If your landscape needs a little boost in appeal, landscape lighting can make a big impact. With a wide variety of lighting types and fixture styles available, it’s easy to find lighting that will complement your home’s design and character.

Types of Landscape Lighting

There are several types of landscape lighting on the market. They all provide light for your landscape, but each type has advantages and disadvantages, as well different costs associated with fixtures, bulbs and installation. Before you purchase fixtures for your yard, you should decide which type of lighting will best meet your lighting goals and budget.

Halogen Lighting

Halogen lighting provides a warm glow in the landscape. Halogen bulbs produce a crisp, white light that is energy efficient and affordable. Bulbs have no delayed start up time, can easily be put on dimmers, and create no hazardous waste in the environment when thrown away. Depending on the number of hours you run your landscape lighting each day, halogen bulbs should be replaced every 8 to 12 months to ensure dependability. Halogen bulbs tend to burn hot, so be careful not to place fixtures too close to plants.

LED Lighting

LED lighting provides a clear, white light with bulbs that are eco-friendly, energy efficient, and generally have a 10-year warranty. Unlike halogen bulbs, LED bulbs stay cool, so you don’t have to worry about placing fixtures right next to plants. LED lighting is more expensive than halogen lighting, so initial costs are higher. However, LED bulbs lasts a lot longer than halogen bulbs, so you don’t need to replace them very often.

Solar Lighting

Solar landscape lighting provides an easy-to-install and energy-efficient way to light up your landscape. Since there’s no wiring, installation of fixtures is quick and simple. Although there’s no energy costs associated with solar lighting, most solar fixtures currently available don’t provide as much light as halogen or LED bulbs. Solar lighting is usually dim, even with sunny days, and it may not come on at all in rainy and overcast weather conditions.

Underwater Lighting

Swimming pools, spas and hot tubs, and outdoor ponds and fountains require LED or fiber-optic underwater lighting. Both types of lighting provide a clear, white light that is energy efficient and durable underwater. Color changing lights provide motion and visual interest and create a fun, magical effect at night. Underwater lighting must be installed by a professional, so check construction project leads in your area.