Here is a nice image of a patio lantern with some holiday lights in the background.

When it comes to patio lighting, there are any number of ways in which you can enhance the look of your patio. This is an important point to consider. In terms of lighting for a backyard patio space, you are going to need light for both safety, but also for looks. It is one of those issues where you need form and function for the lighting of your patio space to truly fit your outdoor living lifestyle. Photo credit

What types of outdoor lighting features that are available is often more a function of the specific design ideas you have in mind. Most of the lighting options available are given a name that describes where or how they’ll be used. We’ll cover some of the more general elements of patio lights and then give you some specific ideas about what type of lights might work best for you in that scenario.

For example, if you are looking for lighting ideas for your outdoor room or similar space, then you are more likely interested in lighting for ambiance. Yes, you do need it for simple navigation as well, but you want to set a tone or mood in the space. You can utilize any number of outdoor lamps for this purpose, as well as an outdoor chandelier or more specific types of spot lights. These are just like using recessed light fixtures in your indoor rooms. They can be hidden within the rafters of most patio covers. Built this way, they can be hidden from site and provide great lighting elements that can actually help to define spaces in that outdoor room.

For large spaces, you can count on outdoor flood lights to provide the illumination. In many cases, flood lights will not give you any spot lighting features, but are more for safety and a wash of light in one area. These can be set to turn on and off with a motion sensor making them even more efficient and saving you energy. Another way to save on energy is to use either compact fluorescent bulbs or light emitting diodes (LEDs). These are both great innovations in lighting design.

Here is a close up of a rope light.

Along these same lines are things like solar garden lights. These lights also come in a variety of styles and have different options. Some are simple stuck in the ground with no wires to worry about. Other garden lighting options that utilize solar have a wired set-up for the ability to store power and send it to the lights when necessary (ie. poor weather, extended evening use, temporary dirty photovoltaic panels, etc.). Photo credit

Then, there are lighting options that are designed specifically for use on stairways or deck rails and similar applications. These deck lights go by different names, but patio string lights is one of the more popular ways of describing them. They are also called rope lights, often times. Either description gives you an idea as to what they look like. They can be very helpful both for navigation on multi-tiered decks or stairs as well as illuminating or highlighting specific rail features. Plus, they just add another dimension to the overall outdoor lighting design of your backyard space.

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How can your garden light search be made easier?  First of all, determine what type of lighting you are looking for.  In other words, do you want the lighting to be something that is more for accenting certain elements in your garden space or do you want to illuminate a path or walkway?  This similar line of reasoning can apply when looking for patio lights as well.  The reason is that in both cases, some lighting will be better suited to provide a more broad type of light to illuminate an entire space, while other styles will work best as a type of spot lighting like you might find in your indoor spaces.

Once you determine what you will need in terms of your lighting preferences, then you can go on a search for the perfect style, shape or fixture.  This is another whole area where you can go as simple and conservative as you like up to the most eccentric and artistic as imaginable and everything in between.

If you are just searching for something simple that will cast a light up a tree at night to provide a bit of dramatic lighting for your garden area, then you can find these at your local home improvement warehouse stores.  You can, of course, also find these online.  Some landscape lighting designers will tell you that the more readily available garden lights from the home improvement warehouses are cheap and unreliable.  You’ll have to use your best judgment as to whether you want to put forth the added expense of the lighting that you might find online.

Most of these types of lights will be wired and buried in your soil.  A similar type of light can be used to illuminate a path or walkway through your garden.  However, instead of aiming upwards, the lights will have a cap to shine the light back to the ground.  These come in both stake-in-the-ground models and hanging styles.  The hanging ones are just suspended from what looks like a shepherd’s crook and hang about 12-16” from the ground in most cases.  Again, these are typically wired to a main electrical line outdoors.

What About Solar Garden Lighting?

If you would rather save money on your lighting and don’t want to have to worry about burying wires and all that, then consider going with solar garden lights.  They still come in a variety of styles and models, but you don’t have to concern yourself with the electrical wiring.  With some models, it is as simple as staking them in the ground and that night they will shine a path for you.  Simple.

Now, there are also some drawbacks with solar.  The most obvious one is that in poor weather conditions, the solar panel on the top of the light (most common model) will not be receiving enough light to charge the battery to power the light.  Also, if there is snow or grime that gets on the solar cells, they will not collect any energy.  Additionally, the power that they put out may not be enough to last through the night if you so wish.  One solution is to get a style that does have a larger battery backup reserve or one that can be plugged in just for days like this.  There are also styles that have a larger solar cell panel that can be mounted nearby, then wired to the light fixtures so that each one is powered without the need for a solar cell on top of the individual lights. These are just some ideas to get you started or help you refine your search for your new lights in your garden.

Photo credit

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For most applications, solar garden lights are a great option when it comes to overall lighting needs.  Not only will solar powered lights help you to conserve energy, but they can provide lighting to areas that may be otherwise difficult to light.  One main feature that makes landscape lighting difficult or costly, is all of the wires and electrical wiring know-how to get it done right.  If you are not an electrical contractor or have some real working knowledge of outdoor electrical installation, then solar lights for your garden are a great option.

These types of solar lights don't work when covered in snow or debris.

With solar, you can all but eliminate any wiring.  This not only saves you in terms of cost, but also in materials.  Let’s face it, we are in times that call on us to consider environmental impacts of our choices.  Solar garden lights will meet the needs of your lighting as well as those of the planet.  Even if you don’t consider yourself an ‘environmentalist’, saving money on your utilities should get you excited.  Now, let’s get into how this type of garden lighting works and what styles are available.  Photo credit

How Solar Garden Lights Work

So, it comes as no surprise that a solar garden light is powered by the sun and not from an electrical connection to the power grid, like the rest of the traditionally powered Landscape Lighting.  While it is true that traditional lighting can be put on timers and conserve electricity this way, they still require an electrical source and must be dug to install the underground wiring.  Most outdoor lighting for a garden or pathway is low voltage.  This means that there is a transformer that ‘steps-down’ the power from 110/120V to typically 12V or 24V.

Typical installation of low-voltage lighting means that you can only install a certain number of lights per transformer, in order to keep the overall load within the capacity of the transformer.  For example, if your transformer is 100W, then you can conceivably install up to a 10 garden light set with a 10 Watt power rating.  If you need more lighting, then you’ll need either a more powerful transformer or an additional transformer.  Typically, the outdoor lights range from 4 W to 50 Watts.  This higher range is typically a halogen bulb.  More installation and labor, of course, is needed to install more transformers and lights.

This is just one style of copper solar lights.

Now, consider a much simpler way to install garden lights.  Pick up or order the style of garden lights that you like and install them the same day with little labor.  Yes, it really can be this simple.  You see, solar garden lights allow you to simply ‘plug and play.’  This is possible because many styles of solar lights come in packs (or singles) that allow you to just stick them in the ground or hang and they are ready for use.

Common Solar Garden Lighting Styles

The most popular of these solar lights are the simplest.  There are a large number of styles, but the general function is the same.  Most utilize a photovoltaic (PV) sensor that sits atop the light itself, providing direct power to the light.  They work by storing the charge and then coming on at night, when the sun goes down.  This style will typically be illuminated for several hours before it begins to lose its brilliance and ultimately dull out to off by early morning.  These styles are more common in small to mid-sized applications, where the lighting is more for accents.  These come in copper styles, hook stakes with hanging lights and other stake-in-the-ground styles.  These will range in price from $10-15 USD each or a pack of four for about $35 USD.

Another benefit of solar lights that do not utilize wiring is the fact that they can be used in various outdoor situations.  For example, if you have a stone area or synthetic grass lawn, both would be very difficult or labor intensive to dig up or remove in order to lay your wiring.  With the stake in ground models, it would possible to simply drill a hole in your stone or concrete surface with a masonry bit or put a small hole in your ‘lawn’ in order to stake the light to the ground beneath.

For larger applications, there are also more intricate or involved models.  These could include things like solar lighting that has one main photovoltaic cell, with wire that connects the lights in series and to the source of power.  This style may also employ a more powerful battery backup system, whereby you can achieve brighter lighting and also have your lighting last for a longer period of time. These applications cost more but with the improvements in technology, costs will likely drop on these as well.

Hanging solar garden lights

One main disadvantage of solar lighting is that if there is no sun or the photovoltaic sensors are covered with something that obstructs the sun, they will not charge or shed light when the sun sets.  These are some issues that may be addressed with future solar technology.  But, things like snow, mud and leaves do need to be cleaned from the surface occasionally in order for your lights to work properly.     Photo Credit

What ever particular style of outdoor lighting you choose, there are advantages and disadvantages.  As time goes on and we continue to develop more sustainable and ‘green building’ practices, solar lighting and other solar powered applications will continue to flourish.  What will be available as the innovations and battery storage technology continue to improve and evolve is not known.  For now and into the foreseeable future, solar garden lights are a great and user-friendly option for improving the look and function of your garden and outdoor patio space.

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