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Solar patio lighting is a lighting and design option for the outside of the home.  When you come home late even if you have a garage, it is more inviting to have some outside lighting.  You can take a look around and check things out before you enter the garage. 

Well, what are the options for decorating the outside with lights?  You can use electrical lighting or you can use the upright lights that resemble street lights.  However, the most feasible option not only for the decor and the simplicity, but also for the eco-friendly approach, is solar lighting.

Solar lighting is basically turning sunlight into energy that provides illumination.  This can be done passively or actively.  The passive method of using the sunlight to convert to illumination does not require any additional assistance.  However, the active method does.  The active method is quite a bit more expensive because of the additional accessories required.  As society moves forward, though, it will become more and more of a viable option with the decrease in costs as efficiency is perfected.

In the meantime, you can still choose to use passive solar patio lighting as a design and illumination feature for your home.  There are several types of designs for solar lighting that are available, and can even get patio umbrella lights.   This particular form of lighting can be obtained by using magnetic lights that attach to an umbrella.  Weatherproof and durable, they attach to awnings, canopies, or the patio umbrellas that come with patio furniture.  Charging even in cloudy weather, the top has a panel that is crystalline.  The bottom portion of the panel has 4 super LED lights that will run for up to five hours with a complete charge.

The LED term means that light can be emitted in the most safe, efficient, and eco-friendly way.  When charged electrically, the diode that serves as a semi-conductor gives light out incoherently.  There is little or no heat generated and it is safe to touch.  The magnitude of such efficiency boasts that a bulb can last more than 100,000 hours continuously.  These lights contain no mercury and that significantly decreases the carbon dioxide released.

This eco-friendly solar lighting is another option.  With today’s cultural focus on improving the environment and using natural resources more efficiently to meet our needs, the eco-friendly choices are increasing. A central solar panel is placed in the best place to optimize the energy of the sun and the lights themselves are placed strategically around your property to illuminate and decorate.  There are different designs for the cover of the bulbs including square or round. 

Speaking of different designs, programmable color solar lights are available that attach to the outside elements such as the fence, the shrubs or even the edge of your house.  The flexibility that is a part of these programmable lights offers you the opportunity to twist the lights around the item you choose.

Solar string lights are a great design for the outside.  Since they do not require an outlet, the placement options are endless.  Your design is only limited by your imagination.  Some of the string solar lights can last up to eight hours with a complete charge.  The string solar lights emit a brighter light and you can take advantage of this feature and have a solar powered garden lights with the versatility.

Many of the these options for the solar patio lighting are reasonably priced.  You can review the different choices with a residential store associate.  After settling on  a design for your patio and garden, you can speak to the residential store associate to compare choices and costs.  In order to choose the best type of solar patio lighting for your home, you want to consider the size.  If your home is very large, you may have the option of putting different types of solar lighting in different places.  For instance, you may consider decorating using patio string lights around the fence or through your garden.  You may consider the round or square holders along the walkway.  The magnetic solar lights may be more effective around the patio area with the tables and chairs.

There are plenty of options for you to choose from.  Pricing can range from around twenty dollars to well over several hundred dollars.  Your choice of design and where you would like to use your solar lighting will influence the total cost.  You can also price your choices at different residential stores and choose the best price that way.

String lights transform a space. They turn plain, boring and uninteresting into a magical atmosphere. They are easy to install, cheap to run and look fantastic in whatever way you chose to use them. They were once reserved for Christmas and festive use but they have proved so popular that they are now used year round. LiveIn|LiveOut have taken a look at how you can get some string lights in to your home.

Four ideas for string lights in your home

1. Think of any dark corner in any room that needs a bit of a lift and perhaps place them into a large, tall glass vase. This adds instant glamour because you will find that in a glass the light tends to reflect around the material and looks simply stunning. It is best to use battery operated string lights for this purpose, as you will not be able to see the power source quite so easily once the string is bundled into the vase. Not having a cable going to an illuminated vase only enhances its beauty.
2. Why not add them to a bunch of willow? This looks amazing propped up in a corner adding interest to a porch, bathroom or bare corner of a living room. If where you choose to use them does not have a power point near by such as in the bathroom the battery powered option would be better.
3. Another way you could display your string lights is in your houseplants. This will require some of you more hardy plants and nothing too weak. Even though LED string lights are lighter in weight you will have to concentrate the majority of the weight around the ‘trunk’ or ‘stalk’ of the plant just so it doesn’t add too much strain on them.
4. String lights are great idea to add some fun into your child’s room. Children are visual and highly sensory beings when they are young. They learn and respond to lighting, so a simple and relatively cheap way of adding some creativity into their lives is to place some string lights around the room. The lights will create shapes on the walls giving your child hours of enjoyment and a sense of wonder … LED string lights are low heat so they are safer around small people. You can get them in a myriad of colours and they also come in a colour changing option. Great to stimulate those senses and relax the baby at night so you can have a better nights sleep. Do bare in mind though that any type of cord or string is a potential hazard for young children, so do make sure that they a fixed safely and securely out of reach.
   

Four ideas for string lights in your garden

1. For outdoor use you simply cannot beat solar string lights. The fact that they do not need to be plugged in, or have batteries gives you instant flexibility on where you can place them.Like inside the home, string lights look great in a feature plant or tree out of the front of your home and will add a bit of interest not only to the front of your home but also the entire street. Solar lighting does tend to take on more of a white/blue light as opposed to a more ambient warmer white light – but these can be purchased if you specifically require them but you will find that they cost a little more than the wired versions.
2. Another great place to put some string lighting is around your patio area. It is somewhere you like to sit and enjoy your garden so why not create more of an ambiance by some beautiful lighting solutions. Patio string lights like all types of outdoor lighting would be specifically for outdoor purposes and these are a little more expensive as they need to be of a certain IP rating (an IP rating general dictates how waterproof an electrical product is). You could perhaps wrap these around your table umbrella in order to create a perfect setting for those cosy summer nights watching the sun go down – you can even get dedicated patio umbrella lights.
3. The third place that you could put outdoor string lights would be in a pergola or archway. Delicate paper lantern type string lights do not have to cost a fortune and really enhance your garden.
4. Willow and reed screens have become very popular in recent years but at night their beauty is lost. If you can get small enough string lights you can poke them in between the willow sticks from behind so that they create a beautiful starry effect at night. This is possibly may favourite use of outdoor string lights.

Ideas for different types of string lights

Now that you have some ideas of how you might use string lights in and around your home, lets take a look at the different types of string lights there are available. You may or may not be aware that there is a multitude of different shapes, sizes, lengths and looks of string lighting on today’s market that are suitable for both indoor and outdoor usage.

I know that if you were looking at creating a Japanese feel into your garden you may want to get some paper lantern string lights – obviously if they are to be used outdoors look for the plastic/ paper look material! These are great – they look colourful and stylish adding sophistication into your space. I recently went to a home show and saw a fairly new design that looked like a string of lit leaves; they were beautiful and came in a fair few colours to match any interior.

If you are looking for a softer option for your bedroom, feathered string lights are in fashion. They look feminine and pretty and simply look at home draped over your mirror. Tube rope light is another option taking on a spaceier feel. The tubing is less unobtrusive during the day as it is clear rather that having lengths of wire cluttering up your home – at night they come to life casting a rather spectacular glow around the room.