How To Install Low Voltage Deck Lights and Post Caps

I have just uploaded a photo tutorial on how to wire your deck for low voltage deck lights and post caps on my website. Go to www.MoonlightDecks.com and click on the Installations link. There is a link to the photo tutorial there.

Or if you want to go straight to it from here...
How To Install Low Voltage Deck Lights and Post Caps

If you have any suggestions for me on how I could improve the process, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me. I'm always looking for a better, easier way to get it done right.

Thanks!

Steve

Low Voltage Lighting vs Solar Lighting

Which is better? Low Voltage Lighting vs Solar Lighting.

There is a growing debate over which type of landscape lighting is better:

Solar Lighting or Low Voltage Lighting.

This article highlights some of the pros and cons of both based on my own personal experience.

Low Voltage Lighting

This type of lighting is available in a variety of brightness levels and styles. The light emitted varies from fixture to fixture, but is usually very good. A transformer provides the electricity and can be controlled by an automatic timer. Low voltage lighting is shockless and safe to use around children and pets. It's also cost effective and the hardest thing about the installation is burying the wires.

Some of the benefits of low voltage lighting systems are listed below:

A professionally installed lighting system has been known to increase the value and resale of properties. Showcasing your house at night with low voltage lighting helps potential visitors find your property easier too.

Compared with line voltage, low voltage is easily installed, safe to operate, extremely economical, and casts beautiful light.

As a homeowner, you can enjoy more hours outside entertaining friends and family. Low voltage lighting can even be wired on your deck giving you great ambient light or even direct light for your grill.

Low voltage lighting systems are expandable so they can be adapted as properties are expanded and/or owners' needs change.

Proper lighting offers increased safety and security.

Some of the cons:

Bulbs burn out and need replacement.

Wiring can be damaged and need replacement.

Timers need to be reset with daylight savings time.


Solar Lighting

Solar lights use LEDs instead of traditional bulbs. LEDs last longer than any other light source, sometimes lasting as long as 10 years. This type of lighting requires no wiring and is the most energy-efficient lighting because it uses the sun's energy to recharge batteries. It costs nothing to operate and is easy to install. However, it should not be used to illuminate large areas brightly or for activities such as grilling and socializing.

Some of the benefits of Solar Lighting:

Lasts longer than other light sources. With LEDs there is nothing to break, rupture, shatter, leak, or contaminate.

Unlike typical conventional light sources, LEDs are not subject to
sudden failure or burnout. There is no point in time at which the light source ceases to function; instead, LEDs gradually degrade in performance over time.

Reduced Maintenance Costs - Since LED based light sources last at least 10 times longer than a normal light source, there is no need to replace the light, reducing or even eliminating ongoing maintenance costs and periodic bulb replacement. This is especially nice if you have an area that is difficult to access to change bulbs.

Energy efficiency - You can rest assured knowing that you aren't contributing nearly as much to global warming or the energy crisis when you use Solar products.

There is no mercury in the light source. Eliminating Mercury from your lighting system will enable you to meet new and future increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

Some of the cons:

The solar panels that typical lighting fixtures use need to be small. This means they collect less energy from the sun to recharge the batteries.

Areas that are frequently shaded or get little sun geographically also affect the recharging capabilities of the fixture.

The lighting is typically dim and does not cover much ground. It also tends to look blue even though it says they use "Super Bright White" LEDS.

The dim lighting means you have to use more fixtures, which creates a sort of landing strip look, or if you are using deck light fixtures they end up looking like a bunch of bug zappers, (without the ability to zap the bugs).

No matter how long they say that LEDs last, it has been my experience that the solar panel usually becomes covered in dirt and the batteries don't last nearly as long as they are supposed to. You have to keep that solar panel clean or it won't work, this means more maintenance more often.

Fixtures are usually set to come on at dark and off at light. Not much control there.


Summary

I tend to prefer low voltage lighting for the simple fact that it is better quality light and can be controlled better with timers. LED landscape lights will probably always be dim. Solar lights just don't harvest much energy from the sun, so no matter how efficient their LEDs, they will never be really bright. In comparison to your cheapie solar lights, low voltage is likely to be a huge improvement, and the low-voltage installation process is not really that much harder than it would be for solar fixtures.

I say, low voltage is the way to go until the technology can improve solar panels ability to capture energy and LEDs ability to output more light.

You can find both Low Voltage Lighted Post Caps and Solar Lighted Post Caps and Deck Lights at http://www.MoonlightDecks.com

A great idea for path lighting using Solar Post Caps

Want a great project that will make you feel quite handy?

You can make your own path lights using solar post caps!

Get yourself a solar post cap that will fit a 4x4 cedar post. (You can find great looking solar post caps and low voltage lighted post caps at http://www.MoonlightDecks.com ). Take an 8ft long 4x4 cedar post and cut it into 2 ft lengths. Next, get a 3 1/2 inch floor flange from the plumbing section in your local hardware store. In that same section, find a threaded pipe about 10 to 12 inches tall that will screw into your floor flange. These 2 pieces are going to be the "spike" that holds up your path light.

Next, take 4 wood screws and attach the flange to the bottom of one of the 2 ft sections of 4x4.

Next, screw in the 12" pipe for your spike. Then just hammer or push the post into the ground wherever you want to put the path light.

And finally, add your solar post cap. You can stain and seal the wood for a really elegant and lasting look, or you can paint it to any color you need.

Now don't you feel crafty? You get to buy cool things at the hardware store. You get to use rugged power tools. And you get to impress your friends and neighbors with your craftsmanship. And you get a really unique looking path light with NO WIRING!

So, here's what's inside a basic solar light:

Light source, such as LED lamp, that lasts approximately 10,000 hours

Rechargeable NiCad batteries that provide about 8 hours of light

Photocell, or built-in solar panel, that charges the batteries during daylight hours

Light sensor that detects when to turn the lamp on and off

Most hardware stores carry a decent selection of solar lights, but you can also spend hours online searching through the many selections available.

Steve Hodes Jr.