Light up the Outdoors without Raising your Electric Bill

With spring right around the corner most people will be spending time outdoors either working on or enjoying their backyards. Yes the sun may set late, but sometimes you want to stay longer outside despite the dark, which is where outdoor lighting comes in to play.

You could extend the electric wiring from the house (with the help of an electrician) and set up outdoor electric lighting. This could be in the form of lamps, spot lights or other forms of ambient or general lighting. Disadvantages to this is option are 1. the cost of the electric extension, and 2. the the added electric usage costs. While the latter may not be a substantial cost with the use of energy efficient bulbs or by limiting the time spent outdoors with the lights on, it is an added cost nonetheless. An advantage to electric outdoor lighting is that there are generally more lighting options and some types of lights are known to function better using electricity, for instance security lights and other high wattage lighting.

An alternative to electric outdoor lighting is outdoor solar lighting. Perhaps the article title "Light up the Outdoors .." may be overstating it a bit since when your think of outdoor solar lighting, you typically think more of ambient lighting. Outdoor solar lights have the cost advantage both in ease of deployment and cost of operation since no electricity is used. Disadvantages of outdoor solar lighting are 1. the light emitted is not as bright, 2. Light brightness decreases overtime as the lamp batteries degrade, 3. Cloud cover can affect the amount of solar energy captured for lighting.

If you are looking to create mood lighting in your backyard and want to do so without the added costs of electric installation and usage, consider going with solar outdoor lights. Outdoor solar lamps are affordable and available at several major retailers. You could still maintain a single electric spot light for security, however with advances in solar and battery technology solar spotlights are proving to be just as effective.