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Landscape Lighting Pro Tips: Why You Should Use LEDs
Having a solid landscape lighting strategy provides numerous benefits, including safety and security. Lighting up pathways, driveways, entrances, and so forth can help people avoid slips and falls. And outside motion sensor lights can deter thieves and animals alike.
But what kind of bulbs/lamps should you use? The short answer: LEDs. Here’s why…
1. LED is low voltage + low power. Most landscape lights already run on low voltage power. Low voltage wire is easier to run from a transformer due to its smaller size. Low voltage wire is also much safer chopping through a low voltage wire with a shovel would be a surprise, but chopping through a line voltage wire could be deadly (we’re talking the difference between 12 volts and 120 volts).
LED fixtures consume a fraction of the watts that even low voltage halogen lamps do LED lights can come in as low as 5 watts, which is 1/4th the power consumption as a 20w halogen lamp.
2. LED is compact. LED diodes are a fraction of the size of their halogen counterparts, allowing them to fit into smaller, sleeker fixtures that can vary in size and design to fit any aesthetic.
3. LED is solid state no filaments to break. Traditional bulbs tend to be fragile since they’re housed in glass, making them sensitive to moisture, heat, and cold. LED diode casings, on the other hand, are often made of plastic. As a result, LEDs work well in a variety of temperatures (including industrial freezers!).
In addition, LED diodes are an example of solid-state lighting (SSL), as opposed to filaments or gasses used in incandescent and fluorescent lamps. SSL combined with plastic casings allow greater resistance to vibration and shock (for example, being hit by the lawnmower or snowplow).
4. LEDs last longer. LEDs can operate at lifespans of 25,000+ hours versus 2,000-2,500 hours for halogen lamps. That long lifetime means fewer weekends spent maintaining and replacing lamps in fixtures that are low to the ground or hard to access.
Are you interested in LEDs for your yard? Keep these three points in mind:
- Look at the warranty. Warranties vary from manufacturer to manufacterer.
- Pay attention to color temperature. Opt for warm color temperatures for outside use (i.e., 2700K).
- Look at the lighting facts label. This will tell you if the lamp or fixture is dimmable, how many lumens it emits, and if it can be used outdoors or in enclosed fixtures (in the case of LED replacement lamps).
And, as always, our sales associates are experts in all things related to LEDs. Come in with your questions, and we’ll have answers.
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