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Led garden lights are an extremely popular choice of lighting for the garden. They have become popular due to two reasons; the first is that advances in solar power that have allowed small solar panels to be produced for very little cost and the second is that the are much cheaper to run than the traditional incandescent bulb. With led garden lights being cheaper to run this also means that they are better for the environment which is one of the main factors to be celebrated about led’s.

When it comes to choosing led garden lighting you do need to consider your options carefully as they are not all the same. If you get it wrong your garden can look rather cheap and worse still the lighting will not do the task that you intended it to do. LiveIn|LiveOut has produced this article to guide you through choosing the right led garden lights for your home.

Led Color

Led’s come in many colors, and the color that you choose will depend upon the function that you want them to carry out. If you are looking for a more classic lighting scheme and want something simple then white led garden lights are idea. You do need to be careful when choosing your white led’s as they are not all the same. You will find that cheaper white led lights are very cold looking white which is almost blue. If you are trying to recreate a more traditional light then you will need to look for some warm white led lights which look more similar to an incandescent bulb. If you want something more exciting though and actually want some color in your garden you will be able to find whatever color you desire.

Function – Decorative of Functional

Do you want your garden lighting to be functional or decorative? This is a question that you must ask before selecting garden lights as many solar powered garden lights will only give off an ambient light which doesn’t provide enough light to read by. If you want something more powerful you may have to look at a mains powered variety – see below for selecting a power source.

The vast majority of decorative outdoor patio lighting now features led bulbs. Outdoor string lights will invariable be mains powered and are available in numerous colors. String lights are an idea addition to any garden lighting scheme as they look beautiful all year round.

For a more functional led garden lights you may want to consider those that come in the form as a spot light as these really will provide enough light for you to see with. Some manufacturers of security lights are even switching over to use led’s instead of the power hungry tungsten bulbs. Functional doesn’t always mean bright though so if you only want to mark the edge of a pathway solar patio lights with led bulbs are ideal.

Power Sources

From out other articles on patio string lights you will see that the power sources of garden lights come in three forms – mains power, battery power and solar power. With led garden lights this is no exception but the later is definitely the most popular and this in mainly due to the fact that they are cheap to buy, cheap to install and cheap to run. As mentioned previously if you want a useable light you are far better opting for mains powered led garden lights – these will work reliably 365 days a year.

If you bear the above three points in mind when choosing your led garden lights you should end up with a solution that you are pleased with. Led is still a relatively new technology and as time goes on more and more choices will be available.

Solar powered garden lights are with out doubt one of the easiest ways to add some interest in to your garden when the sun sets. LiveIn|LiveOut have done some research in to solar powered garden lighting and would like to share with you five very good reasons why solar power garden lights are quite possibly the next best thing to sliced bread…

1. Solar powered garden lights can be positioned any where

The real beauty of solar powered lights comes in the fact that you have absolute freedom to position them wherever you want to. You don’t have to worry about getting power to them; all you have to worry about is that the solar panel can see some sun light every day. This flexibility in where you can position the lights gives rise to a wealth of opportunities and all you need to do is think creatively as to where and how you position them. Some types of solar garden lighting will in fact come with a remote solar panel and this gives you even more flexibility as to where you can place them. Having a remote solar panel means that you can position the lights in areas that do not get direct sunlight – such as under hedges or the eaves of your shed – but you can position the solar panel in an area that gets a maximum amount of sunlight every day. This flexibility of where you can position the lights gives rise to the next great thing about solar powered garden lights…

2. Solar lights cost little (if anything) to install

The very fact that solar lights have no power cables means that there is no expensive or exhausting landscaping work to carry out. There is simply no cable to bury and this means no expensive armored cabling or digging trenches across your lawn. Even if you decide to opt for a solar power garden light that has a remote solar panel (which will have a cable running between the light and panel) the cable does not necessarily have to be buried. It is only from an aesthetic point of view that you may want to hide it – from a safety point of view, the cable offers no threat of electrocution has the voltage and current needed to run a small solar powered led garden light is very small.

3. Most normal garden lights you can get as a solar powered version

Solar powered garden lights also come in a variety of different formats and this is good news for anyone that is designing their lighting scheme for their garden. Outdoor lighting design should – like interior lighting – revolve around having multiple light sources which give many different focal points and creates usable and ambient lighting. Solar outdoor lighting comes in the form of lanterns, string lights, post lights, pond lights, patio umbrella lights and bury in the ground lights. You pretty much have all the options that you would do if you were using regular mains voltage powered garden lights. However, unless you spend a significant sum of money it is unlikely that you will get a high powered spot light as these require larger and more sophisticated solar panels.

Another point to bear in mind when choosing a solar powered light is that some of the cheaper lights will emit a very cold (almost light blue) light, in some cases this may work well, but we tend to prefer the warmer white type lights. This type of light is more akin to traditional incandescent light bulbs and gives a much warmer feeling.

4. Solar lights cost nothing to run

Although solar lights may cost a little more than conventional lights you will easily and quickly recoup the cost in what they don’t cost you in terms of electrical power. So, not only will your solar powered lights cost you nothing to install they will also cost you absolutely nothing to run, what more could you want. There is one final point that this leads on to very nicely…

5. Solar powered garden lights turn themselves off

As all of the power that the solar panels have gained in the day slowly dies out throughout the night and so your lights will turn themselves off. This is one great – often overlooked – feature of solar powered garden lights, it means that at the end of the evening when you just want to go to bed you can do just that, you don’t need to traipse around the garden switching off all the lights individually or turning of plug sockets in the house.

Hopefully these five points will have inspired you to get out and buy some solar powered lights for your garden. Garden lights will enhance your garden greatly and make it a real pleasure to spend time in long after the sun has set.