Home Turned Green

Choosing the right lights to illuminate your garden is important for both aesthetics and from an energy use perspective. There are many types of garden lights from halogens to light emitting diodes (LEDs). Different types of lights will produce different colors and use different amounts of energy.

LEDs are a great option for low voltage garden lighting. LED garden lighting is the most efficient that is available. These bulbs will cost more than more mainstream lighting products, but this price is only an initial investment that will allow you to achieve greater energy savings. While it takes a forty watt incandescent bulb to produce around 500 lumens, it only takes a 13 watt LED bulb to produce the same amount. LEDs also last considerably longer. Wile a normal incandescent bulb will last only about 1,000 hours, and LED will last close to 50,000–that is a fifty times longer lifespan than traditional outdoor garden lights!

Solar garden lights on the other hand, will use no purchased electricity at all. These devices produce their own electricity during the day which is commonly stored in a AA nicad battery for use at night. Solar garden lighting will almost always use LED bulbs because of their low energy requirements. Each light unit has a photoresistor, which detects the change from light to dark and signals the unit to turn on. Since solar garden lighting products produce and store their own electricity, there is no need for wiring between units. This makes the installation of solar units the easiest of all garden lighting options. Installing each unit will only take a few seconds, the time it takes to push a unit’s spiked bottom into the ground.

Although solar and LED garden lighting cost a little more than traditional outdoor lighting, their price is an investment that pays off in energy savings. They also last much longer and serve as a hedge against increasing electricity prices. And when the price of electricity rises (which it is expected to), the pay back period on your investment shortens. LED and solar lighting products are widely available and can be found at your local home improvement store and from a range of online retailers such as Amazon and Overstock.