Outdoor Garden Lights

The installation of outdoor garden lights is one of the easiest and cost effective ways to improve the attractiveness, feel, and usefulness of your outdoor living areas. Historically, outdoor lights tended to be limited to a few spotlights that cast some light on the yard, steps or driveway in a sole effort to improve safety and security. However when used correctly, outdoor lighting doesn’t just enhance functionality, it also provides your outdoor areas with a unique sense of ambiance. It improves the attractiveness of your home, which in turn can translate into an increase in home equity. If you are able to use solar powered garden lights you do not even have to invest a lot of time or effort in the installation process and the operation of these garden lights is absolutely free. In less than a few hours you can design a solar light scheme for your garden that will not add a nickle to your electricity bill.

Whatever your tastes and whatever your budget, there are a number of different basic lighting styles to consider. Sit down and map out a basic plan. Start with some lighting basics and then add some different elements to the outdoor lighting design.

Outdoor garden lights can high light a certain area of your garden. If you want to draw attention to a particular object in your garden such as a sculpture or piece of art, feature lighting is a great solution. Feature lights focus light on a specific object and draw your eyes to that object, illuminating the object for all to see. Feature lighting is usually done with the use of spotlights mounted on the wall of your home or on a post in the ground. The effect will be entirely dependent upon whether the light shines down on the object or up on the object. It is important that you try both angles before you permanently affix the light to the post or your home.

Another type of lighting is called ambient lighting. This lighting is all about creating a mood rather than drawing attention to a specific object. Ambient lighting tends to be less strong than other types of outdoor lights and certainly dimmer than spot lights or flood lights. Try to think of the mood you would like to create. Ambient lighting can make you outdoor space sparkly or twinkly, romantic or even tropical. Consider adding some low voltage colored lights, strands of white Christmas lights or perhaps some rope lights which are often referred to as outdoor string lighting. All of the aforementioned make for great ambient lighting.

The different atmospheres created by ambient lighting are fun to play with. Experiment with various types until you find something that suits your tastes.

Every outdoor garden area requires a certain amount of lighting to meet safety and or security concerns. Often the use of floodlights can solve these concerns. Floodlights flood the area around them with light. Depending upon the strength of the light, outdoor flood lights can illuminate a very large area. Often flood lights are used in commercial settings such as sporting venues and parking lots. They can also be used in a residential setting. Used in a residential setting can allow your kids to continue playing sports in the backyard etc after dark.

The use of a lot of floodlights is unlikely to look attractive but they win top awards for functionality. You will also want to turn these lights off at a good hour so that you don't inadvertently alienate your neighbors. Once the kids grow up you can switch the flood lights for another more attractive type of outdoor light.

As mentioned in an above paragraph, every garden setting requires security lighting. Security lighting won’t add much beauty to your property, but it can prevent intruders. It is well known that petty criminals tend to go after soft targets such as darkened basement windows and often gain entrance to your property over the back fence or other dark corner of your yard. Security lighting tends to be focused on the darker areas of your yard and is often triggered by motion detectors. This type of outdoor garden lights can also act to thwart the odd raccoon.

Security lighting is generally done with a high powered light, similar to those used for floodlights and often feature lights attached to a motion detector. Once motion is detected the light will come on and stay on for a pre-programmed period of time. Any further detected motion extends the time the light will be on. In the process scaring away any unwanted intruders.

Outdoor lights come in all shapes and sizes and the range will fit any budget. The installation process is painless if not downright easy.

By installing outdoor garden lights on your property and properly considering some of the aforementioned lighting techniques you can increase the beauty, utility and safety of your home. This does not have to be an expensive proposition. The cost of outdoor solar lighting has dropped dramatically over the past 8-10 years as new cheaper solar panels have been developed and mass produced. The benefit of having a properly thought out outdoor lighting scheme for your garden and outdoor living space is enormous. There is no time like the present to consider adding outdoor garden lights to your house.

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