Outdoor Lighting Best Practices
The first choice you’ll need to make before purchasing any outdoor lighting components is the type of power system you would like to lights to run from. The main alternatives are standard voltage, low voltage and solar lighting systems.
You’ll get the most brilliant light and have more options available with standard voltage lighting, but you typically need to run cable directly to the electrical panel that’s in the same room with the fuse box. This is often not work recommended for homeowners without previous experience in do-it-yourself projects; otherwise, the installation should be done by a licensed electrician. Low voltage lighting fixtures plug directly into a standard 110 volt outlet, so as long as an outlet is near where you intend to rig the lights, you won’t have a problem. The easiest lighting to use by far is solar lighting, which doesn’t require any additional wires to run to an outlet or panel.
Next, you want to choose the type of bulbs. C7 and C9 incandescent bulbs are still a popular choice, but LED bulbs are rapidly becoming the favored type of lighting, especially for Christmas lights. Though they’re more expensive up front, they run cooler, consume less power, and have a much longer lifetime than incandescents. If you already stringers for incandescent bulbs, you can replace the bulbs with LEDs when the incandescents eventually burn out. You don’t need to purchase another set of stringers to support LEDs.
Ultimately, the type of lighting fixtures you use will depend of the application. Outdoor accent lighting is ideal for drawing attention to a particular feature on your deck or in your backyard, such as a doorway, statue or plant. String lights aren’t just limited to Christmas; you can find themed string lights for just about any occasion, such as sporting events, birthdays or other holiday. Backyard lighting can be done simply with flood lights, but the quality of this type of lighting is rather flat. It’s best to use strategically placed local lights, such as globe lights, post lights or patio umbrella lights. These will add contrast and texture to your back yard.

Welcome to Garden Lighting Options! Let us guide you through your outdoor lighting project from design to the fixture selection.