you need assistance with:
- Home Exterior Lighting: Showcasing your home’s best architectural features
- Pathway Lighting: Not only is it beautiful, but also creates a safety net for those walking to and from your home
- Front/Backyard Lighting: Illuminating the main focal points to make your yard seem bigger
- Garden Lighting: To light up specific areas in your flower beds in order to make them shine
- Security Lighting: Strategically-placed lights at the corners of your home and at your doorways in order to ward off unwanted visitors
- Patio Lighting: This is to be used for ambiance and keeping the party going
Talk To A Professional Today
Our system continues to work great, and we always appreciate getting the phones calls to let us know when it is time to schedule the opening and the closing of our system. Andres and his partner do a terrific job putting our system to bed in the fall, and opening it up again in the spring, noting any work that might need to happen before we can begin to water again the next season.
Erica Regunberg
October 16, 2019
Is it Environmentally Friendly?
We know you want your Chicagoland landscape lighting to be beautiful, but also be energy efficient and good for the environment. You can save money and the environment when our team helps you with our low voltage lighting fixtures. Our team at American National Sprinkler & Lighting has a team of experts who can help you with eco-friendly options with your Chicagoland landscape lighting. We have low voltage lighting systems that provides the same illumination without the cost. It can help you:
- Save money on electric bills
- Reduce the carbon footprint, being eco-efficient
- Can be as effective as higher voltage systems
How Can American National Help?
Our expert team at American National Sprinkler and Lighting takes the time to work with you on accentuating your home’s best features. It may be a beautiful doorway, or some unique architecture. Sometimes it can be a fountain, or a statue, Often, we work with clients on large trees or bushes that may help lighten your home’s best features.
The Chicago Landscape Lighting Design Process
Every American National lighting project begins with a free nighttime design consultation at your Chicago property. Our designers visit after dark to evaluate your home architecture, existing landscape features, ambient light conditions, and your vision for the finished result. This on-site evaluation ensures our design maximizes the unique character of your property rather than applying a generic template.
After the consultation, we provide a detailed proposal including a fixture count, layout diagram, product specifications, and transparent pricing. Once approved, our installation team handles everything from trenching and wiring to transformer placement and final aiming. Most residential installations are completed in one to two days.
Types of Landscape Lighting Fixtures We Install in Chicago
Uplights & Spotlights
Directional fixtures placed at ground level to illuminate trees, architectural features, and focal points from below. We use WAC Lighting adjustable LED spotlights that can be precisely aimed and feature multiple beam spread options to match each application. Uplighting creates dramatic shadows and depth that transform your Chicago property after dark.
Path Lights & Bollards
Low-profile fixtures that line walkways, driveways, and garden borders. Available in a wide range of styles from contemporary to traditional, path lights provide essential safety illumination while adding elegant structure to your landscape design. We space fixtures for even, overlapping light pools that eliminate dark spots.
Well Lights & In-Ground Fixtures
Flush-mounted fixtures installed at ground level for a clean, unobtrusive look. Ideal for uplighting trees and walls where visible fixtures would detract from the landscape. Our WAC Lighting and Kichler well lights feature durable brass or stainless steel construction and sealed housings rated for underground installation.
Hardscape & Step Lights
Compact fixtures integrated into retaining walls, steps, pillars, and other hardscape elements. These fixtures provide critical safety lighting for elevation changes while adding architectural interest. Perfect for Chicago homes with stone walls, seat walls, and tiered patios.
Downlights & Moonlighting
Fixtures mounted high in trees or on structures to cast gentle, downward light that mimics natural moonlight. This technique creates soft, dappled shadows on the ground below and is one of the most natural and beautiful lighting effects available. Ideal for the mature tree canopies found throughout Chicago.
LED vs. Halogen Landscape Lighting
We exclusively install WAC Lighting and Kichler LED landscape lighting for Chicago properties. Here is why LED is the clear choice:
- Energy savings — LED uses 75-80% less electricity than halogen, significantly reducing your energy costs
- Longevity — LED fixtures last 40,000-50,000 hours compared to just 2,000-4,000 for halogen bulbs
- Less heat — LED fixtures run cool, eliminating the risk of burning plants or mulch near fixtures
- Better color — Modern LED offers warm, natural color temperatures (2700K-3000K) that rival the warm glow of halogen
- More fixtures per transformer — Lower wattage means you can run more fixtures on a single transformer, reducing installation costs
If your Chicago home has an existing halogen system, we offer complete LED retrofit services that replace your bulbs and fixtures while keeping the existing wiring and transformer.
Landscape Lighting Maintenance in Chicago
Professional landscape lighting requires minimal but important maintenance to perform its best year after year. American National offers annual maintenance plans for Chicago homeowners that include cleaning fixture lenses of dirt, debris, and mineral deposits, re-aiming fixtures that have shifted due to ground settling, frost heaving, or landscaper contact, trimming vegetation that has grown to block light output, checking all wire connections and splice points for corrosion, testing transformer output and timer programming, and replacing any damaged or worn WAC or Kichler fixtures.
Regular maintenance keeps your lighting system performing at its peak while catching small issues before they become expensive repairs.
Also Serving Chicago with Sprinkler Systems
Beyond landscape lighting, American National is a full-service Chicago sprinkler system installation and repair company. Combine your lighting and irrigation projects for a complete outdoor transformation. See our sprinkler system repair page or schedule your spring sprinkler startup.
Nearby Service Areas
American National Sprinkler & Lighting also provides professional landscape lighting design and installation in surrounding Chicagoland communities: