Outdoor Lighting and Outdoor Lights

Outdoor lighting is used for three basic reasons. It can provide security. It can provide safety. It can be a very effective technique used to accent various features of your property, both natural and man made.

When choosing their outdoor lighting, many people want to find ways to not only provide the light they need for outdoors, but want to find ways to do it in a way that won't cost them and arm and a leg, and if possible they want to find an environmentally friendly way to do it. There are two systems which fill this niche.

There are essentially two types of low energy systems. Both use considerably less electricity than other higher voltage outdoor systems.Both are environmentally friendly outdoor lighting.

Low voltage outdoor lighting

These systems utilize a transformer to convert house current of around 110 volts to 12 volts. This offers the advantage of being less dangerous while at the same time lowering energy consumption. In addition, the installation is easier than it is with higher voltage systems, since the wiring does not have to be as deeply buried, and a licensed electrician is not needed to put them in.

Low voltage outdoor lighting is available for nearly any application for which a higher voltage system can be used. Some of these are security, path lights, driveway lights, outdoor sconce lighting, landscape lights, floodlights, and step lights or deck lights.

Solar Powered Lights

For nearly all of the high voltage, and low voltage outdoor lighting systems, there is a solar lights version. These systems offer the advantages of requiring absolutely no wiring, and since they get their own power from the sun, which is the ultimate renewable energy source, they do not rely on power from outside sources such as your house current. Because they need no wiring they are perhaps the most versatile of all the outdoor lighting systems. They can be placed or positioned virtually anywhere.

Although there are many types of outdoor lighting, three of the most popular types are listed below.

Landscape Lights

Landscape lights are used to illuminate paths, driveways, and they are wonderful when used to accent a feature of your property such as a plant or some architectural feature to produce a dramatic effect. When outdoor lighting is used to light up the edges and curves of a driveway, high-voltage systems are usually preferred because of the brighter light that they are capable of providing, although with advances in technology, some solar lights and low voltage lights like LED (light emitting Diode) systems are able to produce considerable amounts of light from less energy than high voltage systems can. Like many other types of light bulbs, LED's come in many colors. They will last for thousands of hours too. Some as many as 50,000 to 100,000 hours. They use very little power too.

Outdoor String Lights

The most common type of outdoor string lights are Christmas lights, which many families put up for the holiday season. They are becoming more commonly used now as patio lights, or to illuminate the edges of steps and pools sides. To set the mood for a summer evening party, multi-colored outdoor string lights are a great addition to your patio décor.

Outdoor string lights are available in several forms. There are rope lights, which is the type used to light up steps and pools; globe lighting, which are an elegant way to light the outdoors; and LED string lights, which provide the most light for the least use of electricity. LED string lights are often found as solar powered lights.

Outdoor Wall Sconces

Outdoor wall sconces are one of the oldest forms of lighting. They were around long before man harnessed electricity to light the dark. Once used to hold torches or candles, now they operate on electrical power. In many cases they use bulbs which flicker to emulate the effect a candle or torch would produce.

Wall sconces are most often used to give indirect lighting. By employing colored bulbs they can be used to striking effect on a garden or patio wall.

They come in many styles. Some of the more common designs are contemporary which use smooth lines and angles. Traditional, with their curves lines and classic materials like brass or pewter. Also popular are wall sconces made from wrought iron. Wrought iron is used to make intricate complicated shapes. Mission style wall sconces are usually made from wrought iron.

Outdoor lighting is available from many sources. One of the more popular is Hinkley Lighting. Of course they are not the only source, but they are one of the biggest. More popular sources to explore are Murray Feiss Lighting, and Lighting Direct. This list is by no means complete. It is simply a few of the bigger online names. Choosing your supplier is simply a matter of finding the one who offers the styles and types of outdoor lighting that you prefer at the prices that fit within your budget