Often people love the dramatic effect of lights shining up on a house and trees, but mistakenly opt for the do-it-yourself solar landscape lighting kits, hoping for a similar outcome. Unfortunately, solar solutions are bound to disappoint.
While solar landscape lighting may seem viable because of its affordability and ease of set-up, the quality look you want just isn’t going to be there.
Solar Detracts from the Visual Appeal of Your Home
If you add solar lights to your home, chances are you will accomplish the opposite of what you intended. Rather than enhancing, solar lighting actually debases your home’s appearance.
It’s easy to spot solar fixtures because they tend to lean in a few different directions at once, mimicking debris strewn about the yard.
On a small, chic house, solar path lights end up looking like bug-zappers, if not litter. On the other hand, a larger home with a hodge-podge of crooked lights around the yard just looks ironic.
After a few months, the cheap, flimsy materials fall apart, making you to look like the neighbor that can’t take care of a yard.
Solar Lights are Limited in Options
As opposed to professional-grade systems, solar landscape lighting offers very few options. The most common type of fixtures you will find at big-box retailers are the path lights.
They tend to cost around $30 per lamp, and installation is as simple as pushing the fixture into the ground as you would a tent-stake. This makes for an easy enough installation, but is hardly permanent.
Solar lighting fixtures are a one-size fits all system, and they lack the versatility that low voltage systems have. For example; solar systems don’t have down lights to create the moon light effect in your yard. They also cannot be adjusted for lumens, wattage, beam spread, or light temperature.
This is important because not all features in your yard or on your house are created equal. You wouldn’t use the same type of bulb to shine up the chimney of your house as you would to a light a Japanese Maple or your outdoor pond.
Solar Lights Produce Underwhelming Results
Although solar landscape lighting can easily be installed and left to operate on its own, the light it provides is inevitably underwhelming and intermittent. Solar fixtures rely on sunshine for power, and therefore cannot be placed in any shadowy areas of a yard.
Even when placed in direct sunlight, they fail to collect enough energy on overcast days to stay illuminated for more than a couple hours at night. They also have independent photo timers. That means that the lights never turn on or off at the same time.
Low Voltage Lighting Lasts a Lifetime and Achieves the Dramatic Effect You Want
For the dramatic lighting display you want, a professionally-installed, low-voltage system is the best option. The fixtures themselves are higher quality have the warranties to match.
A skilled installer will bury your system deep underground with protective conduit in areas you are likely to dig. All in all, a professionally installed electrical system will last a lifetime, as opposed to solar landscape lighting, which you’ll likely have to replace season after season.
A lighting specialist will also bring an extensive knowledge of techniques and products with which he can tailor a custom lighting arrangement for your project.
Our experience in types of lights, lenses and wattages enables us to create the perfect display, illuminating your trees and other landscaping features in a way that matches or exceeds your vision.
We are always happy to help with any questions you may have. Feel free to contact us or schedule a free consultation at your convenience!