Good coastal outdoor lighting starts with the metal, not the style. Near salt water, choose hot-dipped galvanized or spun-aluminum shades, sealed wet-listed housings and stainless fasteners, and plan to rinse them. On a sea turtle nesting beach, the light facing the sand must also be amber, shielded and mounted low.

Picture a boardwalk an hour after sunset. The tide is coming in under the pilings, the wind carries salt you can taste, and a row of shades along the restaurant deck throws warm pools onto weathered planks. The fixtures that still look right in five summers are the ones specified for that air on day one. The others show rust at the threads and blistered paint under the eaves by the second season.

We build shades for that job. Our galvanized step neck dome and the rest of the galvanized line are hot-dipped and coated inside and out for corrosive and coastal sites. Our Standard Dome is spun from heavy-gauge aluminum. Both carry a cULus wet-location listing. We configure each fixture to order: shade, mount, finish and lamp.

Good coastal outdoor lighting starts with the metal, not the style. Near salt water, choose hot-dipped galvanized or spun-aluminum shades, sealed wet-listed housings and stainless fasteners, and plan to rinse them. On a sea turtle nesting beach, the light facing the sand must also be amber, shielded and mounted low.

Picture a boardwalk an hour after sunset. The tide is coming in under the pilings, the wind carries salt you can taste, and a row of shades along the restaurant deck throws warm pools onto weathered planks. The fixtures that still look right in five summers are the ones specified for that air on day one. The others show rust at the threads and blistered paint under the eaves by the second season.

We build shades for that job. Our galvanized step neck dome and the rest of the galvanized line are hot-dipped and coated inside and out for corrosive and coastal sites. Our Standard Dome is spun from heavy-gauge aluminum. Both carry a cULus wet-location listing. We configure each fixture to order: shade, mount, finish and lamp.

Every waterfront property has a salt gradient. The side facing the surf takes the most spray, and sheltered spots under eaves and decks stay damp longest, because rain never rinses them. Specify for the worst exposure on each elevation.

### Beach house outdoor lighting
Over doors, garages and decks, use a wet-listed aluminum Standard Dome or a galvanized dome on a gooseneck or stem. Keep warm 2700–3000K on the street side. On the beach-facing side, follow the turtle rules below.

### Resorts, boardwalks and pathways
Post-top lighting along walks and plazas needs a heavy housing and a sealed globe. The 902 Island Light has a 27-inch spun-aluminum reflector on a cast-aluminum fitter that locks over a 3-inch tenon, with a glass globe.

### Marinas, docks, piers and boathouses
Pier and dock lighting gets spray from below as well as rain from above. The VW/VWB vaportight has a die-cast aluminum housing, silicone gaskets, stainless fasteners and a UL wet-location listing, and it is approved for corrosive fumes. It suits boathouse walls, fuel docks and covered slips.

### Waterfront restaurants and signs
For sign bands and patio walls, the Galvanized Radial Wave pairs a spun heavy-gauge steel shade with a powder-coat finish rated for outdoor use.

Salt air does its damage slowly and out of sight. Wind lifts tiny droplets off breaking waves and carries them inland. When they dry, they leave chloride salts that pull moisture from humid air. That keeps a thin, conductive film of brine on the metal long after a rain has passed. Plain steel rusts under it. Aluminum pits. Wherever two different metals touch, the brine completes a galvanic circuit and the less noble metal corrodes first.

What that means for a specification:

1. Material. Aluminum and hot-dipped galvanized steel are the choices. Where a shade comes in "aluminum or steel", like the Step Neck Dome, write aluminum on the schedule for any site that sees salt.
2. Finish. Powder coat protects only where it is unbroken. Order the color you want from our powder coat finishes, or match your trim with custom powder coat. Touch up chips after installation.
3. Threads and hardware. Our shade pages call for Teflon tape or a similar sealant on the 3/4-inch NPT threads outdoors. At the coast, that is required, not optional.
4. Listing. Anything exposed to spray or rain needs a wet-location listing, not damp.
5. Maintenance. Rinse fixtures with fresh water every month or two, and more often at the waterline. Rinse the sheltered ones first. Check gaskets and globe threads every spring.

From spring into fall, sea turtle hatchlings on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts find the ocean by heading for the brightest horizon. A white floodlight on a condo balcony can pull them the wrong way. That is why Florida counties and beach towns in states like South Carolina and North Carolina enforce sea turtle lighting ordinances. Many Florida ordinances follow the state model and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) guidance, and in several Florida counties they apply from March 1 through October 31.

FWC sums the criteria up in three rules:

• Keep it low: mount fixtures as low as possible and use the lowest wattage that does the job.
• Keep it shielded: the lamp and any glowing lens must not be visible from the beach.
• Keep it long: use long-wavelength light, amber, orange or red at 560 nm or longer.

Our LVET-20W-UNV Turtle Safe LED is a 20 W, 560 nm amber module with a 0–10V dimming driver, 120–277V input and a cULus listing. Put it in a deep shade such as the galvanized deep bowl and mount it low. We also offer the LVEFT-20W-UNV, built to the FWC standard, which is awaiting testing to re-open FWC certification. Ask us about its current status before you submit to your county. Send us the ordinance and your elevations, and we will check which configuration fits.