Just a year ago, Marty Bursky never had conversations with his clients about which type of energy-efficient fixture, if any, they should use in their exterior lighting. “Up until very recently,” says the president of Cleveland Lighting One, a lighting showroom, dealer, and installer in the Cleveland area, “99 percent of consumers didn't pay attention. They didn't care.”

ABOVE RIGHT: Eleek. The roller sconce fixture is made of 100 percent recycled cast aluminum. The sleek canister sends light through the frosted lens, making the message or graphic glow. The light uses five color-specifiable, 1-watt LEDs. Finish options include colored powder-coats, including chrome powder-coat (pictured). 503.232.5526. www.eleekinc.com. Now the mind-set is different. “Today, everyone's cognizant of it,” he says.

Energy efficiency is taking center stage in a product category—architectural and landscape lighting—that manufacturers say is becoming increasingly popular. “We're seeing a lot more people doing landscape lighting in general,” says Jason Bartlett, who runs the Winscape product division for Winona Lighting.

Bursky says the exterior lighting trend has been boosted by homeowners' increasing interest in outdoor living spaces. “Part of it is the idea of using your yard for more than just a couple months,” he says. “People are enhancing their yards and spending more time outdoors.”

Optical options. But with more fixtures brightening neighborhoods across the country, there is concern about the energy used to power those lights. “As we move into a more energy-efficient world, people are asking, ‘Why shouldn't I use more energy-efficient lighting on the exterior?'” says Jeffrey Dross, senior product manager for Kichler.

While incandescent and halogen bulbs are still the most popular for outdoor lighting, manufacturers are seeing increasing interest in compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) fixtures, which last longer and use less energy than incandescents and halogens as well as the fluorescent fixtures of 10 years ago. “They last 10,000 hours as opposed to 1,000 hours for incandescent lamps and 2,000 hours for halogen lamps,” and require less energy to operate, says Craig Wright, product manager for Progress Lighting.

Technological developments also allow modern CFLs to perform better than early versions in color quality and luminance levels, he says, “advancing so much that certain colors meet or exceed the quality of light and luminance levels of top incandescents and halogens.” Plus, CFL fixtures usually don't cost much more than incandescents or halogens, and the difference is often because a compact fluorescent bulb is included.

Architectural Area Lighting. Made of cast aluminum, the Venere series of wall sconces are designed to provide versatile, high-performance exterior lighting to accentuate the doorway. The series offers multiple sconce and decorative fascia designs and vast color options, the firm adds. 714.994.2700. www.aal.net. Both pros and manufacturers warn of compact fluorescents' challenges, however. In colder climates, some CFLs don't start or operate as well, points out Winona's Bartlett. Problems don't usually start until the temperature dips below 0 degrees F, says Dross, but the issue could present a problem in regions like Minnesota and Canada. And because they contain mercury, improper disposal of the bulbs may create an environmental hazard. Dross says that CFLs contain “a very miniscule amount of mercury,” but that oversight agencies and lighting fixture manufacturers will have to address the problem of disposal, perhaps by giving consumers a bag in which they can mail their used CFL.

Screw-thread CFLs can be used in any incandescent fixture large enough to hold the bulb, while pin-based CFLs can be used only in pin-based fixtures.