Outdoor LED Lighting
Most outdoor LED lighting, like traditional garden lighting, typically uses a 12v DC low voltage power supply from a mains transformer installed indoors. There the similarities end though, because LED garden lights use only 10% as much electricity as traditional incandescent bulbs or halogen lamps.
The reason is simple; LED light is produced by exciting electrons to emit photons (light), whereas traditional light bulbs burn a filament which gives off an incidental amount of light along with all the heat. These are fundamentally different approaches to the process of producing light. LEDs are deliberately engineered to emit light and nothing else; incandescent bulbs are essentially small heaters that emit light only as a by-product Ceiling Light with 15000LM Quadruple Glow Led Bulb,270°Adjusted B08J45W2NY.
For garden lighting then, outdoor LED lights are ideal because of these properties of running cool and using negligible amounts of electricity. It is also worth mentioning that most LED garden lights have an effective lifespan of a decade or more, thereby reducing maintenance requirements.
LED garden lights come in all manner of guises. The most common colors are white and blue, but other colors are also available as well as color changing LED lights. One of the most noticeable characteristics of LED garden lights is how crisp and pure they look. The colors tend to be extremely vibrant with an almost gemstone quality – sapphire blue, emerald green, ruby red, citrine yellow, diamond white. Though it is possible to use filters and diffusing screens to tone things down, which in itself opens up further effects and design ideas.
As well as variety in colors and brightness, outdoor LED lights are also available in any number of different fixtures. LED floodlights, wall wash effects, rock lights, embedded patio and deck lights, bollards, lanterns, spikes, pagodas, integrated in garden ornaments and submerged in ponds. Just for starters. Two of the most common choices through are outdoor LED spotlights and LED deck lights.
LEDs are well suited as garden spotlights since LED light tends be directional by nature. They also often have a good Colour Rendering Index which measures how lifelike and vibrant the area being lit appears. The items to check when choosing LED garden spotlights are: brightness (even a 1w LED in a dark garden is surprisingly bright); beam angle (how spread out or focussed the light is); and “color”, meaning both the actual color (as in red or blue etc) and the “color temperature” (how “cool” or “warm” the light appears).