Outdoor string lights are not a Christmas-only type of light. These are landscaping options that can increase the attractiveness and value of a home. The judicious location of lights along pathways can make them more elegant and safe. Lighting can illuminate gardens and trees and make the back yard brighter and more decorative. Some homeowners use these lights to outline yards, entertaining areas of the patio and provide extra lighting around darker corners of the house. The proper use of lighting adds not only beauty, but also safety of your home. Homeowners are discovering that there are multiple kinds of these string lights that can help them design particularly effective lighting results for the home.
String lights do not require outlets or messy wiring in many cases. There are lighting systems that run on batteries or even solar power, making them totally independent. Of course, if outlets and electrical wiring is available, they can be connected to the home's electrical system. Solar lights not only help the environment, they can save considerably on the electric bill and are safe around pools, where electric current is a hazard. The improved solar technology has created solar outdoor string lighting that can stay lit all night long. Outdoor patio string lights could be twinkling, decorative lights, perfect for areas outside where you like to entertain. These twinkling lights made with incandescent bulbs are a particularly festive way to light up a back yard area. If you need steadier lighting, string lighting can usually be purchased or adjusted to achieve that effect. Lighting can be multi-colored and create various shapes and amounts of lighting. If electric lighting is used, keep in mind that incandescent bulbs left to burn all night will burn through a lot of energy.
LED outdoor string lights are much more efficient and environmentally friendly. The energy used is minimal compared to the incandescent bulbs. String lighting of LED lights are available and, once strung, can last up to 10 years without having to replace a bulb, a huge convenience and advantage. These bulbs are also cooler, so will not generate heat during the summer evenings and also do not present a fire danger if the bulbs come in contact with anything flammable. They also generate more light and come in more colors that most other bulbs. These can be used semi-permanently to light up a patio area or for special lighting needs such as extra lighting for trick-or-treaters during Halloween, parties or evening barbecues on the Fourth of July.
To save energy, makers have designed solar string lighting that uses no electricity. The bulbs can be either LED or incandescent. A solar panel absorbs and stores the sun's energy during the day, converting it into electricity. The lights usually have a light sensor that switches the lights on when the daylight dims at dusk and turns them off as soon as morning daylight arrives. One clever effect some homeowners create since the solar strings of light require no connections is to use them to outline the edges of patio umbrellas, creating a striking, decorative effect that also adds valuable lighting to the patio area without adding to the electric bill.
Of course, hanging outdoor patio string lights is always popular during the Christmas holiday season. They can decorate the garden area for holiday get-togethers with multi-colored, twinkling lights, or the entire front of the house to announce the holiday spirit of the home's inhabitants. Nothing creates that holiday feeling like the season's colors lit up in bright lights flashing and brightening up all around them. Using the strings of light to outline the fence perimeter, to add more glow and allow plants and trees to be more visible and participate in the holiday mood are other options. One particularly wonderful way to use these lights is to outline a gazebo if there is one in the yard. The gazebo then is well-lighted and inviting all evening long. The entire house and yard are bathed in additional lighting that creates a cheery atmosphere and discourages the type of prowlers who prefer to work in the shadows and the dark.