Solar lights are readily available, priced low, install easily, come in many different designs and can provide dependable light as long as the sun comes out. But are they the right choice in the long run for your home’s landscape?
This article reviews the top 5 benefits of low voltage path lighting so you can decide what will work best for your space and budget.
1. Low Voltage Path Lights Are Less Distracting With A Wider Area Of Illumination
Low voltage path lighting never directs the viewer’s attention to the actual light beam, but rather to the surrounding landscape. Whether you want to illuminate floral plantings, a rock garden, lush vegetation or just green grass, the directional cap of the traditional path light is designed to angle the beam of light away from the eyes and softly illuminate a wide area beneath it. The beam spread from this type of light can extend five feet in all directions for a total of ten feet across.
Solar lighting can be very bright and can distract one’s attention away from other features like the flowers and plants around it. Although they are bright, the solar lights do not illuminate very well around them and when lined up along a sidewalk can resemble an airport runway. Some homeowners prefer the discreet appearance of the traditional capped path light that can be placed in the garden yet still casts enough light to illuminate the walkway.
2. Ditch The Batteries
Although low voltage lights do require an initial installation, they never require batteries. Solar lights require rechargeable batteries in order to have a place for the light to store the energy that it collects from the sun. Over time the rechargeable batteries lose their ability to hold a charge. Often these batteries are mistakenly replaced with regular ones, which can ruin the solar panel on the light rendering it useless.
3. Set It And Forget It
The operation of low voltage lighting can be easily timed to go on and off according to a set schedule. They can even be programmed one time to go on at dusk every day throughout the year without having to worry about resetting the timer for daylight savings. What’s more, their operation is not dependent on sunny weather.
4. Virtually Indestructible
5. Warmer Light Color With A Lower Kelvin Rating
The color of light emitted from solar lights has a harsh blueish cast that is more often found in commercial establishments such as gas stations and parking lots. These lights have a Kelvin rating of over 6500K.
Kelvin is used as a measurement in lighting to rate the color temperature of a particular bulb. The higher the Kelvin rating, the whiter the light will be. The LED bulbs used in low voltage path lighting will most often have a measurement of under 3000K giving them a soft white – yellow glow that is more visually appealing in interior rooms and outdoor landscape settings.
