There are tons of perks with solar landscape lighting. With no need for outlets or wiring, they certainly make outdoor lighting much simpler. Furthermore, since they’re entirely powered by the sun, they allow small electricity savings as opposed to electrical lights. By adding pathway lights, it can be useful in preventing accidental falls as well as enhancing your home’s curbside appeal, which is a lot of pros for a little light!
Professional landscape lighting still needs some lessons when it comes to the basics of outdoor lights, to be specific, in the differences between solar pathway lights and their electrical counterparts. Typically, they don’t shine as brightly, which means they have to be spaced more closely compared to other lights. You can also place solar lights in a wide range of directions and orientations to obtain different lighting goals. Primarily, it relies on what you want and needs in your yard.
Below is a solar light spacing lowdown, including a few ways on how do you make landscape lights for your pathway to obtaining different lighting effects.
Place Lights Every Six to Eight Feet
Generally speaking, you have to plan where should outdoor landscape lights be placed. It is preferable to put your lights six to eight feet apart to ensure your pathway remains bright and well-lit. However, spacing them even closer is an option, particularly if you want an especially vivid effect.
For those who already have an installation of dimmer or overhead light nearby, you can extend wider than eight feet apart. After all, it entirely depends on your preferences. However, if along a pathway you’ll be including the lights as a safety feature, then you’ll want to cautiously consider the brightness when you determine how frequently to place them. When compared to solar, electric pathway lights are usually twice as bright. Therefore, you’ll require to use more solar lights than you’ll have used to obtain a similar effect along your path.
Solar lights might also perform better or worse based on the amount of shade you get in the area. Although solar path lights don’t necessarily need direct sunlight, you’ll truly obtain better results if they regularly get a minimum of 6-8 hours of full sun daily. The lights’ quality matters a lot, as well. Bargain or cheap solar lights might not work correctly, or they might create only a feeble light, as opposed to higher quality models.
So, you should look for a product that comprises more solar panels and a large LED bulb. Don’t forget to look at the packaging for the light’s lumens or wattage. Typically, a 100-watt incandescent bulb produces approximately 1,700 lumens; therefore, the bulb will be brighter with an increase in the number.
For a safe installation, it is wise to hire professionals. They are experts in doing the job so you can be sure that the task will be done right. Hiring an experienced lighting contractor can save you both time and money. Look for a lighting company near you or example, if you are located in Spring Texas, find a commercial lighting contractor Spring Texas to do the job for you.
Trying Out Various Lighting Techniques
By installing landscape lighting, you get an opportunity to play around with different lighting situations and think about what is the best landscape lighting you’ll use to determine what you’d like for your yard.
And because solar lights don’t need to be wired, they certainly give you the chance to be creative and try out a few innovative effects that may be challenging to obtain with electrical lights. Particularly, try your hand at any of the following different lighting techniques:
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Uplighting
After placing lights on the ground, angle them upward to form a bright burst of light.
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Downlighting
This is placing of the light higher and positioning the source downwards and is an efficient method to diffuse light across a relatively larger surface area, like over a deck or patio
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Silhouetting
Angling one light behind a stunning tree or another feature of interest
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Grazing
It’s a bit related to uplighting. Grazing generally highlights a textured material, such as a veneer or a stone wall
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Solar Spotlights
In general, solar landscaping lights could even substitute floodlights and any other outdoor safety lights near the driveway and on doors. Typically, solar panels light as efficiently as a 40-watt bulb; therefore, a cluster of several lights can generate a very bright effect. Most models also include motion-sensors.
For those who’re interested in solar landscaping lights, but can’t get enough sun in your area, there is no point to give up on your vision of a sun-powered pathway. Contact a professional in landscaping who can assist you in installing a remote photovoltaic panel on your garage, roof, or another sunny spot in your yard. They will then connect that panel to your specific solar lights to enhance their performance, regardless if it’s cloudy.