Installing Exterior Landscape Lighting The Easy Way
If you have thought about installing your own exterior landscape lighting but think it is too hard, I am here to tell you that it is not. Exterior landscape lighting can be simple to put in if you have a plan. A solid plan is a needed part of any exterior landscape lighting installation. Exterior landscape lighting comes in several different types and before you begin planning you should pick which one you want to go with. Also keep yourself open to new landscaping ideas and you may design something that amazes you.
The Two Types Of Exterior landscape lighting
The first kind of exterior landscape lighting is cabled, electric exterior landscape lighting. In order to install this you will need to have an available outlet outside you home. Each of the lights is connected along a chain of shielded electric cable. Planning for this setup you must consider both the lights and the cord they are connected to. Before you place any of the lights I highly suggest outlining your front or back yard, depending on where the lights are begin installed. Draw out and measure an equal distance between each of the lights then plot them out within your yard. You want to make sure that you have enough cable and room for the cable behind the lights.
Advantages of using the electric exterior landscape lighting system are that you can turn it off and on when you want, it always has power, and you can get more powerful lights for the system. The wired systems are usually cheaper as well.
The other type of exterior landscape lighting system is a solar system. A solar system takes the sun rays and charges up all day long then turns on when the sun goes down. These systems are very easy to install and do not require nearly the plan that the wired system has. In addition it is very easy to move the lights if you do not like where they are. There is no maintenance for this system and it is very easy to maintain. If any component breaks it can be easily replaced.
The advantages of the solar system are how easy it is to setup and how easy it is to adjust. It can also be fixed very quickly if there are any problems with the components within the system. The major disadvantage is that they generally are more expensive and are not nearly as bright as an electric system. In addition this type of exterior landscape lighting requires about 8 hours per day of sunlight to be fully charged, so if you live in an area with little sunlight it can be tough to keep the system up and bright.
As you can see there are plusses and minuses to each system so consider your location before you decide.
