Outdoor Fairy Lights Beginners Tips

April 17th, 2011

I do love the warm twinkling glow of my outdoor fairy lights in the evening. I find it so relaxing as their subtle glow reflects of the small water features and pond I have. But when I started thinking about how to enhance my garden so I could spend more time in it later in the day, I was really lost for where to start. Did I go for something big, like some outdoor garden lanterns and swathes of landscape lighting? Then there is the choice of mains powered, solar powered fairy lights outdoor or even battery operated fairy lights. Then there were colors, installation, placing and care. It really was an overload of information!

What I would have given for some simple guidance to help me sort things out. In the end I learnt from hard experience and a few toys out of the pram moments. My wife knew not to disturb me when the shouting started. She just left me to fume away as I stomped around the garden in frustration. Luckily, I gradually got things sorted and now am delighted with the results. So I thought that a few tips and hints for those of you just starting out might be useful. These guidance notes on outdoor fairy lights I hope will help you avoid the same problems I had. Within no time you should be able to enhance your garden evenings and even think about some special seasonal outdoor party lights, outdoor Christmas lights arrangements or for Easter and birthdays.

Can I Use Outdoor Fairy Lights In My Garden?

Well I look at it this way. I you have enough room to swing a cat, as it were, then there is enough room to install and enjoy outdoor garden lighting of some sort. The great thing about fairy lights and their many variations is the flexibility. You can have a permanent type of arrangement, or even just bring them out on special occasions, Having a range of outdoor party lights that you can light up a celebration with is great fun. You don’t have to have a huge length of them either. Start small and then add as you go along. That way you won’t swamp your space. Look to enhance the natural beauty of your garden rather than completely drown it out. Subtlety is the name of the game.

What Type of Fairy Lights Do I Choose

Well yes there does seem to be too many types to choose from first of all. But, remember that most are just named after where you might put them. The term outdoor fairy lights is really an all covering phrase. So there may be outdoor patio string lights, deck lighting, Christmas outdoor lights and more, but they come into the same group. String lights and fairy lights really just describes ways of arranging fairy lights outdoor to suit situations. The real choice comes in how to power them.

Low Voltage Fairy Lights

First up choice is mains powered fairy lights. This will require you to run an electrical cable from your indoor power point to where you want to install them. Now obviously this seems easy, but does have many downsides. You are dealing with electricity here. So, you will have to keep the lights and cabling well away from water.

If you are fixng them on your roof as Christmas outdoor lights, then beware of metal guttering and what wind can do. Also the dangers from accidently damaging or cutting that cable during any home improvement or even cutting lawn areas are very real risks. Many people have ended up in ER as a result. Finally, you have to pay for that electricity don’t you?

The other thing is that when you are just starting out, having to plan out your lighting plan, with all the cabling requirements on type and specifications to suit is a pain. Couple that with figuring out what transformer you need to counteract voltage drop and the cost of that transformer, then it is not a simple matter for newcomers.

Solar Outdoor Fairy Lights

My choice is to go for battery powered fairy lights, or solar fairy lights. They are perfectly safe for a start. You can not put a price on your wellbeing. They are environmentally sound as well. Solar powered fairy lights use the best, free sustainable power of all, the sun.

I do favor outdoor solar fairy lights over their battery powered cousins. Batteries cost money and have to be disposed of properly. I like a bit of green contribution, as every little bit helps in my mind. With the solar fairy lights, you can also buy waterproof fairy lights to combine with them. Water and light is just magical if done right.

Where Can I Buy Outdoor Fairy Lights

You will find that outdoor solar fairy lights are very easy to gte online at places like Amazon and eBay, without dropping too much money either. You can get a good starter string of fairy lights for your garden for well under $20. have a look at some of the best sellers and check out the customer reviews.

Start Simple

So what do I mean by this. Well, rather than have a grand plan, costing hundreds of dollars, with complicated arrangements, build it up gradually. By doing this, you will see just how to get the best from your garden and the lights. Mistakes won’t be costly and you get a chance to move things around and experiment with future possibilities easier.

So perhaps we can begin with simple string lighting along a decking edge. Small loops of patio string lights tracing the edge and framing your evening relaxation space. If you have verticals, use them, by spiraling up for a lovely effect. It does not have to be a grand scheme at this point, but subtle and simple.

As you get more confident, and then move onto trying things out with water features, with some waterproof fairy lights. Or experiment with some garden string lights around trees and natural height. Framing pathways with pathway lighting is a great effect, especially if your outdoor areas are not right next to your house. Outdoor solar fairy lights are exceptionally good for this.

Well I hope these starting tips and guidance for using outdoor fairy lights have got you thinking about what you can do effectively in your garden. Remember keep it simple, safe and inexpensive first of all. Learn to experiment gradually with the natural features you have already to enhance them. This way even a complete newbie can produce a beautiful night time glow to enjoy. Keep watching The Outdoor Lighting Guide for more great advice.

Outdoor Solar Lighting Is A Great Investment

March 31st, 2011

Outdoor lighting has the potential to transform your garden. Bringing light and color to your outdoor spaces it can be cheap to use as well. Using outdoor solar lighting allows a green and low cost solution to outdoor garden lightsand outdoor fairy lights. On top of that solar garden lights are quite cheap to buy and easy to install and maintain. Elegant and available in many styles they are ideal for driveways, water features, lawns and much more.

So let’s start with a little science 101. Don’t worry this won’t get too heavy. I am not a huge science geek, so I will keep it too what I would understand as well. First of all outdoor solar lighting does not need mains power. Stating the obvious I know. No wiring and no connection means less hassle to me. Each of the lights is specially made with a magic solar cell. The little cell soaks up the power of the sun like a sponge and charges a battery inside. This battery is a nickel cadmium battery (Ni-Cad). Just the same tech. you will find in normal rechargeable batteries and stuff around today. My kids’ toys spring to mind. When the sun stops shining the cell stops working and it switches to giving out the energy as light through the LED light. Similar to the standard LED outdoor lights you can find in outdoor Xmas lights. Easy stuff really.

So solar garden lights are great for putting in places where electricity is a little dangerous to say the least. So pop them around water features and pools for a great effect. At night light reflecting off water is just so mesmerizing and relaxing. Look how beautiful the Diwali candles look on the pools and fountains in India. Water and light work magic in my book. You can also try them where getting power is a real pain. Far ends of garden or around patios driveways and for impromptu parties and get togethers.

I personally like the other benefits that outdoor solar lighting offers. Saving me money to start with. I let the sun do all the work and that is free (For now anyway). No batteries to replace, no wiring, no bills, it is so simple. That means I can move them around to try different things and also pop them up quick and easy for special occasions. I can also sit bathing in their beauty knowing I have done my little bit for the environment. Every little counts I think no matter how small. I don’t use power so I can count that down as a green win. Finally no electricity running through wires means they are perfectly safe. When you have two toddlers with inquisitive fingers and a cat and dog who love to try things by chewing, that is real piece of mind. Take putting them around a pool for example. I could not do that with mains lights and relax as the children played. Water and electricity are not good buddies lets just say.

You do have to be careful where you put them sometimes though. They are designed and built to be tough, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to think first. Try to keep them out of very windy corners. This applies with most outdoor garden lighting though. They will stand for rain, but I do advise taking them in late fall and into winter. For a start there is less sun to power them, but constant battering in such weather will shorten their lifespan. Of course what you can do is pop them out on a calm day on a sunny or light patch just to charge for the nighttime and them pop them back into store again. I do this for my outdoor Christmas lighting.

If you treat your solar garden lights and solar powered fairy lights with a bit of care and respect they should last you for quite a while. It is claimed that most bulbs will go for about 100K hours before failing. I reckon even at 8 hours a day (Or night rather!) that is about 12,500 days or 34 years! Obviously they probably won’t go that long as other factors come into play for wear and tear. But I have had some garden solar lighting sets now for about 5 years and they are still going string. I think I should be able to see them through another 5 easily. I always switch them off before putting them into store, take them in if a storm or twister is around and give them a good clean before they go away and when they come out.

So looking at it outdoor solar lighting is a real winner for me. Safe, cheap, clean and long lasting. But more importantly it is beautiful and lets me show off my garden exactly how I want to.

Uses For Outdoor Fairy Lights

March 13th, 2011

Twinkle, twinkle – outdoor fairy lights shine and shimmer in the darkness. Tiny points of light, these strings bring to mind Christmas, parties and celebrations! It is alomost like having Christmas tree lights outdoor in your garden. You might think that what you see around the holidays is what you get…but you’d be wrong! There are all shapes, colors, power sources and even how the light is emitted.

Around the holidays is when most people see these outdoor party lights, some houses lit up with a fantastic display. And when you go to the local department store or home center, you’ll see all kinds of strings available. However, for the truly unusual, you need to either visit a specialty shop, or look online in places such as Amazon.com.

Here’s an example; perhaps you need a longer than usual string of lights to maneuver around a particular place; you’ll probably not find it in a department store, who offer ordinary lights. Or maybe you need a special design. Yes, there are companies who specialize in these strands, curtains and nets of lights.

From the holidays and Winter, now let’s go to Summer and outdoor living. This is a wonderful time for outdoor garden lights! They are like stationary fireflies, illuminating your outside living spaces. Traditionally white in the summertime gardens, you can also sometimes find colorful strings to suit your decorative needs (not to mention set a mood). Some ideas include outlining gazebos, following the branches of trees and highlighting garden paths. And let’s not forget creating a light sculpture on your landscape!

Speaking of gardens, did you know there are solar powered fairy lights? Obviously these work best where there’s plenty of sunlight during the days, and they can provide lighting when you need it at night. How do they work? The solar panels collect energy from sunlight, and then convert that energy into electricity. The wonderful part is that you don’t have to worry about running power lines to where you need the lights! However, you do have to make sure that the solar panel portions of these outdoor string lights are exposed to the sun during the day.

What if you don’t have adequate sunlight, but you also don’t have an electrical source – must you sit in the dark? No indeed, you can take advantage of battery fairy lights. This kind of light string is most often used on tables or wreaths; wherever a traditional strand (with its accompanying power cord) isn’t practical. They do use batteries at a fairly good rate, and they don’t generally have many lights on a strand, but for setting a mood, they are invaluable!

So those are some of the uses; now let’s discuss what color of white light you want. What we traditionally know as “white” in incandescent lights is almost a blue in the LED (light emitting diode) versions of the outdoor fairy lights. The incandescent lights we’re so familiar with work with a filament. The LEDs operate with the effect of electroluminescence.

The biggest advantage to LED outdoor lights is that they use less energy. Advantage number two is that they tend to last a lot longer. Add in a smaller size and better reliability.

Outdoor fairy lights – they aren’t just for Christmas! You can enjoy them at any time of year.

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