Thursday, June 21, 2012

Lighting- Stage One


For some time now I’ve been tossing around the idea of installing landscape lighting in the garden. It’s so dark back there at night. I’ve been torn between the decision to purchase low voltage or solar powered lights. Some of you may remember a product review I did on some Westinghouse solar powered lights. Initially those lights were impressive but they lasted one season and died. I expected much better results considering the cost of those lights. I had made up my mind the only solution was to spend almost $700.00 dollars on low voltage transformers and electric lights. That’s a lot of money, but at least I would be assured they would last for many, many years to come and I could do it in stages. One night recently I was over at a friend’s house and he had purchased some single LED spot lights from Lowe’s and I have to say I was really impressed with light output. Right now they are on sale for about 36% off so they were a very reasonable price.

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I said to myself okay, this is great. I’ve found a sensibly priced solar power light with a respectable output of luminosity. But, the fact still remains that the lifespan of previously purchased lights was so short lived I just couldn’t justify the expense. I set out to do a little research to find out just exactly how long these lights can last and I was actually surprised by the information I got.

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During my research I sent a short note to a company called Natures Solar Lights asking why solar lights were so short lived. I got a wonderful response from a very nice lady named Marcia and I’d like to share her email with you. It was chock full of information about solar lights. BTW I was so appreciative of the time she took with her email I wanted to include a link to her website. She did not solicit me to do this, it is a simply thank you from me for being so thoughtful with her message.

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Hi Randy,
Can you tell me what is not lasting on your solar lights? Is it the fixtures, the solar panels, the LEDs, the batteries, or are you unsure right now?

Generally, the fixtures and stakes, whether they are made of stainless steel or the durable plastic, should last for 15 to 20 years at least. The LED bulbs last up to 100,000 hours, which again is around 15 years. The solar panels, unless they become damaged by something falling on them, or are covered with a lot of dirt that would stop the sun from charging the lights, should last as long as the LED bulbs. Generally, the only thing that should go wrong is when the rechargeable batteries just won't charge anymore and need to be replaced, and they absolutely will need to be replaced within one to three years, depending on the battery itself.

When you replace the batteries in your solar lights, the new batteries must be rechargeable, and the same type of battery that the solar lights came with, either a 1.2V Ni-MH or Ni-CD type of battery, or a 3.2V Lithium Ion battery that is being used in a lot of the newer solar lights now. Rechargeable batteries are rated by "mah", the higher the mah, the stronger the battery, which will give you a stronger charge, and a longer lighting duration. A 400 to 600mah is not nearly as strong as a 2400mah, for example.

When they say, "you get what you pay for", that is partially true even in solar lights. More expensive solar lights may have better batteries for higher capacity storage, a stronger solar panel for better charging, the circuitry may be put together a little better, and the fixtures may be prettier. However, even the most expensive solar lights will need the rechargeable batteries replaced. And the cheapest solar lights should still last you years, which is a good return on the solar investment.

Since your lights lasted as long as they did, if you did not replace the batteries, that is probably what went wrong. If you want to give me more details, I would be happy to review them and get back to you again.

Be sure to base any of your future purchases on what type of lighting you want. For very low level light, buy solar lights with only 1-2 LED bulbs in each fixture. For a light to glow and cast dim light on your garden plants buy solar lights with 3-5 LED bulbs in each fixture. If you are lighting an entrance area, or gazebo area, get at least 6-8 LED bulbs in each fixture. If you want to highlight a tree or larger area, I would suggest at least a minimum of 16 LED spotlight. You can make your garden really pop at night with different levels of lighting throughout.

Everybody needs to base their solar lights on their budget, and can't afford to buy the most expensive, but in practical terms, buying and replacing batteries is a whole lot cheaper than the electricity costs. I also like the look of the lighting at night, very soft and not glaring. I would be more than happy to review some of the products with you if you do decide to purchase more.
Let me know if I can help further.

Thank you for contacting us,
Marcia Price
Natures Solar Lights

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The first thing I did when I got home after receiving this email was to go check the batteries on the four very expensive lights I purchased two years ago. Unfortunately I didn’t see a battery compartment. I’m still going to take them apart and see what I find. After all they aren’t working so what harm could it do? Note to self: Make sure all future lights have removable batteries.

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I feel a lot better about solar lights after reading my email from Marcia. While there are some areas that will still have to be lit with low voltage because they don’t receive enough sun, I’m pleased with my purchase of the solar lights. Down the road as the trees continue to grow, they may all have to be replaced, but that's years away. For now I think the garden looks just beautiful at night.

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This is just the first stage of the lighting I’m putting in the garden. I figured the up lights would give me the most immediate impact. Next will be either the path or down lights. I’ll probably start on one of those two within the next month or whenever I can find what I’m looking for… Hope you find some of this information useful.

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17 comments:

  1. Wow! The garden looks so misterious with lights in the night! You are right, the e-mail is full of useful information. Thank you for posting it. I had solar lights and got rid of them.... I needed that information!
    P.S. Thanks Randy for your comment on my peony post. They didn't bloom for you or they didn't want to grow at all? Mine didn't bloom til I piled more soil around them.

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  2. Tatyana,
    They just don't live period. LOL There are two things I just cannot seem to grow. Tomatoes and Peonies... :0(

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  3. Wow! So nice garden in the night!

    Are the summer nights really so dark in June? Here in Estonia the nights in June are almost light. The sun doesn`t shine, of course! But it rises at about three o`clock at night already.

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    1. Wow Mare! Yes it was almost pitch black last night. It did take a while to get dark though because it was the summer solstice. You must have a lot of sunlight to play in during those hours!

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  4. We had some rather pricey lights that ran off a panel that did not last as long as they should have. When we installed our flag pole, we needed a light on it for the night hours. We found a spot light that is solar powered On and Off. The Saint wired it to the electricity of the house. We had to replace the bulb once in the year it has run but I think that was due to the water sprinkler hitting the light. Now I make sure to keep the water a bit further away from the light. Rain does not seem to bother it though…

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    1. I'm just getting started with the lights Skeeter and I'm sure I will have a lot to learn in the coming months. :0)

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  5. Okay, so I am a bit slow here. I just realized you are Randy that I have talked to many times in the past! You dropped off a while back and I missed you. Glad to see you back my old friend....

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    1. Yes it's me Skeeter! Once in a while life throws you curve balls and I'm afraid they hit me right smack in the head the past couple of years. LMAO But, I'm back. :0) I hope I can draw the traffic the old blog had to the new one. We'll see... :0)

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  6. I'm fascinated by night lighting in the garden when it is done well. It really does give you another dimension to the garden - often during the only point in the day when it is cool enough to enjoy it. I've tossed at least one set of solar lights - like your approach, find out what's wrong before deciding that they're all for the birds. On that first point one of the worst I've seen was a white - but cold white - spotlight put 20 feet up in an old Oak - swear it looked like you were waiting for the orchestra to start and for the swans to start waltzing up from the back 40. Are your trees strong enough for lanterns? Nothing like a bit of a round glow of light...you know with your new down lighting, path lighting and all our good suggestions, you're going to be wearing sun glasses at night.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Barbara! My trees are strong enough for latterns yet, but you can be your bottom dollar they will be there when they are strong enough. I saw a photo where someone had taken the old mason jars with the wire around the lid and filled them with a few pebbles and pillar candles. They were hung with chains in the trees. They were absolutely gorgeous. I use to do something very similar before the tornado took all my 40 year old trees down.

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  7. This is something I want too and like you, I've experimented with just about everything. So far, the best lights I used were the ones you just plug in but they only last a season. I don't think I'd have enough sun for solar so the search continues. My neighbor says he can help me install some with a transformer. I'm still debating this.

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    1. Phillip,
      It's so simple you could do it on your own. The problem is the expense. A good transformer is about 200 dollars and the lights are usually around 25 dollars a piece. That runs into big bucks quickly. The recommended wire length on most of them is only 150 feet, but I have read you can go as much as 300. As I get more shade the the solars will have to go, but that won't be for a few more years probably. So, that gives me a little more time to think about it.

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  8. Beautiful lighting set-up, Randy... Our house/yard is very dark also. We do have some solar lights around in a few spots (lighting the flag, on the driveway, etc.)--but I've never been happy with them. We have to have alot of sunshine in order for them to work well. And---since our yard is pretty shady for the most part, that doesn't help... Maybe we just haven't bought the right kind ---or paid enough money for them.... We'll keep looking. One thing we don't want to do is to get electricity put throughout our yard... SO---we'll keep trying when it comes to the solar ones... Enjoyed Marcia's response to you.
    Betsy

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  9. Very effective lighting! I've been through my share of solar lights, even replacing the batteries. In my full sun, everything bleaches out in a year or two and needs repainting. We're no longer using any accent lighting. I just wait for a full moon and my garden is easy to see in the wide open spaces that I have!

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  10. Randy, I never anticipated what a dramatic difference lighting would make in that garden. I'm rather impressed that you have taken the initiative to start the daunting task of the lighting in the garden as well. I can only imagine how breathtaking it will be at night once you have it picture perfect; knowing you, you won't stop adjusting and tweaking the lights until they do make it look picture perfect, too. Kudos to you for what you've done thus far!

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  11. It's good to see you regularly blogging again Randy. I love love love lighting in a garden. Probably because of too many overseas deployments where there was no electricity so it was always dark at night. I have like five transformers between the front and backyard. I prefer electric only with a caveat. The electric last last forever with a little maintenance. I still have some from 20 years ago and the style is not even made anymore. That makes a problem when I run over the lights and demolish them so now I have some mix and match ones but it's okay. Still puts out the same lights. I purchased some .99 led small lights and those things rock! They are always so bright each night and suspect they'll work for quite a while. I have one kind that still shines at night after years in the garden but I don't know the brand. It was not expensive though. I love how you did the uplighting on the tree. Sometimes people can overdo it but I think you've made your eden just perfect!

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  12. I am enjoying catching up with you on yourr blog. I must get your new blog on my reader so I don't forget to read you. If you don't hear from me for a while please comment on my blog so I can remember. It is awful to get so old and forgetful. Cheers.

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Thanks for leaving me a message! I enjoy every one that I get!