One of the first things that you will have to decide when you’re choosing lights for your deck is whether to use low voltage or solar deck lights. For many, the choice is an either or, but it doesn’t have to be. You can still use solar lights with low voltage lights. In fact, if you choose to just use solar deck lighting or low voltage lighting, you could be seriously limiting your options to get the best lights possible – and with the least amount of aggravation installing them.
There are two main benefits to installing solar deck light fixtures. The first is that the lights are completely green and don’t draw any power out of your home, saving you on electric bills. While some may choose the lights because they’re green, choosing them to save on electric bills isn’t always justified. Low voltage lighting actually doesn’t drain as much power from your house as you might think. As long as you hook your landscape lighting transformer to a timer or switch and don’t run your lights when you’re not using them, the actual increase in your electric bills will be fairly minimal.
However, solar powered deck lights really have an installation advantage over low voltage lights when it comes to installation. With low voltage lighting you need to run cables to each of your light fixtures, and while you don’t need to bury low voltage cables, you will need to hide them to make your deck looks its best and ensure that people don’t trip over them. On a deck this can get tricky and you might need to drill a few holes to make sure the wires get run properly. If you plan on installing lights in hard to reach areas, solar lights should help you be able to avoid some installation headaches.
But solar lights for decks aren’t without their downsides. They can be more unreliable than low voltage lights. Especially if you use them in areas with a lot of shade, they can be rather dim and even burn out before the end of the night. For fixtures like a solar spotlight, dimmer light could make it almost useless. Low voltage lights, on the other hand, will always be there with the flick of a switch. You also won’t have access to as many different fixtures as you would if you installed low voltage deck lighting. It would be a shame not to be able to decorate your deck with the best possible light fixtures just because you decided that you wanted all solar lights.
In the end, solar deck lights are a great option for some areas or your deck, but are a terrible option for other areas. Use both solar and low voltage lights together to get the best possible fixtures for the cheapest price and the shortest installation time on your deck.
