Do you celebrate Christmas? You know, that magical, festive time of year where good will fills the air, presents are exchanged, and people string colorful Christmas lights up around the outside of their homes? If you do, then you know that the wonder of Christmas often goes hand in hand with spending money- and lots of it. Well, there is one part of Christmas that could be changed forever- the lights! With solar Christmas lights, you beautify, save money, AND help out the environment- all at the same time. What else about Christmas can you say that for?
Christmas lights, the sun powered version, work in the same way as most of the solar lights on the market today- through the use of LED (light emitting diode) technology. This super efficient illumination technology uses way less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs, flourescent light bulbs, and even the new CFLs which are supposed to be so energy efficient (and they are, compared to incandescents- much more so). Since LEDs use so much less energy than these other bulbs, the solar panels needed to power them can be much smaller, in most cases just a few inches in diameter. This means that all your Christmas lights can be powered by just one little solar panel, which means you can actually afford it!
As astonishing as this is, LEDs also have other bulbs beat in terms of how long they will function- They outlast CFLs by about 10,000 hours and incandescents by about 58,500- now that’s a big difference!
Having solar powered Christmas lights saves you from having to plug it in, which means savings on your electric bill. And they also turn on by themselves, meaning if you return home from a daytime trip, they will be there with a twinkling welcome. They cost a bit more than regular Christmas lights, but they’re worth it.
Having a Merry Christmas with Solar Christmas Lights
Landscape Lighting – Discover The Differences
If you are a homeowner with any size of back yard or garden area and choose to spend time outside on your patio or deck entertaining family and friends you know very well the good times that can be had. Many folks spend as much time as they can outside the house in good weather during the day, but often miss some of the most pleasant and temperate times of the day due to a lack of proper outdoor lighting.
So… what is the best way to go about deciding what is the best and proper outdoor lighting scheme for you? A lot of people just head down to the nearest local store that they feel would probably stock this kind of merchandise and start looking around.
While it is true that many retail stores have somewhat of a selection, particularly the cheap solar lights that generally last a year or two, it goes without saying that you get what you pay for. Before spending some of your hard earned cash and just sticking a few lights in the ground around your yard or deck here are a couple of ideas and suggestions.
- Don’t skimp on quality. Invest as much as your budget allows in quality outdoor lighting products. You will be much happier in the long run.
- If you already have some light coming in to the area such as from streetlights or existing porch or deck lights, use it to your advantage and simply use your landscape and new lighting to enhance the ambiance.
- The more time you spend in research looking at what others have done with their own outdoor lighting the better your own results will be.
Many people will spend the whole day going all over town looking for exactly what they feel they need and still not be happy at the end of the day and go home with nothing, frustrated and more confused than ever.
Everybody has their own sense of style and personal desires of what their landscape and lighting should look like, but it is important to remember that the true value of this type of lighting does not truly show its stuff until after dark so don’t get too caught up in what the fixtures themselves look like in the daytime.
Take a little bit of time before hitting the local big box retailer and do a little bit of investigation via the internet as this will help you to discover the pros and cons of the different products available. There are a plethora of businesses dedicated to selling you their own particular product line, but only a few who will give you an all around unbiased perspective of the advantages and disadvantages of landscape lighting.
Lighting Up the Hard to Reach Places
Solar lighting is a great way to reduce your electricity bill and to get lights in areas where it is hard to run power lines. There are many different styles of efficient solar lights available. There are some that run on small individual solar panels, and there are others that have several running off one big panel. Either way these lights need no line of electricity ran to them and that is what makes them so useful.
Solar lights work very well in a number of different situations where electricity is not readily available. One of the best situations is in gardens and along patios. It is a pain to run cords all along the walkway and throughout the garden for lights so solar lights work very well for this purpose. You can put motion sensor solar lights along your sidewalk so that when you come home at night your way is lit up. Garden lights work very well for accenting your garden at night. They also work well as Halloween decorations. You can place lights anywhere you want them with little to no work involved. Solar lights are also very good for camping out where there is no electricity.
There are many different places where these lights can be bought for a small amount of money. You can get a set of 3 lights for as little as 25 dollars. The cheapest lights are the led lights because they do not need as much electricity as standard lights do. Solar lights are usually not as bright as standard lights but they are bright enough to do their job well.
When buying efficient solar lights it is imperative that you shop around. It is also a good idea to compare the different solar panels that they come with and the different batteries, as these will affect how well the lights work. Solar lights can be a great investment if they are purchased for the right purposes. They will help to light up the difficult to reach places that you would not have lit up otherwise.