Questions to Ask Yourself when Installing Low Voltage Patio Lights by Cheryl Marland

With the advancement of solar energy and low voltage deck lights, it is possible to enhance the beauty of your home while still maintaining high ecological standards. In the past, when people thought about solar power or low voltage, pictures of barely visible and flickering lights came flooding into their memory. However, that is no longer the case. It can be as simple as replacing a few bulbs.

If you already have outdoor lighting, then all you need to do is switch your incandescent lights to LED (light-emitting diodes) lights. LED lights last longer than incandescent lights and they use less energy. Since LED lights are smaller than traditional lights, LED lights can be installed in more places than traditional lighting fixtures. Once only available in red, LED lights now cover the spectrum of colors allowing you to customize the look of your garden, driveway, or path.

If you are installing outdoor deck lights for the first time, you have a wide variety of options to choose from. Low voltage and solar energy lights can be found in traditional shapes like wall and fence lanterns, or you can select lights that reflect your individual personality. My favorite are the garden fairy lights; but you can also find party torches, frogs, children, and much more. The options are endless.

There is no longer a need to choose between environmentally friendly lights and pretty lights. You now have the option to get both. So you can add lights to your driveway, garden, deck or patio knowing that they look good and are good for the environment.

Garden Lighting: Seeing Your Way in an Outdoor Living Space by Mike Taylor

With the great trends toward using your yard as part of your house, more and more people are discovering how to best utilise their patios, decks, and gardens as dining or living rooms. These outdoor living spaces can be usable all year long in many areas. One of the challenges to using your outdoor spaces in this manner is lighting them.

There are many elements in a well designed outdoor living space. A good arrangement of furniture, clear access to the inside of your house, noise levels from surrounding streets or properties, all of these things help determine how useable your outdoor space will be. But, even the best designed outdoor living space can be ruined if there isn't appropriate lighting.

There are myriad types of lighting that you can use in your garden depending on the effect that you want to achieve.

You can use spotlights directed at particular areas of the garden that you want to highlight to give the area a magical feel. Hanging lanterns are a nice option to string across a space or between trees. Strings of lights can be wrapped around tree trunks to create a unique effect. Pathways can be lit with lights that you spike into the ground alongside your walkways. Even ponds can be lit with submersible lights if your fish don't mind.

The other major choice in backyard lighting is that of energy sources. If you want your lights to come on automatically when darkness falls and you don't want to have to pay for the electricity to run the lights, solar lighting may be just what you need. Most solar systems work well even when the days are overcast as well.

Another method for outdoor lighting is using candles or groups of candles to provide a warm flickering glow. The downside to using candles is that they need to be supervised as they can be a fire hazard, especially in the hot dry summer months. The nice thing about candles is that you can set them out single in jars or cluster them for more intense light. There are many kinds of lanterns available for myriad different looks.

If you have well-placed electrical sockets in your backyard then you may want to opt for electrical lighting. Most strings of lights require a plug in, though some types are available with battery power. There are even outdoor lamps akin to living room lamps that are designed for outdoor use.

Take a good look at the parts of your garden that you might like to highlight with your lighting and also how much lighting that you will need to best utilise your outdoor living space. If you make your lighting decisions based on your needs, then you will end up with a space that is usable instead of a dim uninviting space.

Unique Ideas for Outdoor Lighting by Lydia Quinn

Not just for practicality, but for safety, security, ambience and atmosphere, outdoor lighting offers so much to any landscape, patio or outdoor room. There are many types of outdoor lights available and thousands of possible styles. Let's look at a few options for unique outdoor lighting ideas:

LED Lights

Whether its around pathways, along driveways, by steps or by entrances, LED lights have many uses when it comes to lighting up the outdoors. In addition, there are now many options for LED lights that are powered by solar panels. These solar powered LED lights can be used in places around your home where electricity would be either too expensive or difficult to use or install. Not to mention that by using solar powered lights, you save a ton of money. Solar powered lights are also a very eco-friendly choice.

Lanterns

Moroccan style lanterns and candle lanterns are a great and unique option for outdoor lighting on patios and in pool areas. They provide beauty, atmosphere and ambience. There's a wide variety of choices, including many styles and colors.

Torches

They may seem a bit primitive, but they do their job. Torches are great for backyard parties, luaus, barbeques, pool parties and other backyard festivities.

Underwater Lights

There's many types of underwater lights available for your pool, pond, water feature, even for wells. These are great for safety and also give off a nice ambience.

Step Lights

These are lights that are hidden under steps and actually light up the step. This is excellent for safety, especially if you have nighttime gatherings in your backyard often. There's also deck lights that light up certain areas of your deck, including the steps and rails for better safety, and these are also great options.

Post Lanterns

These are another type of lantern, that are basically for the sides of walkways but mainly for entrances. The light is set on top of a post, often with a roof on top of it, so the light is diffused somewhat. These are great for adding an Asian flair to your outdoor areas.

Outdoor Table Lamps

These are basically table lamps that are weatherproofed so that they can withstand weather and the elements. Available in many styles and colors, but the most popular type would be in bronze or stainless steel.

Flood Lights

Lastly, flood lights are a pretty standard options for lighting up part of your home's exterior, the landscaping, certain trees or plants or your entire home. Flood lights are great for accenting whatever part of your home you want to show off.

Use Outdoor Solar Lighting to Save Money and Enhance Your Yard by Jeff Cooper

Outdoor solar lighting provides a great way to save money and enhance the beauty and layout of your frontyard and backyard. Large Selection of Outdoor Solar Lighting to Fit your Needs Outdoor Solar lighting has come a long way. There are many options to choose from when deciding what solar lighting is right for your home. Solar fence lighting, also known as solar fence post lighting, provides an easy way to add renewable-energy-powered lighting to your fence and perimeter of your yard or deck, and comes in a number of styles and sizes to work with your existing fence and deck style. Solar torch or tiki lights also provide great lighting for your yard, and can be easily placed to best highlight and accent your home. You will also find a large selection of solar garden and pathway lighting available, from decorative display lighting, to spotlights and brighter lighting to add a great effect to your yard and garden. You may be surprised at the large selection of options available for outdoor solar lighting solutions. Installation and Setup is Easy Most garden, tiki and torch solar lights are very easy to install--simply decide where to place the fixture, and push it into the ground to secure it, and your are done. Fence post and fence post lighting require a little more work to install, but not too much. Make sure your lights are made for the correct size of your fencing post (usally 4x4 or 6x6, but the dimensions may differ), and then place the fixture on the post and secure it with the included fasteners. Outdoor Solar Lights Provide Many Benefits Without any wires, these lights let you avoid the problem of running wires to the light, and trying to hide the wires in your yard setup. This alone is a great convenience when trying to place lighting for the best effect in your yard or garden. These lights work by using solar energy to charge a set of rechargeable batteries located in the light. You can usually find these solar lights and light kits for about $40-$60, which is comparable with quality outdoor wired fixtures of good quality. With the energy savings and benefits provided by these outdoor solar lights, they provide a effective, economical choice when looking to add or replace outdoor lighting, and enhance the beauty of your home and garden.

Outdoor String Lights Make Your House Look Great by Susan Vinci

Outdoor string lights work very well with any other lights that you can get for your yard, such as solar garden lights. Solar lights are fairly new, and yet they are a line that has expanded quickly. Now, you can find them in all the colors and types available with electric lights, and you can fit them to whatever needs you might have. You can put them all over the place, whether that's on plant life or parts of your patio, and you don't even have to plug them in.

The LED style of outdoor string lights saves a lot of energy over conventional bulbs. Solar lights also save energy, because they don't need to use any sort of outside power source at all, and you don't need to remember to turn them off. They will have a somewhat softer look than what other lights offer, but this is often just the right effect. You can also pair them with electric lights to get different looks.

If you've got a barbeque or some other event coming up, you'll probably be feeling a strong urge to make your yard look nice, and the combination of srting lights and other yard lighting can accomplish that for you with ease. No matter what type of light you end up using, you can really bring in a feel of summer that will go well with whatever food you're making and make everyone feel happy.

Whether it's summer or winter, a holiday or just an ordinary day, you'll brighten up your life by making use of these lights. Get all sorts of different ones so you can set up different displays and try new things. With the right amount of outdoor string lights, the possibilities are limitless, and in no time, your lights should look just they way you want them to.

Why Electrical Contractors are so Important? by james

An electrical contractor is a person/firm who has assigned a specialized electrical construction work such as designing, installation, and maintenance of electrical systems. Electrical contractors employ electricians whose work is to take care of electrical appliances. These electrical contractors have big responsibilities, they not only design, install, and maintain the electrical appliances, but also hold the Licenses and Insurances of property to operate safely their business and hence, protect the employees and home owners/business owners from insurance liabilities. However, there are specialized electrical contractors who take the responsibilities according to their specialization such as: Residential Electrical Contractor - maintains panel up gradation, maintenance programs, install custom lighting systems indoor and outdoor, ceiling fan, wiring and rewiring, fire alarms, smoke detectors. By updating all these electrical home appliances, residential contractors reduce the costs of maintenance. Commercial Electrical Contractor - the work of commercial electrical contractor is to install and maintain industrial and commercial electrical appliances e.g. power lighting, fire alarms, emergency lighting, smoke detectors, air condition installation etc. Solar Contractor - the demand of solar contractors is gradually booming up day-by-day because of termination and expensiveness of all conventional energy sources. Secondly, due to global warming and climatic change, people maximum want to use environmental friendly electrical appliances. Therefore, solar contractors are specialized in commercial and residential photovoltaic systems. They build and install large pole-mount and roof-mount solar photovoltaic cells which absorb charge from solar energy and provide electricity at cheap and fixed rate for business or domestic purposes. This is pollution free and cost effective source of energy therefore, in recent years it has expanded dramatically. P.V. Contractor - P.V. contractors are more specialized in installing and maintaining solar Photovoltaic cells or simply P.V. cells for commercial and domestic purposes. Lighting Contractor - Lighting Contractors have the responsibilities to install and maintain indoor and outdoor lighting system. They also provide cost effective and energy saving bulbs and tube lights. CCTV Installer - CCTV is Closed Circuit Television designed to transmit TV signals to connected monitors for the purpose of security and surveillance. Actually, it is used with digital video cameras to produce video. However, CCTV Installer provides various following security services to Bank Offices, Government Offices, Public Places including shopping mall, railway stations, movie halls etc. However, few private companies and rich persons also use it in their company buildings and home respectively. Electrical Permit - Electrical permits guarantee that electrical systems are installed properly for your safety and to evade expensive accidents. Generally, electrical permit is issued by Building Codes Division field offices or by local building department.