Exterior LED lights are a great way either start a new outdoor landscape lighting system or add to your existing system.  If you install them correctly, in no time you can have an incredibly eco-friendly, low-maintenance system that will cost barely anything in monthly upkeep.  As LED technology picks up pace, there are more and more different fixtures that come in a wide array of different colors, sizes, and effects.  If you’re having some trouble choosing from the myriad of options, or simply need some creative ideas, here area few lighting ideas that you can try to apply in your own backyard.

Add Ambiance with Color Changing Lights

If they’re used correctly, placing one or two color-changing LED lights in the middle of your property can create a great effect.  Try to aim the lights at a particular plant, statue, or wall to get the whole effect.  Be careful when you’re applying this however.  One color changing light is impressive, two can look good if done right, but any more than that will make your backyard look more like you’re getting ready for Christmas than anything else.

Wash Out Walls

LED landscape lighting makes use of some of the most powerful bulbs on the market today.  If you have an unused wall or fence you can make use of it by bathing it in bright LED light to wash it out.  There are several things that you could achieve with this effect.  Aiming the lights just right could bring out the texture in a stucco wall, while placing other objects in front of the lights can cause them to cast long, ominous shadows on your wall.  You could even just wash out the wall in color to create a more interesting look.  If you use two different LEDs of complementary colors or a color changing LED, the effect can look particularly interesting.

Make Use of Recessed Lighting

LEDs make recessed lighting an incredibly good option if you have the time, tools, and know-how to install it.  Recessed LED garden lighting can be installed in steps, decks, under railings, or even along paths.  It takes more time to install than normal lighting because each fixture needs its own hole, and the wire delivering power to the lights more often needs buried as well, but it adds a classy look to your property that few others take the time to install.

Light Water Features

Some of the best targets for nighttime lighting with conventional lights are water features, and this is the same for exterior LED lights.  Whether you have a pool, fountain, pond, or some other kind of water in your backyard, odds are that it will benefit from being lit in some way.  LED light fixtures come in many different styles adapted for use in watery environments, ranging from floating “lillipad” lights to underwater lights.

Make 1 Watt Lights Look Like Pearls

One really unique way to use LED lighting is to buy a large amount of one watt LED lights that can be placed at various places around your garden.  These individual bulbs will draw the eye of anyone walking around your yard.  The blackness around them and the small amount of strong, bright light the put our will make it seem like your backyard is covered in pearls or jewels.

Small LED Light in a Tree

LED-Lit Sculptures

Another unique lighting effect that you can create with your exterior LED lights is to install an LED-lit sculpture.  During the day these objects look just like normal sculptures in your garden.  But at night they come alive, as they sparkle with light coming from several LED light diodes installed in the sculpture itself.  You can also take advantage of this by adding 1 watt LEDs to any existing sculptures that you may have.

Trees, Paths, and Plants

Finally, while LED lighting is new and exciting, don’t forget that you can also use it in all the ways that you’ve always used traditional incandescent lighting.  You can use the same effects that you have been using for years, but by replacing your incandescent light fixtures, you save money on replacing bulbs every few months and on electricity because LEDs use exponentially less power.  Just make sure to find LEDs with the same color as the incandescent fixtures you are replacing, otherwise the effects that you create will be slightly different.

There are many different ways that you can use LED lights to bring out the color, shape, and texture of your landscape late at night, and they are an essential part of almost any systems of garden lights.  They are a little bit more expensive than most incandescent fixtures, but over the long run they do save you money, especially when you shop online to find the best deals.

If you want to install a low-maintenance, eco-friendly landscape lighting system, LED garden light fixtures give you the most variety and also the biggest bang for your environmental buck.  Compared to incandescent, or even compact florescent light bulbs, LEDs use exponentially less energy and put out more light, reducing your power bills and helping out the environment along the way.  Depending on what type of LED light you buy, the installation process can be either simple or require an extra step or two.

There are essentially two types of LED landscape lighting that you can use in your lawn and the difference is in how they are powered.  You can choose either solar LED garden light or LED garden lighting that runs off of a low voltage circuit in your yard.  Installing solar powered lights is a snap, because all you have to do is place the light and forget about it.  The photovoltaic cell that powers the light, the battery that stores the power, and the LED itself are all contained in the same unit.

While solar powered lights are easy to install, many people opt instead for lights powered on a low voltage circuit.  Solar LED lights need to be installed in areas there there’s a lot of direct sunlight, limiting where they can be place.  You’re also relatively limited in the type of lights that you can buy because they have to be a certain size to be able to accommodate a photovoltaic cell big enough to power them.  Opting instead for lights powered on a low-voltage circuit removes both of these limitations, letting you choose from thousands of different fixtures and place your lights where you want.

Solar LED lights working, even in bad conditions

However, if you decide to install low voltage lights, the installation process is a little more difficult than the one for solar lights.  Luckily, it’s not out of the capabilities of most DIYers.  First, you need to buy and install at 12v transformer that will have the wattage capacity to run all of the different light fixtures you want to run.  If you’re installing a garden lighting system in your home for the first time, make sure that you get a LED transformer.  These transformers guarantee a constant 12 volts to the line.  If you use a traditional transformer, the wattage can vary slightly, which will damage your LED lights.

If you want to add LEDs to an existing landscape lighting system, it is possible, but you need to find the right lights.  Make sure that you find LED fixtures that are marked on the box that they are able to be used with a traditional 12 volt transformer.  Another option, if you are planning on expanding your existing lighting plan, is to run two transformers.  The existing transformer that you have will be used to power the incandescent fixtures, while the brand new LED transformer will be used to run the LED ones.

LEDs make a great addition to any garden lighting plan.  They are expensive initially, but over the long run they will save you money and time (because you only have to replace the bulbs once every few years), and even help to protect the environment.  Not only that, installation is a snap and usually doesn’t take any longer than normal light fixtures would, unless you need to install a new transformer.   Some great deals can be found on LED lights around the internet, so make sure to search online for great deals before you head down to your local lawn care store.

The advent of LEDs is one of the biggest advancements to hit landscape lighting since the Thomas Edison first invented the incandescent light bulb. If you haven’t already started to use LED landscape lighting around your property, you should definitely consider incorporating them when you make your next purchase of garden lights. The lights have made solar powered lights even more effective and are incredibly economical, causing your house to use less power, and are incredibly long lasting, creating less headaches for you.

Reason #1: LED Landscape Lighting is Low Maintenance

LED lighting is one of the most low maintenance types of outdoor landscape lighting out on the market today. The LED lights themselves don’t use filaments that break after a thousand hours like normal incandescent bulbs do. They are instead made out of semiconductor diodes that are charged with electricity. When this happens, the diodes emit the light that you see. The diodes last for close to 10,000 hours in some cases.

What does this mean for you? It means that once you install your LED lighting, you won’t have worry about changing your light bulbs for several years. You’ll spend less time buying bulbs, stocking up on them in the event that they burn out at an inopportune time, and bending over in your yard unscrewing the light fixtures, replacing bulbs, and then trying to screw them back into where you left them.

Reason #2: LED Lights are Economical

LED lights are the most economical light on the market today. They are even more economical than the compact florescent light bulbs many people are installing in their homes and they don’t contain the same poisonous chemicals that are exposed if the light is broken. You’ll spend much less energy to light your yard than you would if you install conventional forms of lighting.

Reason #3: LED Lights are Eco-Friendly

Finally, LED lighting is incredibly eco-friendly. Because they consume such low amounts of energy if you have them hooking into a low voltage lighting system, there will ultimately be less harmful gasses belched into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels. They also make possible many different kinds of solar garden lights that weren’t possible to make just a few years ago. Depending on your location, you could possibly light your entire yard in a completely carbon neutral way.

LED landscape lighting is a great option for lighting your yard. The lights are economical, low maintenance, and eco-friendly. They do have higher costs per bulb than traditional light bulbs, but you will save those costs many times over by not having to replace them and in energy savings. If you are thinking about installing garden lights, LED lights should be at the top of your list.