From light bulbs to wiring, automation to smartphone-based controls, Christopher Beneduce’s world has changed quite a bit in recent years.
When Beneduce, the president of New England Landscape Lighting Inc., started his Warwick-based business 30 years ago, the bulbs were halogen and needed frequent replacing, and the wiring was heavy gauge to get enough power to those bulbs a short distance away.
Now it’s tiny, low-powered LED lighting that can last for decades and thin wiring that can be strung out for hundreds of feet without worrying about voltage drop.
“It’s come a long way,” Beneduce said of the technological advances.
In turn, those advances have fueled massive growth in the landscape lighting markets as intricate installations that were once only seen outside luxury homes and resorts are now within reach of the owners of more modest homes as technology lowers installment and maintenance costs.
Indeed, Grand View Research, a San Francisco-based market research and consulting company, says the global landscape lighting market stood at $13.2 billion in 2024 and will reach about $22.01 billion by 2030 as businesses and homeowners look to create visually appealing outdoor spaces at night, whether it be the curbside view of the front yard or the backyard patio.
Nicholas DiGiando, president of Atlantic Lawn & Garden Inc. in Jamestown, acknowledges that lighting has become a “nice add-on” to his landscaping business, which includes building gardens and performing masonry work such as patios, walkways and walls. He estimates that about 75% of his clients request some type of outdoor lighting when they hire Atlantic Lawn & Garden to add other landscape features these days.
With lighter-gauge wiring that doesn’t need to be buried as deep in the ground and radio-controlled switches that allow installers to avoid cutting through drywall to add control systems, DiGiando has found that work once handled by a subcontractor can be carried out easily by his crews.
He also finds maintenance much easier, too, since the transition from halogen bulbs to LED lights, which endure the elements better, especially near saltwater environments where many of his clients are located in Jamestown.
Those in the industry say the increase in outdoor cooking and outdoor parties is at least partially driving the market in residential settings by elevating the demand for functional and ambiance-enhancing lighting.
More property owners are looking to make an impression, and now they can do it with a push of a button on a smartphone because of the “internet of things,” the network of devices, appliances, vehicles and other objects embedded with sensors and software and network connectivity.
Beneduce says a significant portion of his company’s work is replacing old systems with the new, allowing for easy changes in colors, variable beam angles and adjusting light temperatures, from cool to warm.
He declined to estimate costs for a typical project because the numbers can vary widely from project to project, depending on what the client wants to achieve.
According to LawnStarter, a digital marketplace connecting homeowners with outdoor service companies, professionally installed landscape lighting nationally can typically cost between $2,000 to $4,500, depending on the size of the job. Luxury projects can exceed that upper limit.
Beneduce got his start in the business when he started helping a friend who owned a sprinkler installation company make nighttime checks on the lighting the company had installed during the day.
He struck out on his own in 1996, and now New England Landscape Lighting provides services to homeowners and businesses in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, doing everything from a two-light job for a statue at a local church to 400 to 500 at a Bristol home. The company handles lighting at the Newport mansions, too.
Because he’s entrenched in the industry, Beneduce can’t help but spot regional differences in what’s desirable in landscape lighting when he’s traveling. In visits to the Miami area, for instance, he notices the lighting outside of homes is brighter and flashier.
Back in New England, things tend to be more nuanced.
Beneduce says “moonlighting” is popular among many homeowners, a technique of placing soft lights high in trees, particularly those lining long driveways. “We try to hide it so it filters through the branches and trees like moonlight,” he said.
It’s pleasing yet subtle, according to Beneduce.
“[Clients] don’t want La Salette,” he said, referring to the Attleboro shrine renowned for its annual Christmas Festival of Lights.
