Outdoor Lighting Lamps

Wind Up Torches

Rachel — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 12:16:19 +0000

The innovative design of a wind up torch means you can enjoy strong light while never running out of batteries. These marvellous devices are perfect for camping trips, holidays, or simply to keep around the home for use in emergencies. Operated by a simple wind up mechanism, or even squeezing in some cases, the resultant strong light will last for around thirty minutes before fading. Once the light has begun to die, all you need to do is wind the torch up again. Typically, a 30 second wind will give around 20 minutes of light, but you can rewind at any time.

Wind up torches come in lots of different designs, from functional, sturdy and traditional, to fun and funky designs suitable for kids. Most of the designs are small and very tough, which makes them ideal for outdoor use where they often need to fit into a coat pocket. The bulbs use the latest LED technology and give out an intense beam of light that is suitable for the darkest of places.

Because this type of torch runs entirely on renewable energy sources, they are the ultimate in environmentally friendly torch products. Instead of buying endless packets of batteries, only for the torch to lose power in the most annoying of circumstances, you can enjoy the confidence of knowing that no matter what happens, you will always have a light source that won’t run out.

For camping trips, a wind up lantern is a great solution for tents and awnings. Instead of using a traditional gas lantern, you can buy the wind up version instead. It normally takes around 10 minutes to fully charge the battery and this will give around 100 minutes of light, which is more than adequate for a couple of hours sitting around your tent in the evening. A further 1 minute of winding will give 25 minutes of light. Not only will this product save you money on gas, it will also keep the kids occupied, as they can be the designated wind up personnel.

A wind up head torch is also useful for outdoor activities as you can have light whilst keeping your hands free to do other jobs. Head torches offer plenty of angles for light positioning and the elastic headband can be adjusted for a comfortable fit no matter how big or small your head might be. Many head lights come with a bicycle clip to allow multifunctional use as a bike light.

A useful accessory that comes with some wind up LED torches is a cable that attaches the torch to a mobile phone. This enables you to power up your phone battery to provide enough charge for a telephone call. For as little as 1 minute of winding, you can enjoy as much as 8 minutes of talk time. This is very useful for holidays and camping trips when you might not have access to an electricity plug in point to charge your phone. For the ultimate in camping accessories, you can even purchase a wind up torch radio!

Outdoor Floor Lamps

Rachel — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:13:31 +0000

If you enjoy spending time in your garden during the summer, entertaining or simply relaxing with a glass of wine and a good book, unless you have the remarkable ability to see in the dark perfectly or you live within 500 meters of a sports stadium, outdoor lighting of some description is likely to be a definite bonus once the sun sets and darkness falls. In this instance, outdoor floor lamps are an attractive option for patios and terraces requiring illumination at night.

There are many different types of outdoor floor lights available and the choice you make will probably depend on the type of garden you have. Small roof terraces and miniature city gardens will require a different type of lighting to a vast country garden encompassing several acres and each variation of floor lamp will have different features designed to offer different benefits.

Solar powered outdoor floor lights are ideal for larger gardens, or those where access to an electrical supply is problematic. They contain internal batteries and a solar sensor that soaks up light to charge the battery during the day. Once dusk falls, the light comes on to provide illumination during the evening. These lights are perfect for occasions when you are happy to have constant light at night.

Solar lights can be positioned along pathways and around architectural garden features or ponds. They are a great way of drawing attention to attractive sections of the garden at night, but if you have a rickety old shed or smelly compost heap, it is probably wise to position your solar lighting somewhere else. Solar lights are very useful for providing light along areas where people might walk at night. This can include pathways, but you might also need lighting around your garage or driveway. A solar powered outdoor floor lamp is very popular for use along drives and the perimeter of a property entrance, as it can provide effective illumination for you and your family when you come home at night.

Decorative outdoor patio floor lamps look beautiful on patios and terraces. They are perfect for providing attractive soft lighting when you entertain, or are just enjoying a relaxing evening with the family outdoors on a warm summer evening. If you have an outdoor dining area, you can position some outdoor floor lights around the perimeter of the table. When used in conjunction with a couple of table lamps or candles, you will have plenty of light for eating purposes.

If you have a hot tub outside in your garden, outdoor lighting is a must have accessory. Floor lamps are a pretty way of lighting up the area and making sure that you can safely make your way from the house to the hot tub without falling over an ornamental pot or garden gnome.

Outdoor floor lamps can be used to great effect around water features or ponds. Great lighting adds a whole new level to a water feature or pond, so make sure you install some outdoor floor lighting to make the most of your water feature.

Solar Powered Security Light

Rachel — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:08:28 +0000

A solar powered security light offers significant advantages over a traditional mains operated security light. These days, in the doom and gloom of economic recession, many home and business owners are choosing solar powered lighting over wired in lighting. In some cases, people assume solar powered security lamps are dim and ineffective, but in fact that is not the case. Most solar powered lamps use LED light bulbs, which are extremely bright and give off a strong light at night. This means they are more than suitable for security lighting purposes.

The initial outlay of the equipment can sometimes be more than you would normally pay for a wired in security unit, but over time, your new solar powered security lamps will more than pay for themselves. Unlike a wired unit where you would have to pay a qualified electrician to fit it, a solar powered unit is easy to fit for anyone with a modicum of DIY knowledge and all fixings will be included.

Solar lighting costs absolutely nothing to run, whereas a wired in unit will add extra usage on to your utility bill, especially if you have several powerful spot lights around the perimeter of your home or business. Solar units normally use LED bulbs will last on average for 100,000 hours, whereas you can expect to pay a lot more for bulbs required by traditional wired security units. Replacing bulbs can be a real issue for many businesses, as not only do they cost money, they might also be located in inaccessible light units positioned high up on buildings.

Solar powered security lighting comes in a variety of different designs, depending on where you wish to locate your lights. You can choose from a functional unit with a high beam floodlight and a movement sensor, or you might prefer a more decorative style that resembles a traditional outdoor light.

For use around outbuildings and garages, many people choose a floodlight with a movement sensor. A sensor is useful because it prevents the light from staying on all night, which can cause problems if bedrooms are situated nearby, as most people cannot sleep in a room with a high beam floodlight shining straight through the bedroom window. With a movement sensor as an integral part of the security light design, the light will only be activated if you approach, and it will then turn off after no more movement is detected. Most sensors are designed to ignore small animals, so if your cats have nocturnal hunting and procreating habits, you can rest assured that they won’t be doing any of it beneath the glow of your floodlights.

A decorative solar power security light is usually the light of choice around patio areas, or outside porches. They are just as effective as powerful floodlights at providing security lighting, but they are more stylish and tend to fit in better with the existing external decorative scheme. Solar powered security lights in the style of a coach lantern are often a popular choice for an entrance porch or gateway.

Yard Lighting: Illuminate your Pathway and Driveway

Rachel — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:00:47 +0000

Yard lighting can be defined as a free standing light source designed to provide light in the vicinity of a path, driveway, or any other dark area around your property. They are usually fueled by electricity, either by mains power or solar generated, and sometimes, in the case of more old fashioned designs, by gas.

Yard lights often have a light switch located inside the building and are switched on as and when they are needed. They can also be controlled with a photoelectric sensor that switched on the light when it gets dark. Solar lights usually come on once darkness has fallen and will stay on for as long as enough residual power remains in the battery. Gas lights are designed to be on permanently.

Careful consideration should be given to the size of the outdoor yard lighting. A light that is too big for the area requiring illumination will be overpowering and will probably light parts of your home that do not need lighting. This can be very annoying, especially if your home adjoins another house and your lighting inadvertently casts a bright glow over your neighbors’ bedroom. Light, rather like noise, can sometimes be categorized as a nuisance.

Conversely, a light that is not large enough for the area that needs illumination will leave dark shadows between the transition areas. This might cause problems, especially if you are trying to provide lighting for treacherous pathways or potentially dangerous and difficult terrain.

Lighting for yards does not always need to seen only as a functional light. Many people choose to install lights in their yards that are decorative as well as useful. Gas lighting certainly fulfills these criteria, and for a period home gas lanterns are a very stylish choice.

LED yard lighting is useful for providing a bright and long lasting light. LED bulbs have a very long lifespan and do not need replacing very often. They are ideal if you have a huge property, and therefore a large number of lights. They are also useful if you have a commercial property, for example farms, as yard areas are often substantial and safety at night is an important issue.

Low voltage yard lighting is an inexpensive way of providing lighting around your home and garden. Low voltage lighting provides plenty of illumination and is very easy to install. Low voltage bulbs use very little power and if you have a large number of lights fitted around your home, you will see significant savings on your energy bills by installing low voltage lighting.

For the ultimate savings in lighting, solar yard lights are slightly more expensive to purchase, but once fitted, they cost nothing to run. Solar lights are just as bright as mains operated versions, but are more eco friendly. The integral battery charges up during daylight hours. Once day turns to night, the light will come on and give illumination for as much as eight hours. Solar powered yard lights are ideal for inaccessible areas where there is no access to an electricity supply.

Floating Pool Lights

Rachel — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 11:52:16 +0000

Floating pool lights are a fantastic way of adding some extra glamor to your pool or water feature at night. You can choose from classic white light, or red, green, amber, and blue. Floating swimming pool lights come in many different styles and designs, from solar powered lights to tiny floating candle lights. They can be used to add some decorative flair to your garden at any time of the year, even Christmas time, although summer parties and barbecues are a great opportunity to test your floating lights out.

If you have gone to the expense of installing a pool in your garden, you may not wish to spend any more money on special pool lighting as in some cases, integral pool lighting can cost a lot of money. Floating lights for the pool are a very simple and cost effective alternative to expensive underwater lighting. Not only can they create a very attractive ambient light effect at night, they are also cheap and easy to use.

Floating lights can also be used to replace existing lights that no longer work. If your pool lighting system has failed for some reason and you do not wish to go to the expense of draining the pool and employing an electrician to reinstall some new lighting, floating lights can make an effective replacement. Not only do they provide beautiful illumination at night, they are also very cheap to purchase.

Floating water lights are also portable, which makes then easy to move around between the various water features in your garden. If you are having a pool party, you can place your floating lights in the pool, but when the pool is not in use, you can move them into the pond or Jacuzzi. You can even take them on holiday if you wish and place them around the tent at night—they do not need to be placed in water to work!

A floating pool light can work from solar power or batteries. Floating solar pool lights charge up their batteries during the day and once dusk falls, they come on automatically with the aid of an environmental light sensor. The light itself is self contained within a waterproof case and will happily float on the surface of your pool or water feature. In the winter time, when your pool is covered up for protection, you can still use your solar lights to add some ambiance to the garden. They will make an attractive addition to the patio area, or you can group them together to provide some focused illumination in particular areas of your garden.

If you are looking for some extra lighting for a pool party or summer barbecue, there are many types of floating pool lights specifically designed for parties and outdoor entertainment. Flashing disco light displays are a fun way to turn your pool into the hottest party venue for miles around. Make sure you light the barbecue and crack open a few crates of beer—your guests will probably not be leaving any time soon!

Torch Lights: Add some Stunning Illumination

Rachel — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:48:22 +0000

Torch lights are a great way to add some stunning illumination to your garden at night. During the summer, the garden is always the place to be. When the nights are warm and the fragrant scent of lavender and honeysuckle is drifting across the patio as you relax in your chair, there is no better way of providing some atmosphere, as well as repelling nasty biting insects, than by lighting a few garden torches.

Garden torch lights are giant aromatic candles that can be firmly set into the ground at suitable intervals around the garden. Infused with pure essential oils, long burning garden torch candles provide the perfect accompaniment to a garden party or barbecue. If you want to enjoy an insect free evening in the garden, aromatic garden torched infused with pungent citronella oil are the best way to achieve this.

Candle torch lights can be bought in a variety of different scents. Any strong smelling herb or essential oil is perfect for fragrant candle torches and if you want to disguise the scent of the nearby pig farm, it would probably be wise to invest in a stack of scented candle torches for use in the garden during the summer months.

Tiki torch lights are a longer lasting style of garden torch. They come in several different styles, but the most common variety is constructed from a length of bamboo or cane with a woven holder on top. The holder houses a plastic bottle that is designed to be filled with Tiki fuel. A thick wick is threaded through a metal cover that covers the top of the fuel bottle. The wick dips into the fuel and when it is lit, the exposed portion will burn for hours.

Tiki torches look very striking when burning at night, but the fuel bottle can make them rather top heavy and susceptible to strong winds, therefore they should be well secured to prevent accidents. As such, it is well worth having a fire extinguisher handy if you decide to light a Tiki torch in your garden. However, despite the safety issues inherent with such a design of torch, they can look pretty spectacular in a garden and are definitely worth trying if you want to create a night to remember.

LED torch lights are a safe way to provide some torch lighting in the garden. Unlike naked flame lighting, there is no danger of setting anything (or anyone) on fire with an LED torch. LED bulbs operate at very low voltages and are always cool to the touch. This makes them a safe alternative for homes with younger children or accident prone pets.

If you want maintenance-free torch lighting in your garden, solar torch lights are the best type of torch lighting you can buy. Once installed, solar lights will charge up during the day and shine brightly at night. Rechargeable torch lights are the ultimate in environmentally friendly garden lighting. They cost nothing to operate, but they look great and will provide a lifetime of attractive garden lighting.

LED Pool Lights Make a Striking Impact on your Pool

Rachel — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 11:44:49 +0000

LED pool lights can have a striking impact on a swimming pool, as without lighting, your pool will become a giant black hole full of water at night. For most people, installing a pool is a big expense, but unless you pay attention to the extra details necessary for a 24/7 use of your pool, it will have been a waste of money.

Pool lighting is essential for swimming pools. During the day, the pool is often a focal point of the garden when the weather is hot and the kids are not at school. You family will doubtless spend many happy hours splashing, swimming, and simply relaxing in the water while the sun burns down. Once daylight disappears and the sun sets over the horizon, without lighting you will have to abandon the water and retire indoors.

However, if you choose to install some LED swimming pool lights, your family can carry on using the pool for many more happy hours. Of course there are other types of pool lighting that you might wish to consider, but for most people LED lighting is far and away the most popular because of its many benefits.

The great advantage of LED pool lighting is that it is extremely economical to run. LED bulbs operate on very low voltages and usually last for years—which makes them ideal for pools. If lights are only used for short periods per day, it is not unusual for LED bulbs to last indefinitely, so that last thing you have to worry about is a blown bulb in your pool!

LED lighting can be powered through an electrical outlet, which is how most pre installed LED lights in pools work, or by battery. Battery powered LED lights are ideal for adding at a later date, or if the existing lighting system has ceased to work. Battery powered LED floating pool lights are a fun way to decorate the pool at night and they can look surprisingly effective when left bobbing around in the water.

An LED pool light can be installed anywhere in the pool area. You might wish to fit them along the sides of the pool, or perhaps across the bottom. If you have special decorative features built into your pool, for example waterfalls and fountains, you can also install an LED swimming pool here, too.

As well as traditional white bulbs, LED bulbs for pools come in a range of different colours and with decorative lighting schemes you can transform your pool with some fantastic lighting displays. Many LED light kits feature special effects and mood lighting, which is ideal for pool based parties during the summer months. Imagine how funky your pool would be with some flashing disco lights beneath the water!

Whether you choose to install LED lighting in your pool at the point of construction, or you decide to add some LED lights at a later date, this type of lighting will bring a whole new level of enjoyment to your pool during the summer—and even the winter if you are feeling brave!

Bollard Lights: A popular Choice for Exterior Lighting

Rachel — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:40:39 +0000

Bollard lights are sometimes called mini lamp posts and are a very popular choice for exterior lighting when space is at a premium. Most bollard lighting is less than one meter high, but despite its small stature, these lights are able to give off an impressive amount of illumination and are just as effective as their larger cousin, the lamp post.

The lights come in a huge variety of styles, ranging from ultra modern brushed steel posts, to antique style black wrought iron. Simple, contemporary designs of bollard light are great for drawing attention to impressive features around the garden, but if you prefer to use some lighting that is a feature in itself, an antique style bollard post light is an excellent choice. When installed along pathways and drives, traditional designs of bollard post lights not only look beautiful when lit up at night, they are also very useful for guiding the way when visitors arrive.

Modern designs of outdoor bollard lights can be positioned all over the garden. You might choose to have some around your patio area for outdoor entertaining, but they can be just as effective when positioned amongst the shrubs and trees in your garden. If you have some beautiful trees and plants growing in your outdoor space, it makes sense to use strategic lighting to draw attention to such key areas at night. Bollard post lights are ideal for this purpose and simple modern designs tend to be very unobtrusive.

Solar bollard lights are ideal for areas of the garden where there is no electricity supply. The lights charge up during the day from a small solar panel situated on top of the post. Once the daylight sensor tells the light that night has arrived, the lamp will switch on and your garden will be bathed in a lovely ethereal glow.

Night lighting is the best way to make the most of any garden, no matter what time of year it might be. Bollard lights can be used in any area of the garden to add some lovely atmosphere at night. During the summer, extra lighting will enable you to entertain outdoors, as well as enjoy some alfresco dining on your patio or terrace. In the winter time, garden lighting will transform your garden into a sparkling paradise. Instead of gazing out of the window and seeing nothing but pitch blackness, you will be able to enjoy the fruits of all the hard work you did over the summer.

As well as adding some extra aesthetic style to your garden, lighting should also be considered an important safety feature. If you intend to use your garden at night, lighting is essential. Bollard post lights can be an attractive method of lighting the way along paths and walkways, especially if your garden is on more than one level or contains water features. By including some key lights at various intervals, you can ensure that your family or guests will not succumb to a terrible accident as a result of insufficient garden lighting.

Blue Icicle Lights…..It’s That Time of the Year again!

Rachel — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:35:34 +0000

When Christmas is slowly but inexorably creeping up on you, it can be tempting to lock yourself in the house in a fit of bah-humbug Scrooge mentality and say, no, I will not decorate the outside of my house with gaudy lights! But for those of you who wish to welcome Santa Clause with open arms and usher in yet another Christmas, blue icicle lights offer a fantastic way of decorating the interior or exterior of your home.

Once upon a time, Christmas lights were either plain white, or simple colored bulbs strung around the home or garden. They looked ok, but they were not all that exciting. Thankfully, with the advent of modern lighting and LED bulbs, the world of Christmas lighting has exploded into light and color. Fantastic lighting effects found today can rival even the most spectacular public displays. No longer do you need to head to the nearest city to see some amazing Christmas lighting shows; these days you can look outside, or next door, and see a myriad of flashing lights, glowing Santa's, and every other conceivable style of Christmas light.

Blue LED icicle lights are an ultra modern type of lighting that can be used indoors or outdoors. Many people choose to hang icicle lights along the top of the house, attached to the gutter. At night, when the lights are switched on, they offer a beautiful blue ethereal glow. Different lighting programs mean that you can choose from static light or flashing lights on a timer, but no matter how you choose to display your blue icicle lights, they will look stunning.

LED bulbs in icicle lights are designed to have a very long life span. Traditional Christmas lights were always notable for the amount of time you needed to spend searching for the broken bulbs. You probably remember how irritating it was when a whole string of lights did not work due to one dodgy bulb. You probably spent hours every Christmas, manually checking each bulb to find the one that was broken. Thankfully, with the advent of LED bulb technology, those days are long gone and you can get out your Christmas lights, safe in the knowledge that they will work straight from the box. If they are only used at Christmas, your blue icicle light set will probably last longer than you!

If you want to decorate your entire garden with blue icicle Christmas lights, you can connect multiple sets together to extend the lights and as many as 34 sets of icicle lights can be connected together to create one long string of lights. This is ideal if you have an exceptionally large house and you want the lights to be attached together. It can also be very effective if you plan on adorning lots of trees in your garden.

Blue twinkling icicle lights look beautiful indoors on a tree, or even strung around house. Once the rest of the lights are turned off, you can enjoy your magical lighting display and look forward to the annual visit of Santa Clause!

Make most of your Outdoor Chandelier

Rachel — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:30:27 +0000

If you want to make the most of your outdoor space during the summer months, lighting is an absolute must. In order to turn your patio or terrace into an extension of your living room or dining room, it is essential to install some effective lighting. Whilst there are lots of different types of lighting for outdoors, many people choose to make a feature of the lighting and an outdoor chandelier is a great choice for hanging above a patio dining table.

Outdoor chandeliers are designed for installation in the great outdoors, but you still need to take account of various factors before making a decision as to where you install them. An outdoor chandelier will need access to the mains electricity supply, so when you are deciding where it should go, check whether the existing wiring will run to the desired location. You should also check that your preferred location offers some protection from the worst of the weather. Chandeliers designed for outdoor use are very resilient, but even the most robust of chandeliers is likely to look a little worse for wear if repeatedly subjected to torrential rain and strong winds.

The chandelier needs to be placed in the best possible position for providing effective lighting. Ideally this would be over a table or seating area, but outdoor gazebos are a great place for hanging outdoor chandelier lighting. Circuitry needs to be absolutely watertight and a qualified electrician is the best person to carry out the job. If you have chosen a style of chandelier that requires fabric shades, it is possible to purchase shades made from a waterproof material.

Many people enjoy entertaining outdoors during the warmer months of the year, but with inadequate lighting, this is not always possible. If you regularly hold dinner parties for your friends and families that involve an elaborate meal with drinks, a few candles shoved into old wine bottles will not really create much ambiance for your guests. Installing an outdoor candle chandelier will immediately turn your patio or terrace into a beautiful and stylish extension of your home. You can enjoy a pleasant evening with your family and friends beneath the soft glow of a chandelier.

There are many different styles of chandeliers designed for outdoor use. Many people prefer contemporary designs, but you can also choose from antique or rustic styles to suit the decorative scheme of your home. If you live in a cabin or timber framer home, a wagon wheel design of chandelier will look particularly effective.

Sun rooms are often suited to lighting designed for outdoor use. If a traditional chandelier is installed in a sun room or conservatory, the effects of sunlight can often adversely affect it, especially during the summer months. The heat generated from strong sun damages many internal light fittings, so an outdoor light fitting can be a sensible choice for conservatories. If you use your conservatory for growing plants, high levels of humidity can also be an issue with less resilient indoor light fittings, therefore an outdoors chandelier built for resistance to heat and moisture is ideal.