If you’re looking for a cheap, easy way to make your home greener, more energy efficient, and more eye-catching, look no further than outdoor fluorescent lighting.  If you already have existing garden lighting installed, switching over to fluorescent lights is a breeze.  If you don’t have them already installed, by opting for fluorescent lights instead of normal incandescent bulbs to start out with, you’ll be saving your home money on energy costs while at the same time saving the environment.  These lights aren’t as energy efficient as other options, like LED landscape lighting, but they are by far the most cost effective.

Fluorescent lights work because they contain a gas that is stimulated by electricity.  This in turn agitates mercury vapor that is inside the lamp and causes it to produce a type of ultraviolet light that is turned into visible light when it passes through phosphorous.  It may sound incredibly complicated but it is much more efficient than conventional light bulbs because it doesn’t produce heat.  A large amount of the energy used by incandescent bulbs is actually released as heat, not energy, essentially wasting it.’

Advantages of Outdoor Fluorescent Lighting

The major advantage to installing fluorescent lighting fixtures is their energy efficiency.  They produce the same amount of light for about half the energy.  This means lower electrical bills for you and a cleaner environment.  Indeed, next to outdoor solar lighting, they are one of the most eco-friendly ways to light your home.  If you already have a lighting system installed, with the help of compact fluorescent bulbs, it’s incredibly easy to install them.  All you have to do is screw the compact bulbs into your normal light sockets when your older bulbs burn out.  This means that you don’t have

Newer fluorescent bulbs are also much more advanced than the older ones that may have been used in your gym when you were in high school.  They turn on instantaneously, so there is not any warm up period and they don’t flicker when they turn on.  You can also get them in different colors depending on the temperature they operate at.  Lower temperature fluorescent bulbs will produce a softer light more akin to conventional light bulbs, while higher temperature fluorescent bulbs will produce a much more stark, white light.  You can use both of these types of bulbs to achieve the type of mood that you want when lighting your garden.

Disadvantages of Outdoor Fluorescent Lighting

There are a few important downsides to fluorescent lighting though.  The biggest one is that they contain mercury, a cancer-causing carcinogen that can wreck havoc on your body.  The chemical is safe within the light, but when it is removed from the light and exposed to the environment, such as what would happen if the light beaks, it can pose a safety risk.  For this reason, you should not use these bulbs in areas where you think they might be kicked, stepped on, or crushed under something.  If you do have a fluorescent bulb that breaks, make sure you find out the proper way to clean the spill up without harming yourself or your family.  These lights also need to be disposed of correctly.  Throwing them in the garbage with your normal lights will contaminate landfills and groundwater.  Check with your local municipality for regulations.

Next, fluorescent bulbs in general aren’t very conducive to being able to be attached to a dimmer switch.  Some new bulbs are able to perform this function, but they cost a bit more money and you have to find them.  So If you are planning on installing this type of lighting somewhere where you might want to dim the lights down, you may want to look at other options.

Fluorescent lighting fixtures are a great was to save on energy costs and help protect the planet at the same time.  Next to solar garden lights, which can be unreliable at times, and LED lights, which are much more expensive, they are the most energy efficient eco-friendly option on the market todya.  They can be installed over time as your current landscape lights wear out or installed as part of your budding landscape lighting plan.  Whatever the case, they would make a great addition to any landscape.

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