Things To Consider When You Purchase Outdoor Chandeliers Chandeliers are beautiful in any room, so why not add that same beauty and unique style to your outside space? It's far better to plan for an outdoor chandelier when you're creating an outdoor area like a porch, patio or gazebo. Knowing the type of chandelier and the weight of the light fixture before you build the structure simply means that you can plan better and make sure the structure can support the weight and height of chandelier. Some outdoor chandeliers can weigh from 25 to 75 pounds, so it's vital to make sure the structure can support the weight before you hang it.
But whether or not you plan ahead of time or decide to add to existing space, you need to make sure that there will be enough headroom beneath the chandelier once it's hung. If you consider ceiling fans, the spinning blades can be very dangerous to walk into and so headroom beneath the fan is vitally important. Typically, the smallest space you want between the ceiling fan blades to the ground or floor is 7 feet. Use this as your minimum height for a chandelier, as well. And make sure you're counting the space from the bottom of the chandelier to the floor. If you calculate the space from where it's hung to the floor, you won't be counting the length of the outdoor chandelier itself.
Depending on the height of the place you want to hang it, you might have to rule out some very long chandeliers. If you have your heart set on one that's simply too long, the same manufacturer may offer a very similar model without as much length. If not, look at the aspects of the outdoor chandelier that you love the most and try to find those in a shorter hanging fixture.
Always make sure that your outdoor chandeliers are UL rated to be safe in damp areas and that everything on them is sealed to keep rain and other moisture out. If the chandelier is in any place where it's possible that it could get wet, you won't want to use one with any type of bowl fixture that could hold onto the moisture. You don't want to have water pooling inside your chandelier. You may also want to avoid cloth shades or anything that could mold or mildew and stick with things like metals, glass or even plastic so that they look good even if they get damp, and are easy to keep clean. Things consider prior to purchasing an outdoor chandelier that uses electricity to illuminate the area where the light fixture will be hung. First, it is very important for safety purposes that the chandelier and all its components be rated for outdoor use. This is important since the lighting fixture will be exposed to the natural elements such as moisture, sun, wind, etc. Additionally, consumers may want to consider purchasing chandelier lighting that has been rated for outdoor use by Underwriters Laboratories. Underwriters Laboratories is an independent product safety certification organization that checks products for safety standards.
Second, consumers will want to notice if the outdoor chandeliers has shades as part of its design. The reason this is important is that again, since the chandelier will be hung
outdoors, it will be exposed to the natural elements as aforementioned. Consequently, the chandelier shades should also be designed for outdoor use. However, perhaps equally as important, given that light attracts insects, some chandelier shades are less likely than others to collect dead insects and debris due to their design. For example, shades that open upward tend to collect debris as compared to shades that open downward. It appears that it tends to be easier for debris to collect with upward opening chandelier shades.
