Outdoor Solar Lighting Ideas

There are several ways to add light to the outside of your home.



ท You can install lighting on the outside of your house



ท You could install lighting where the wiring is buried under the dirt and string lights throughout your garden, walkway, lawn and path



ท You could also buy individual lamps and lights that are outside your house, placed where you need them.



ท There are also solar options, which, Outdoor Light Strings, can be very useful in lighting your home outside without wires and without an additional charge on your monthly electricity bill.



Solar lighting is becoming increasingly popular due to their energy efficiency as well as ease of installation.



As solar technology becomes more popular and more widely available, it's, Outdoor Light Strings, decreasing in cost and has become more affordable. There are new, innovative solar, Outdoor Light Strings, products emerging constantly.



The solar rock light is an innovative product. This is a solar light nestled into a realistic looking rock. It's wireless and uses solar energy to recharge its NiCad batteries.



It comes on after dusk and turns off as the sun rises automatically. This is a great addition to your existing outdoor lighting and can be used in many ways to accentuate your front gardens, driveway and walkways as well as your rear patio and backyard gardens.



A Few Decorating Ideas



Here are a few ideas for great ways to use the solar rock light to both accentuate your outdoor gardens and to create a soft glow outside your home.



Because it looks like a natural rock, it can fit into your outdoor d้cor and blend well into any rock garden borders you have around your flowers.



You could space out several to create a warm spotlight that points toward your home. Or, angle them so that they point directly toward your door to light the path of anyone who arrives. This type of lighting can be beneficial in helping you easily find the keyhole at night or welcome visitors and enabling them to find the doorbell or doorknocker. Placing your solar rock light so that it positions the light over your house number can be a bonus as well. This looks classy and helps people find your home.



This solar rock light can illuminate your patio and you can use several of them to decorate your yard and create bordered lighting around the perimeter in lieu of something such as a Tiki torch, moon ray or patio lanterns. Lighting creates ambience so you can even use a combination of the solar rock light with any other patio lights you already have.



Other Solar Rock Light Benefits



Beyond looking good and lighting your outside, this product has several benefits:



ท Because it is wireless, they are simple and easy to install by anyone

ท The solar function makes this a very energy efficient outdoor lighting option

ท They are weather resistant so work efficiently in rain or snow unlike some outdoor lighting that has to be brought in for the winter

ท They recharge, Outdoor Light Strings, from the daylight as well as the sun. Only a minimal amount of sun is needed to recharge these lights

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Lighting Up The Outdoors With LED's

Outdoor LED lights can help you save energy by providing exterior lighting that consumes very little energy. But before you go stocking up on solar-powered LED landscape lights or LED security lights, you should first think about the product life cycle energy costs of what you are buying, and how much you really, Outdoor Light Strings, need the outdoor lighting.



If you're going to light up your back yard so that it looks pretty for the ten seconds each evening that you glance out at it, you might want to do a cost-benefit analysis. And as for security lighting, did you know that having security lights on all the time not only causes light pollution (for those of us inclined to gaze at the stars) but can actually make it easier for someone to break into your home?



We can divide outdoor LED lights according to their power source, their voltage, and their purpose.



For power source, the choices are solar powered (all-in one unit, or separate solar panel with wiring to connect to the light), grid connected, or battery powered. LED lights come in a variety of voltages, with 120 volt grid connected the most popular, followed by 12 volt DC since this is a common power source for solar electric systems. The purpose can range from security, to safety/utility, to setting.



Solar power is one obvious power source for outdoor LED Lights. There are plenty of inexpensive products that combine a solar panel, a battery, and outdoor LED lights so that sunlight captured during the day is released at night.



You have probably seen the old-style incandescent or fluorescent solar landscape lights, typically green or stainless steel plated. They consist of a stake you shove in the ground, a lamp above, and a small, cheap-looking photovoltaic module on top. They also typically throw off very little light, and only early in the evening. Why is this? There are actually three reasons:



1. The photovoltaic modules low-quality - how else can anyone sell them for $2.50 each?



2. The rechargeable batteries are also low quality, so they stop holding much of a charge after a few weeks.



3. The lights are incandescent or fluorescent. Fluorescent is better than incandescent, Outdoor Light Strings, but neither is anywhere near as efficient as LED's.



Good-quality solar LED landscape lights solve these problems with higher quality solar modules, improved battery technology, and above all,, Outdoor Light Strings, less electrical demand from the LED's. Of course, if you buy LED landscape lights at $2.50 each, they're still likely to fail early on. There's no substitute for quality.



Solar powered floodlights and security lights typically come with higher quality, higher capacity batteries and solar array than LED landscape lights. But they also need more sunlight, so if you buy one of these make sure you have a spot that gets several hours of full sunlight a day to charge it. Some LED flood or security lights come with a length of wire between the panel and the fixture to give you more flexibility over where the panel goes.



But remember that outdoor LED lights consume so little electricity, that a grid-connected LED light may make more sense.



For example, a 50-foot long LED rope uses just 40 watts - if it's on just 3 hours a day throughout the year, it will cost less than $5 a year for the electricity. Spend the money you saved on a solar panel and batteries, on some other, more profitable energy efficiency upgrade.



Safety/utility lights are any lights that help you make safe and effective use of outdoor areas. For example, LED flood lights can be used to light up a garden or yard for evening dining, and a solar-powered LED shed light helps you light up a dark shed without having to run wiring to it from the house.



Outdoor LED lights for creating a setting or mood can be low-intensity ground-level lights to light up a garden path, trees or plants, or other yard features. Or they can be rope lights or bulb strings along a fence, garden border, or in a tree.



Security LED lights with motion sensors can light up an outdoor area brightly when movement is detected at night. Because the LED's use little electricity and are typically not on for very long (unless you have a particularly determined burglar on your porch, or a very hungry raccoon), you can get a lot of light even from a solar-powered LED security light with a small solar panel and small built-in battery unit.



The simplest option for a security LED light, if you already have an outdoor security light, is to switch the existing incandescent bulb to a compatible LED bulb. Again, a solar module makes a good conversation piece at a patio party but it isn't the most energy efficient use of your money.



If you want to light up your outdoor spaces so you can eat outside, find your way to the garage at night, barbecue in the dark, or otherwise turn your yard into an extension of your indoor living place, there are a number of great outdoor LED light options.



LED rope lights can light up an outdoor area brightly enough for a social setting. You can string LED, Outdoor Light Strings, rope lights up along fences, attach them to house walls, or line a pathway with them.



They can easily be connected to the grid (just plug them in) and you can buy lengths anywhere from 8 feet to 150 foot reels.



LED barbecue lights are simple solar- or battery-powered LED lamps you can use to see what's happening on the barbie when it's dark out. They clamp to an unheated area on the barbecue unit and you can direct their light down on the grill to check that those grill marks are perfectly aligned, or to test meat for doneness.



LED shed lights are typically solar-powered modules where you place a small solar panel on an outside wall or on the shed roof, facing the main path of the sun, and the light itself at the doorway to, or inside, the shed, so you can find what you're looking for.



Of course, just putting a transparent plastic section of roof material down instead of plywood and asphalt will give you plenty of light from dawn to dusk, so the shed light is really only needed if you use the shed after dark.



The line between safety/utility and setting is a bit blurry, since being able to see the plate of food in front of you could be a safety issue, while the subdued lighting of a candle at your dinner table could be more for the mood. Since we're at the dinner table let's start with options for dining.



LED candles are a great choice for gentle lighting at the table, both indoors and out. These candles are made of translucent plastic that has the appearance of real wax; they have a small black wick on the top; and an LED light inside flickers inside, giving the appearance of a candle. LED candles are battery powered and a single battery can last 200 hours, Outdoor Light Strings, or more.



Umbrella LED's are another battery-powered option. They, Outdoor Light Strings, mount on the shaft of your patio umbrella, and light up the table below.



LED landscape lights are the sensible replacement for those ever popular but always dim solar landscape lights sold over the past 10-15 years.



LED post cap lights are a new addition: caps you can put on the top of 4x4 wooden posts along your patio edge. They are capped like a standard post cap and have a solar chip embedded in the top of the cap to charge the battery during the day. The light is emitted from a glazed section below the cap. These protect, Outdoor Light Strings, your posts from rain damage better than a wooden post cap and provide free lighting, Outdoor Light Strings, at night for years.



We'll be seeing more and more LED technology over the coming years, as quality improves, costs come down, and electricity prices go up. I'm pleased by this development for two reasons:, Outdoor Light Strings, we, Outdoor Light Strings, need to cut our energy use as much as possible to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, so LED's can help there; and for those of us who have already started the migration to lower-wattage lights by installing fluorescent lighting, we've had to suffer through the typically unattractive, glaring light of our fluorescent bulbs and tubes, and LED's, unlike fluorescents, can truly provide a more natural, muted light.

Robin Green is the owner of GreenEnergyEfficientHomes.com, a website dedicated to helping people save energy on heating, cooling, lighting, and other energy uses in their homes. For more information on LED lights for both indoor and outdoor use, see his pages on LED house lights and Outdoor LED lights.

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Solar Lighting - Next Year's Holiday Cheer and Year Round Outdoor Lighting

Before the holidays, one of the traditional things to do is to remove the holiday storage container from the garage and separate endless strings of lights. As children and pets become tangled in the light strings, coordinating a Christmas light display becomes a trial in patience. Determining which strings to connect and where to plug in the extension cord are the first issues. Managing the wires for an efficient holiday light display is a seasonal challenge. The annoyance of setting a timer that may not work goes along with a high utility bill arriving in the mail.



It's no surprise that homeowners want an alternative to the yearly mess and expense. With the popularity of Easter and Halloween displays, the problem occurs more than once a year. Many homeowners are accustomed to replacing burned out bulbs, or getting aggravated enough to give up on their display.



Thanks to innovations in solar lighting, holiday frustration isn't necessary. A recent article in The Bay Area News tells of a wife's idea of introducing solar lighting to her husband who prefers wired lights.



His lack of willingness to initially accept solar lighting leads his wife to enlist her friend, author Marni Jameson, to assist with the installation. Intimidated at first, the women soon found that installation, Outdoor Light Strings, was relatively easy.



They were even able to use high heeled boots to secure the lights into the hard ground. Uncertain if their efforts were successful, the two friends decide to wait and see. The following evening, her husband is so impressed with the solar lights that he was ready for more green technology. This is the appeal of solar lighting; ease and ingenuity.



Solar lights are inexpensive to purchase and installation is easy. Solar landscape lights are powered by sunlight, which provides free solar power. The units are plug and wire free.



Another great aspect about solar lights is that they have dawn and dusk sensors to detect when to turn on and off. This makes solar lights perfectly in tune with longer nights and shorter days. Solar lights are dependable when other lights are unavailable, enabling people to find their way safely to an entrance through a dark yard.



As mentioned in the Bay Area News, it is important to consult the solar radiation map at the U.S. Department of Energy Website to determine if there is adequate sun to power the lights.



Solar lights should also be located in areas that are exposed to sunlight. There are also options in solar lights suitable for holiday cheer such as colors and blinking. Now that one of the biggest holiday seasons of the year has passed, there's always, Outdoor Light Strings, next year's display to consider.



Retailers and online stores offer excellent prices on solar lights once the holidays are finished. Buyers may get the urge to try them right away. With all the perks that solar, Outdoor Light Strings, lighting provides, having eco-friendly lighting will bring holiday cheer all year, Outdoor Light Strings, long.

Cheryl Marland is the publisher of Outdoor Lighting Choices.
People are concerned about making earth-friendly choices in all aspects of their lives, and outdoor lighting is no exception. Want to know how to find the perfect outdoor lighting that will meet all of your expectations for added security, decreased lighting pollution, reduced energy consumption, and above all, outstanding beauty? Stay up-to-date with dark sky and solar lighting news and look no further for dark sky compliant and quality solar outdoor lighting to meet all of your outdoor lighting needs.

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Outdoor Christmas Decorating

Adding Christmas spirit to your yard can be done quite simply and inexpensively. By using lights and homemade decor you can make your yard into a Christmas masterpiece.



People love looking at a yard full of outdoor Christmas decorations. Christmas is a time of celebrating around the world and many families see it as a time of extensive decorating, both inside the home and outside the home. Some towns and cities even have contests that are centered around lighting and decorating the outside of your home.



You can find almost any type of outdoor Christmas decoration that you can imagine.



Homemade decorations are just one type of outdoor Christmas decoration. They are usually very sentimental and are typically created when family gets together to make these outdoor decorations. They are usually less expensive than buying decorations at a store, Outdoor Light Strings, and can be much more interesting and fun.



You can create outdoor Christmas decorations from almost anything, including wire coat hangers. Wire coat hangers can be shaped into almost any shape that you can imagine and then you can wrap outdoor lights around them to help give them pop and interest. You can use strips of wood to create a figure, like Santa, and then place lights around it to give it visual interest.



A string of lights is another wonderful way to decorate your yard. They are the most popular Christmas decoration available and come in all different shapes and colors to help you, Outdoor Light Strings, create the look that you desire. They even have lights that you can hang on your home that look like icicles or you can use a simple strand of lights. White lights or colored lights will look great on any home, whether you want flashing lights or not.



Another type of outdoor Christmas decoration is a pre-made figure or statue that has lights on it or around it. You can find almost any kind of character that you would like from religious ones to Santa to cartoon characters. The air inflated decorations are becoming more popular every year. They stay inflated with a constant flow of air and are lit inside for added visibility. They are quite inexpensive and easy to set up and operate.



Adding, Outdoor Light Strings, outdoor Christmas decorations can be an important part of your holiday decor. By choosing the right decorations for you, you will be sure to enjoy adding that extra dose of Christmas spirit to the outside of your home.

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Decoration Ideas For Outdoor Patio String Lights

Decorating your backyard does not have to cost you a significant amount of money as there are plenty other alternatives, Outdoor Light Strings, available for you to liven things up.



One of these is the outdoor patio string lights which can be purchased at an affordable price and are rather simple to set up. The following are decoration tips and ideas of things you can do with these lighting systems for your patio.



You might think that anything to do with outdoor lighting is rather expensive but you would be surprised as to the great deals that you can find by shopping online. The most common types are the string lights in which tiny bulbs are housed inside of a clear tube.



There also other choices available like hanging lanterns but these are often a bit more expensive depending on how much you, Outdoor Light Strings, spend.



Once you find outdoor patio string lights that you want to set up, there are so many things that you can start by doing.



You can start by wrapping it around the trees or bushes you have in your yard while lining it along the patio deck. In addition, you can also use these systems to light up a pathway or even have them installed on handrails to give a much more appealing environment.



If the set up is done right, then you can really improve the elegance and ambiance of your yard without having to spend a fortune. If you are a bit unsure as to where to get started, then you can always check out pictures online to give you additional ideas.



You can also always hire a professional to do the work for you and tell them exactly, Outdoor Light Strings, what you are looking for.



If you are concerned about energy usage of these lighting systems, then fortunately there are solar power string lights that you can also use.



The benefits of using these should be fairly obvious as they run solely on the energy of the sun. This means that you will not have to worry about increasing your monthly electricity bill as these internal batteries are charged throughout the day.



What makes these solutions most attractive is that they are often priced about the same versus those models that require cords. They are actually much easier to install as well but you will need to ensure that the solar panels are in a location where it can collect sunlight.



Just be sure to shop online to find some of the best deals available as these outdoor lights can make a world of difference.

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