solar powered vs. electrical

[bobbygedd]

anyone use solar lights ? how are they vs. electric

[Black Water]

Solar powered lights are horrible! You can barely see them at night.

Electric is definitely the way to go. Also i wouldn't go any lower than 7 watts, and for spotlights i wouldn't go any lower than 10 watts. :nono: :)

[ElephantNest]

I LOVE my solar lights. I don't care for the bright white yard lights. Mine were easy to install, and they are going on two years old. Bought 12 for my front yard, and all are still working. I tried a solar spotlight, not near enough power.

[Moguy]

I think ElephantNest brings up a good point. I also have solar lights surrounding the landscape in our yard. It doesn't put out the bright white light but it accents our landscape greatly. I think the brightness depends what areas or landscape youre trying to use it with. If a customer has water features in their yard would the high glow electric look best or would the solar low glow or shimmering look the best. Guess its all in the eye of the beholder.

[GarPA]

BG...I;ve bought them at customers request more times than I can count. Also bought some of them to shine down on my deck floor.....they suck frankly....they throw almost no light down. All but one customer had me return them for a refund. If you want them just to line a sidewalk for "the look" of it, they're ok,,,,but if you want them for a spotlight, flood light, and deck light...dont waste your time buying and installing them....

[NCSULandscaper]

Solar sucks a big one. If you get the right electrical lighting and use the right wattage you can make any landscape accented beautifully. A mixture of spotlights on larger tree trunks and in the middle of taller growing shrubs with softer accents along a walkway spaced out farther than normal does wonders. With the amount of different lighting fixtures on the market these days, you dont have to have that ordinary bright white runway light.

[Henry]

Solar lights are like the marker lights on the roof of your truck. They do a good job of letting you know they're there but they provide no light whatsoever. Actually the lights on your truck provide a little more light than the solar.

[ZX12R]

Anyone ever see someone install 12v lighting around a circular driveway every 12" apart? It looks stupid ,like an airport runway,and on top of that,many were leaning over. To be fair,a homeowner did it .I just shake my head every time I drive by that house.

[DanaMac]

Solar is horrible. I agree with everyone else about how they will only give you the runway look along the drive or sidewalk. They will not accent the landscape the way aproperly installed 12 volt system will.

[ElephantNest]

Um, they are saying the 12v look look runway lights. With mine, I'm not trying to light the place up, they are called ACCENT lights, which accent the landscape, not brighten it to daytime. Some houses look better with bright whites, not mine. I like the low glow, look great here, and I've gotten many compliments on them.

Different lights for different properties.

[hickory]

At this point, if you buy solar lights you're just wasting your money. They are very cheesey looking and they virtually have no candle power. Just curious, can you control solar lights when you want to turn them on and off? If not that makes them even more rediculous. If you're going to install lighting, at least step up to a professional level and install systems such as Hadco, Kichler, Kim, Unique or Vista. Don't even think about going the Home Depot route. The lights don't last.

[hickory]

Secondly, path lights should only be used when necessary. Unless you get the right path lights, then all you have done is enable people to be blinded. The whole point of landscape lighting is trying to paint with light without trying to see the light source.

[ElephantNest]

The word is ridiculous. And there are many "points" of landscape lighting. Not just to be hidden. Some are focal points, some accent, some light the way, etc. Mine, for instance, look very nice out where they can be seen at night, not hidden away shining on plants from below. The "point" of my solar lights is to draw attention to the garden at night, subtly.

[NCSULandscaper]

Elephant,
Got any pics of the lighting that you have. I am interested to see how you have solar lights working for you the way you describe. Might be a technique that we all may be missing.

[ElephantNest]

I'll try to get some. Not sure how they will look at night, may have to take them in the daytime.

[hickory]

Here is some of our examples of our work. These were done at a class that I took at RPI in Troy NY. It was a class of 30 and we all chipped in and critiqued each others work. http://www.hickorylandscaping.com/gallery/nightscapes

[Black Water]

Now that's the way it's suppost to look. Great job hickory!;)

[NickN]

Hey Bobby,
Like everything else,ya get what ya pay for.There are some very nice solar lights out now.I installed some that were $55 a pair at Lowes.Very fancy.They are hanging lanterns that come with a pole(to drive in the ground) and then you hang the lanterns on them.They don't put out much light,but add a nice accent.They're blue instead of the normal amber one's ya see.I'll get some closeups and a nighttime view when I get a chance.

[hickory]

No matter what we do in the landscape field, we all owe it to the industry to hold our work to the highest standards.

[ZX12R]

hICKORY,THE PICS OF THE LIGHTING LOOKS VERY NICE,BUT,THAT ISNT SOLAR,IS IT?

[hickory]

No Solar Lights. They are all off transformers.

[hickory]

I read one of your captions earlier, and I drive by a house with the same runway affect, and it really looks as though they're trying to land a big space ship. Just with regular landscaping, a homeowner who really doesn't know what they're doing can really affect not only the look of their house, but also the houses around it. The same goes with outdoor lighting. I always say use professionals whenever possible. In the end you get what you pay for. USUALLY!!

[ZX12R]

I agree 100%,sometimes less is more, but it works both ways. I have seen a few(very few) homeowners install both,lighting and /or plants and was impressed on how they did the job. Landscape lighting ,whether its line voltage or low voltage,is popular today,but,I can't tell you how many times I have seen poor lighting design.By that,I mean either the lights are placed entirely too close to one another or the lights are not buried properly and the slightest touch will knock them over.........and this is looking at it from a distance:confused:

I have just installed light at my house.When my current dilema is fixed,I will post pics if interested.