August 11th, 2009
Solar garden lights have become one of the biggest hits of the new green movement. Wherever I go, whatever kind of neighborhood I am walking through, I notice that more and more homeowners have installed these along their front walkways and through their entire landscaping in some cases. I think it is safe to say that they will definitely be around for a long time.
What are the advantages of this new technology? Well, solar garden lights truly have many perks which they offer, but let’s focus on the main ones, obvious as they may be. First of all, they do not sap any source of energy or electricity. They get all they need direct from the sun and thus require no annoying electrical cords. This is a definite plus for all those of us who have ever been planting new flowers or digging up weeds and have accidentally gouged a wire in two! So right there you’re getting minimal obtrusiveness and energy bill savings. If you like things simple then solar landscape lighting is definitely the way to go.
Another benefit is a more subtle one. This involves the fact that you are basically more in line with nature when you use solar powered appliances. Many people are talking about “going green” but how many are actually implementing these new technologies. Now, whatever you think about the green movement is sort of secondary to the nice feeling you get when you know you are implementing more natural design ideas outside your very own home.
One thing I like to caution people on is that you have to be a little careful not to go too cheap when it comes to installing solar garden lights outside your house. The technology has advanced a lot but there have been many who have gotten burned by trying to be too cheap. You may wind up having to take your lights right back to the store if you buy the cheapest ones. At this level, you might not even get what you pay for. So my point is just that it pays to spend just a little bit extra so that you get lighting that will hold up over time.
The bottom line with solar garden lights is that they are definitely here to stay. On the one hand they are not even very expensive to begin with, and on the other you can feel confident that they will not be putting any kind of a damper on your electricity bill, and Lord knows we all need a little savings wherever we can find it these days.
Tags: garden lights, green movement, landscaping, lighting, solar garden lights, solar landscape lighting, solar powered appliances, sun
Posted in The Basics | No Comments »
August 3rd, 2009
I have touched on buying cheap solar garden lights in another article, but we will go more into depth on them here. My basic premise, based on experience and the testimonials of people I know, is that when it comes to turning your garden “solar”, you just have to be a little careful to not get the absolute cheapest lights. I have heard time and time again from people who shopped at Home Depot or Lowe’s and in an effort to save money they bought literally the cheapest lights on the shelf. This is a big mistake. You have to come up at least one price point if you are going to get a quality product that will stick it out for the long term. Other than that I have no problem with going cheap here. I mean, the whole idea is (in part) to save money by having your garden lights power themselves, so I completely understand this tendency on the front end.
In a broader context, we can see that solar garden lights have become quite popular over the past couple of years. It’s really a great development. Where once this was viewed as a sort of fringe activity that was very expensive, now it is very widespread. Just about any neighborhood you walk through these days is bound to have at least a couple houses already lighting their landscaping through solar powered lights.
The overall effect of this popularity is to bring prices down; in some cases to what is justifiably called “cheap”. As long as you stay away from the absolute bottom of the barrel you’ll be sure to do well in reconfiguring your outdoor design in this manner. Basically, solar garden light manufacturers can now benefit from economies of scale which allow them to charge a lower price to you and me, the consumers. They are also benefitting from a rapidly evolving technology which is becoming more and more efficient every six months or so. Just like computers, solar energy is constantly both becoming better and becoming cheaper.
So I know I am repeating myself here but as long as you avoid the temptation to buy the cheapest lights, you will probably be satisfied with what solar garden lights can do to the look and feel of both your landscape and your wallet (via the energy bill). There is also a great diversity of style and color available now, so you don’t have to be confined to some stale looking solar panel-ish configuration.
Tags: cheap solar lights, home depot, landscapes, lowe's, outdoor design, solar energy, solar garden lights, solar garden lights manufacturer, solar panel-ish configuration
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
July 29th, 2009
Solar garden lights have become one of the biggest hits of the new green movement. Wherever I go, whatever kind of neighborhood I am walking through, I notice that more and more homeowners have installed these along their front walkways and through their entire landscaping in some cases. I think it is safe to say that they will definitely be around for a long time.
What are the advantages of this new technology? Well, solar garden lights truly have many perks which they offer, but let’s focus on the main ones, obvious as they may be. First of all, they do not sap any source of energy or electricity. They get all they need direct from the sun and thus require no annoying electrical cords. This is a definite plus for all those of us who have ever been planting new flowers or digging up weeds and have accidentally gouged a wire in two! So right there you’re getting minimal obtrusiveness and energy bill savings. If you like things simple then solar landscape lighting is definitely the way to go.
Another benefit is a more subtle one. This involves the fact that you are basically more in line with nature when you use solar powered appliances. Many people are talking about “going green” but how many are actually implementing these new technologies. Now, whatever you think about the green movement is sort of secondary to the nice feeling you get when you know you are implementing more natural design ideas outside your very own home.
One thing I like to caution people on is that you have to be a little careful not to go too cheap when it comes to installing solar garden lights outside your house. The technology has advanced a lot but there have been many who have gotten burned by trying to be too cheap. You may wind up having to take your lights right back to the store if you buy the cheapest ones. At this level, you might not even get what you pay for. So my point is just that it pays to spend just a little bit extra so that you get lighting that will hold up over time.
The bottom line with solar garden lights is that they are definitely here to stay. On the one hand they are not even very expensive to begin with, and on the other you can feel confident that they will not be putting any kind of a damper on your electricity bill, and Lord knows we all need a little savings wherever we can find it these days.
Tags: electrial cords, going green, installing solar garden lights, landscape lighting, solar garden lights, solar power, solar powered appliances
Posted in Uncategorized, solar garden lights | No Comments »