It would seem that garden lighting has never before been either so inexpensive or so wide-ranging. Yet, this is no guarantee of success if you don’t first take some time to consider a few simple steps to help ensure an outcome that looks good and does what it is intended to.

The key to success with outdoor lighting is mainly in the planning. Determining what type of lighting effects and where they should be situated. Unplanned landscape lighting tends to seem pretty random and uncoordinated, with assorted types of power supply, mismatched fittings and a clear lack of design.

Once you have sorted out what you wantby way of lighting and where you want it installed then you will need to settle the solar panel versus low voltage wiring debate. This boils down to weighing up the following advantages and disadbantages:

- the primary benefit with solar lights is that they are incredibly easy to install and rearrange, and you don’t need to plug in a regular power source.

- using low voltage cables however means more control over the system and brighter light that stays bright, and you don’t need to start replacing rechargeable batteries once they start wearing out.

The choice of power supply extends further with low voltage systems since traditional incandescent light bulbs and LEDs require different transformers. If you connect LED lights to a regular 12v transformer, or incandescent lamps to an LED driver the consequence is likely to be blown lights and/or transformers.

But establishing a clear plan doesn’t compel you to choose between solar and low voltage lighting. On the contrary the two types can coexist very effectively, with the more gentle solar lights providing an effective backdrop to complement the brighter, more defined light from 12v lights.

Successfully mixing various sorts of lighting is generally a matter of putting together individual lights that work well, rather than fight, with each other. Certainly it can be very much a case of trial and error over the course of several evenings to select complementary brightness levels.

Aside from not planning out outdoor lighting, the second most frequent mistake is over lighting the garden. Outdoor lighting offers a fairly easy means to create a totally different look by spotlighting certain aspects and pushing others into the background. If it’s too bright you just finish up with the daytime look as seen under artificial light, which rather misses the point (not to mention a fantastic opportunity).

If you found this article interesting then you’ll want to follow these links to find out more about solar powered garden lights and solar landscape lighting in general.

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