Deck lighting has been with us for some time now and helps transform any deck at night. But recently solar garden lighting has crept up and now it is possible to buy solar deck lights. But before you rush out to buy some, let’s first consider how effective they are.

When you examine a solar deck light what first strikes you is how much wider they are compared to a normal deck light. There’s a good reason of course, they need the extra space for the solar collection panel, which often surrounds the central LED light and can be quite an attractive feature in itself.

Installing solar deck lighting proceeds in much the same way as for a conventional one, which involves drilling a suitable hole and pushing it in (a tight push fit, since they have to withstand foot traffic). The step you don’t have to bother with is laying cables underneath or lifting deck boards.

So far so good, but few people realise initially that whereas a regular deck light basically stays in place for life (about the same lifespan as a deck board for most LEDs), this is not the case with solar deck lighting. In common with other solar garden lights, they rely on rechargeable batteries which have to be replaced after a fixed number of charges (i.e. days).

So every couple of years or so (depending on the quality of your batteries) you need to pry the units away from the deck boards, trying not to damage either in the process. You then need to locate and open the (typically very well sealed) battery compartment and replace with a battery of a type and rating suitable for the solar charger.

However, the elephant in the room for most people is the inescapable fact that solar deck lights quite literally don’t hold a candle to conventional electric LED equivalents where luminosity is concerned. They also won’t last (battery life not withstanding) as long as standard LED deck lights. So are they worth it when they compare poorly on maintenance and performance?

About the only benefit of solar deck lights then appears to be a slightly simpler and quicker installation process. This doesn’t really cut it however since laying cables underneath a deck is hardly difficult anyway. Also bear in mind that when you drill a hole in a deck board you’re stuck with that size (or larger) hole or replacing the board, so you really want to be sure that what your installing stays put for a good long time.

On reflection then, solar deck and patio lighting isn’t yet competitive with the conventional approach. But that said, not all garden locations have a ready supply of electricity and some folk really don’t like doing cabling, so there is a place for them. Just be sure to source yours from a reputable trader and check you can return them if they turn out to be less than adequate (typically if they’re faulty you’ll discover this straight away or within a few days).

Follow these links to learn much more about solar deck lighting and LED landscape lighting in general.

When you set out to create the perfect oasis in your yard something you should consider is the landscape lighting. Lighting can set the mood that you want to feel when you are outside in your yard. Creating such a mood with light can make for a perfect escape from your cares in your own backyard.

When choosing landscape lighting for your yard you will want to create a design to emphasize the work you have put forth in making your garden beautiful. Most people are working during the day so night time is the only time when you can really enjoy your yard. Also when you are partying with your friends they can see how beautiful your garden is and lighting can help set the mood for any party.

Landscape lighting is not only a beautiful addition to your garden, but a practical and safety factor. Lighting can provide heads up for anytime you are walking through your garden, or entertaining. You will be able to allow your guests to freely roam the yard and admire the work you have done, while at the same time knowing they are safe in their stroll around the garden.

Fixtures come in many shapes and sizes. You can find tall, short, round, and square just to name a few. You can hang them or you can place them permanently in the ground. The different shapes you find can help set the mood. Light is projected through these shapes and can create harsh or soft lines. The brightness of the lights is another factor in planning your landscape lighting. Have an idea of what kind of lighting you prefer for your yard.

If you want your garden to be all green, there are some fixtures for your landscape lighting that are solar powered. These lights charge during the day and are ready to turn on by night. You might spend and a little more on these fixtures but in the end you will save more than you spend on your electric bill. These lights can be dimmed and brightened the same as any other electric light and provide a beautiful and “green” result to your garden.

Joseph writes about outdoor accent lighting and about outdoor accent lighting

If you are trying to make a backyard that will leave a lasting impression, then you might be thinking about adding some lights to the look. When you put some decorative lighting around the garden, you can enhance the way that it looks during the day and the evening. There are many reasons why Solar garden and patio lights work for many households. Discover how you can put them in and have your yard look amazing.

Many people start off their garden by putting in some plants and shrubs and designing it in such a way that it looks professional. By adding a patio set it is almost complete. The lights can sometimes be the last thing that you put in, and as it lights up your garden at night, it can be well worth all the fuss.

One of the fantastic aspects to the solar lights is that they require no electricity. That means you don’t have to think about where you are putting them in relation to a plug outlet or where a cord might be seen. They get all of their energy right from the sun and then shine all night.

Putting them in your garden can be simple. Just by taking a quick glance, you should be able to see some good spots for light solutions. Usually people will add lighting around the rim of a deck or the top of a gazebo. If you have a low roof to your home, you might even drape some around the edge of the roof. Another good spot is along the border of the fence, you could have your entire yard done up in lights.

There are lots of reasons why adding some lighting can work for you and your home. It can light up your yard and create a feeling a security. It can also allow you and your family to sit outside and socialize at night, and it can even just make the garden area look great.

With a lit up backyard, it can mean that you and your family can now spend your evenings hanging out in the garden. The lights will give you a chance to enjoy the backyard while socializing with each other. When you have friends over, it can make a nice intimate place to mingle.

As your Solar garden and patio lights work at night, they drain the energy from the sun in the daytime. It is the perfect way to create some hassle free lighting for your home. It helps the planet stay clean and does not drain your hydro costs.

Solar garden lights increase the functionality of your outdoor space. Solar patio lights expand the opportunities for entertaining and outdoor living to the evening hours.

You are proud of your home. Its personality is just like you-it makes you and your guests feel at home. However, you are missing something: patio lights that do a little more than stop you from a pratfall or a pool fall. They do not tell your guests, “This is me, too!”

You have put so much to reflect you when doing your home; you want your patio lights to reflect it. However, they come in as many styles and with as many accents of their own as did you and your home. Choosing the light that does it without exaggeration will not be easy.

Picking the patio lights you can make into what you want will be easier than you think. Because you are not limited to one kind. You can work with strings of lights, with party lights, with umbrella lights alike, and any one of them can be made to fit your deck. Which means fitting you.

Leave it just a round of glowing bulbs, suggesting the place you hang your coat, eat, and sleep? No, let us not go there. This is you. This is your home. You live here. In addition, you want everything to show it including your deck. You are not plain, and neither should your patio lights be.

If you’re a romantic, you have choices. They only begin with the flower look or the holiday globe look. (Meaning the light globes that could have rocked around the Christmas tree.) If you’re the flowery type, there are hundreds of flowery patio lights to examine and try. If you’re the rugged outdoors type, the lantern style should be you’re your type. If you’re just the genial host, with two or even three patio tables, those umbrella lights are looking better every time you think about them. You have just turned your mere patio into a classy pool club.

Here’s the bonus: they all look great when it’s party time and you’ve got a good group of people joining you for an evening of good drink, good food, good talk, good everything. Most important-if you’ve really given the appropriate thought to the atmosphere outside your home as well as inside your home, your patio lights will look like you. And that’s what your family, your party guests want to see when they come.

Click these links for more information on patio lighting and patio rope lights.

Outdoor solar lights have several clear advantages when compared to standard electrically powered lights, but it’s not at all a one-sided contest. This article takes a look at the arguments both in favour and against solar lighting. First, the positive side of things.

A key attraction for many people is that outdoor solar lighting is incredibly simple to setup. You don’t have to wire anything up or lay protected cables in the ground – simply position your new purchase where you want it then sit back and wait for nightfall. Also, unlike mains powered lighting that is tied to relatively static cables, solar lighting is just as easy to rearrange and experiment with

Then there’s cost. Outdoor solar lighting costs slightly more to purchase than regular electric lighting but it’s still not especially expensive and total cost of ownership is actually much less. That’s simply because they cost almost nothing to run (there’s still the cost of replacing rechargeable batteries occasionally) and require very little maintenance.

In addition to scoring well for low maintenance and ease of installation, solar lights are also highly reliable and intrinsically safe in an outdoor environment, not to mention endlessly adaptable with seemingly limitless different uses. And that’s before you even get to see range of available formats and styles.

But as ever there’s always a price to pay somewhere and with outdoor solar lighting the giveaway is in the name. Solar lights need sunlight and not all locations are ideally suited. If you have a great deal of shade for one reason or another, or are affected by seasonal changes or frequent bad weather then your solar lights will struggle to recharge properly.

Solar lights can also suffer if debris, falling leaves or snow block their solar panels. If you only have a modest number of solar lights then a simple solution is to periodically put the batteries into a regular battery charger to keep them topped up, but obviously this isn’t practical with large numbers of lights. Which leads neatly to the topic of rechargeable batteries. These are limited to a certain number of recharging cycles which effectively tells you how many days they will last before needing replacement.

On the whole, solar lights are slightly more expensive than their electrically powered cousins, but this is really only a consideration if you are planning a large installation and you would anyway then need to workout the trade-off between ongoing running and initial purchase costs.

Finally, outdoor solar lighting is typically missing two key features inherent in mains powered outdoor lighting. It’s not as bright and doesn’t retain its brightness levels over extended periods of time, and it cannot be switched on and off as required but tends to be automatically controlled by built-in light level meters.

In conclusion, if you don’t especially need very bright lighting that stays on all through the night and prefer an easy installation and instant results then opt for outdoor solar lighting. If however you are looking for more than fairly basic landscape lighting and don’t mind the extra work involved then go for mains electric outdoor lighting.

Check out this related article to discover more about the solar lantern.

The route to a successful outcome in any project starts by clearly defining the objective, and in that respect installing outdoor solar lighting is no different. Ask yourself whether you want to provide an evening entertainment area, improve security and/or safe access, or simply add an extra visual dimension to your garden at night.

The likelihood is of course that your initial list of requirements will include at least some of these plus a few others for good measure. But by going through this basic planning phase and identifying various zones and possible types of light fitting you will be much better placed to understand how to balance the variety of demands placed on your outdoor solar lighting.

Solar deck lights for example won’t deter many intruders (though these highly versatile little devices will function very well in many situations such as path or drive markers). Equally you probably don’t want bright floodlights on your entertaining areas, and while low level coloured lights look lovely as decorative features in the garden they won’t help your guests see what they’re eating or drinking.

It’s easiest to install outside solar lighting where the end requirements are clearly defined (i.e. deter intruders) and this usually covers what is called task (or functional) lighting. It has an easily understood job to do such as, say, ensuring that you can safely follow a path or flood an area with light when movement is detected.

Of course quite a lot of solar garden lighting serves no better purpose than looking pretty at night, which is a highly subjective and less than rigorous requirement. However, even this aspect is not without some basic ground rules worth observing. First is the obvious fact that solar lights need daily exposure to the sun in order to recharge their batteries, so you have to consider daytime as well as night time location.

Secondly, outdoor solar lights are typically less bright than their mains powered counterparts. Even when fitted with highly efficient LED light bubs they have to provide many hours of light from a single battery charge and simply cannot run as brightly. But that can be turned to an advantage since you can pack in many more solar garden lights than is possible using regular lights to create striking yet still subdued effects.

Thirdly, one of the main attractions of outdoor solar lighting is that it is both extremely easy to install and equally easy to rearrange subsequently. You aren’t stuck with your initial decisions regarding placement and can endlessly try out various arrangements until you settle on one that looks most pleasing to you.

Finally, never forget that it is your garden and therefore you can do as you please. If you want to string solar fairy lights along a dull fence or scatter sun jars at random then go right ahead. The fact is that pretty much any outside garden lighting looks a whole lot better than none at all, and it is near impossible to make a garden actually look worse by installing solar lighting.

If you found this interesting then be sure to check out this additional article that looks at solar landscape lighting in more detail.

Making a decision to create a garden that includes garden lights can be a little daunting. However with planning and patience one can create a home and garden that will look as magnificent during the night as it does during the day.

Using a camera to take photos of the items in a garden that will be main points of attention can be very helpful. By taking the photo at the angle from which the light will be installed one can get a feel for what the visual effect of the garden lights will be in those areas. This allows one the flexibility to adjust and change the design prior to committing a lighting fixture or conduit to a particular location.

When selecting lights it is important that one include those lighting needs around the perimeter of the home. Many individuals have blind areas around their home that are completely dark at night. Using halogen lighting which connects to the electricity in the home can engulf a home in light when one desires to do so. In some cases these lights are attached to motion sensors that turn the lights on automatically when a figure crosses across the beam of the light. This security feature can also be added to other lights throughout the garden to make walking on pathways safer for guests.

The decision to use solar lighting or low voltage electrical lighting is very subjective and prices can vary greatly. One problem with solar lighting is that the battery life is often not as long as people would like. The other problem is that when the sun is not shining the battery won’t charge. So, if a person wants to use solar powered lighting in areas where there is not sun year round they may consider distributing solar lighting among low voltage lighting to assure that there is always light in the area. Another options is to use solar lighting in those areas of the garden that one does not mind go unlit on some nights.

Getting a plot map of the lot that has the details of the buildings and gardens that are on it will help you if you are going to need to install low voltage conduits for your lights. Mark the map with the areas where you want perimeter lighting to go. These lights will be brighter and are sometimes called security lights. They most probably will be mounted on the walls of the home and will be connected directly to the home’s electrical current.

Most home accidents involve slipping and falling on pathways and steps. This can be very expensive and cause homeowner’s insurance premiums to rise. By installing proper low voltage lights along pathways and steps in the garden and to the home one is reducing the danger of tripping, slipping, or falling. Low voltage lighting is very inexpensive to run and provides the amount of light that one needs to navigate pathways easily. There are also low voltage garden lights made specifically for steps which when in place are not noticeable until a person walking triggers a motion sensor which activates them.

Up lights will provide the items in your garden with the attention that you want them to have. These lights are generally low voltage but brighter than the lower lights that are used for ground shrubbery. Some individuals prefer to install these lamps with the lights directed towards boulders or other natural elements so that the lay of shadow and light provides visitors with a different look in the garden than they would see during the day.

Down lights produce a soft downward light that can be made brighter with a dimmer switch. One would want to use these lights at the entry ways as well as in areas where activities will be going on such as a patio. These lights are brighter than one uses for decorative purposes but not as bright as a light bulb.

When a plan has been drawn and a person has figured out how big the task will be to install garden lights they may choose to call a professional for assistance. For large yards there may be the need to lay electrical conduit and test outlets which should always be done by someone knowledgeable and trained in this area. For the smaller garden one may want to begin the project themselves by purchasing the necessary kits to do a small part of the garden to see if it is something they feel comfortable doing.

To help you decide what kind of outdoor lights are best for your home check out Abel Brockman’s website about outdoor garden lighting and outdoor garden lighting techniques.

What do you think of when someone says “solar lights”? Quite a few of us will get an image in our head of the old “first generation” solar lights that were really plain looking; with big, bulky solar panels that just screamed “ugly”. It turns out that solar lighting has evolved quite a bit in its technology. Most solar lights now have rechargeable (Ni-cad) batteries built into them that store their charge. The photovoltaic cells (solar cells) are able to gather much more energy from a much smaller design, and the bulbs are usually made from LED’s which use less energy to produce more light. This makes them much more efficient than incandescent or florescent bulbs.

With the advancement of solar technology, solar lighting manufacturers are able to design new styles of and applications for solar lights. The new compact designs of solar path lights makes them so easy to install, that you just have to take them out of the box and put them where you want them. The solar cells and batteries are built right into the light fixture. Solar accent lights come in a variety of elegant designs that will accent your home’ landscape during the day as well as at night. There are even motion sensing solar security lights that are very easy to mount to a wall and will light up when someone enters your front porch or driveway – all without any wiring involved.

The benefits of using solar lighting around your home are many. Fist of all, most solar lights are wireless. That makes them super easy to install just about anywhere where they can gather light. For those places that do not get much light during the day, there are lights that come with a remote panel that you can locate in a sunnier location. In that case, you will have 1 wire to worry about.

Another advantage is that they are 100% maintenance free. Solar lights are truly “set-and-forget” technology. The batteries and bulbs should last as long as the fixture does. In fact if either of them gives out, the fixtures have become so inexpensive that it makes sense to just replace the light fixture. Just mount the light where you want it and let it do what it does without any worries.

To me, the greatest benefit of all is that solar lighting is “green”. They use renewable energy (the sun). That makes them great for the environment and for your pocketbook. The earth is running out of non-renewable resources and the cost of electricity is constantly going up. Not only does switching to solar lighting allow you to help save the planet’s resources, but it saves you money as well. They cost nothing to run.

There are so many reasons to switch to solar lighting that I could not possibly cover them all in one article. Future developments in solar technology ensure that solar lights will continue to increase in efficiency and decrease in price. We get to save money AND help save the Earth! Sweet!

Want to find out more about solar lights, then visit Steve Schafer’s site on how to choose the best outdoor solar lights for your needs.

Landscaping is something that many homeowners strive to improve, but some don’t know to the extent that the word covers. The lawn is part of the landscape, but things such as flowerbeds, trees, ponds, fountains, pool areas, garden, wooded areas, patios, verandas, and decks are also included. Working directly on those things can improve the appearance of your landscape, but landscape lighting can do help to refine it. The following are a few ways to improve your landscape and house with landscape lighting

1. Use spotlights to highlight the front side of the house.

2. Light up paths with path lights.

3. Give good general lighting to areas that are high traffic

4. Use specific lights to improve the atmosphere.

The first thing you want to do is to use spotlights to highlight the front side of the house. Spotlights focus light on a small area, which help accentuate their subject. In the case of your house, it would help to put focus on your house.

The second thing you want to do is to use path lights to illuminate walkways and paths. These lights cast and indirect glow onto the ground, and can help to softly light up paths.

The third thing you want to do is to use general lighting sources to illuminate high traffic areas. Places such as your patio, porch, or deck are good areas for this lighting. There are several choices for general lighting, such as floodlights, post lights, or wall sconces.

The last way is to improve the ambiance with specialized lighting. You can create changes in the mood of an area with soft, indirect, and diffused lighting. Rope lights, for example, can help to create a soft highlight of an area.

The Landscape around a house, whether simplistic or involved, can benefit from some nighttime accents from landscape lighting. There are so many choices to choose from that you will be sure to find something that works for your taste and needs.

If you are interested in landscape lighting, and want to know more about how to use landscape lights in your landscape, then check out Jeremy Szechenyi’s awesome blog on landscape lighting.