The Many Benefits Of Garden Lights

Planning and equipping a garden with lighting that can enhance the many qualities that are seen easily during the day can be very challenging. An individual must take time to plan on the location and use of their garden lights before they begin the process of installing them.

The first step is to walk around your house and through your garden during the day with a camera. Find the focal points in your garden that you would like to highlight then take a picture of the plant, shrub, etc., from the angle where you might want to put a light to highlight or showcase that item. It will be much easier for you to decide where to place the lights if you take pictures from different angles where the lights would be placed. The picture will reflect where light will fall when the lamp is in that spot.

Part of the process of installing lights is also identifying and lighting the perimeter of the home. Those areas that are not well lit at night or have older lights and fixtures should be re-configured for the newer lower voltage halogen lights. Halogen security lights burn for up to 5, 000 hours and can have additional safety features built in which will protect a homeowner and the property.

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.

To create lighting throughout one’s garden it will be easy to use a plot map containing the details of the structures and yard of the home. One can mark where they want lights to be placed and, if an electrical conduit will be installed, it is easy to draw the area for it’s placement.

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.

Using up lights to focus attention on specific items in the garden or create a dramatic effect is affordable and easily accomplished with the use of low voltage up lights. The encasement of these lights is made so that it can be partially submerged in soil by shrubbery and is not noticeable to a daylight observer.

Replacing old porch lights with down lights creates a pool of light that welcomes guests. The down lights provide enough light that they are excellent in areas such as the patio where activities and entertaining will take place. These lights are designed to be used with wall switches, motion detectors, or timers so that an individual is not required to turn them on and off in those areas where one wants the lights to come on at dusk and turn off at dawn.

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.

When deciding on the garden lights that are right for you, be sure to check out Abel Brockman’s website about outdoor garden lights and purchasing solar garden lighting in your area.