Taking pride in your lawn is something that every house owner likes doing. We go to great lengths to to ensure that you get to see the great features of this environment and what it has to offer. One of the greatest ways you may do this is to add outdoor deck lights. They could transform the area into a peaceful setting for the pleasure of you and your friends.

When you decide that deck lights are something that you would like to include in your patio or deck area then you will have to choose which style you would like to go with. There are plenty of different brands and materials which you could use and each one has their own unique features.

The first thing to take into account is what style you would like to create. You can either decide the material to be used or you may even mix different ones together to create your own unique setup. Some of the types which you could choose from are copper, bronze, aluminum and even some wood materials. The great thing about the options are that you can use them to blend into the surroundings or they could stand out to create a focal point for attention.

Another area which will require consideration is where you would like the illumination to arise from. Since the purpose of these accessories is to accent a region naturally without it looking artificial, you want to place the fixtures accordingly and bring the proper ambiance simultaneously. Having the right size bulbs in each lamp, believe it or not, is a key component to design which lots of individuals overlook. If a fixture is giving off too much brightness then it takes away from the elegance of the piece and draws attention away from the other fixtures as well.

These lines of outdoor deck lights are inexpensive when you consider what they could do to an area. But prior to buying anything you must talk to an illumination specialist at some of the retailers so that they can convey your interests with the most practical purchases. They are going to ensure that you make use of each fixture and place them properly.

outdoor deck lights will dramatically increase the value of your house. Many people come to view houses once they finish work when it is night time if they can see your deck and yard they are more likely to love it and put an offer in.


Low Energy lighting is becoming ever more popular. Current UK Building Regulations demand that approximately 30% of lighting in new developments is now dedicated low energy, and in existing housing stock the use of high wattage standard incandescent lamps is being phased out. But, amidst mounting pressure from the government to move from standard light bulbs to energy saving alternatives, very few householders seem to understand how low energy lighting differs from conventional lighting systems? The key to understanding the difference lies in knowing how conventional light bulbs work.

The correct term for the type of conventional light bulb that we all recognise is a tungsten, or incandescent bulb. They use a tiny filament made of tungsten, which when heated gives off a bright light. However, the problem with these bulbs is that they are not energy efficient, as a lot of energy is required to heat the filament to the level required to give off the light. Tungsten bulbs come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, with a number of different caps. The standard life of a tungsten lamp is around one thousand hours. The most common wattage is 60 Watts.

Another existing style of bulb is the halogen. Halogen lamps have very small filaments filled with halogen gas. They run at extremely high temperatures. They are most suited to small, bright or decorative fittings. Halogen lamps are generally slightly more efficient than tungsten bulbs, and the standard life of a halogen bulb is around twice as long at an average of two thousand hours. Halogen bulbs can be spit into two types – those that run off of 240v mains voltage, and low (12v) voltage. The term low voltage should not be confused with low energy. Low voltage lamps require a transformer to reduce the voltage. Halogen lamps do get very hot and they should never be handled until they have cooled fully.

Low energy lamps are also known as fluorescent lamps. The fluorescent lamp is actually a low-pressure gas discharge which is held in a cylindrical shaped tube. This tube is covered with a phosphor coating. As the gas discharges, it produces ultra-violet radiation that is converted into visible light by the phosphor coating. Early fluorescent lamps suffered from a flickering effect and indeed a buzzing noise that was produced, but advances in technology have all but eliminated these problems by using high-frequency electronic ballasts. Low energy lamps can last up to 8000 hours, and offer major savings in energy consumption.

Broadly speaking, one Watt of a low energy lamp is equivalent to 5 Watts in a standard tungsten incandescent. Therefore a low energy lamp rated at 15W is equivalent to a 75W traditional bulb. Early low energy fittings had a reputation for taking some time to reach their full brightness from switching on, but this lag has now been reduced to a couple of seconds. One drawback with low energy fittings that remains however is that very few lamps work with dimmer switches.

Another factor that should be considered is that any broken low energy lamps should be double wrapped in plastic bags and carefully disposed of, as they do contain very small amounts of mercury (which is not at all dangerous when contained within the bulb). The bulbs should be disposed of responsibly and can either be collected in a normal household waste bin or can be recycled at the local council’s Household Waste and Recycling Centre or at collection points provided by some light bulb retailers.

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Many of the articles we have all read in the press are based on older technologies and don’t reflect the current market for low energy light bulbs.  Earlier this year the phase out of general purpose household bulbs began.  The first to go was the good old General purpose household bulb, 100w/150w bulbs that have lit more rooms throughout the years than any bulb on the market. There was mass hysteria, people bulk buying 100w lamps to ensure there home lighting wasn’t affected in anyway. Little old ladies buying 20 bulbs to last their lifetime, sad but true.  The general public were not happy, “It doesn’t give the same light”, “It flickers”, “I have to wait 10 minutes for it to come on”.

Because of the phase out proposals a selection of new lamps became available they generally consist of the following:

Compact Fluorescent

These energy efficient lamps are an excellent choice for table lamps and ceiling pendants where the lamp is not visible.  The lamps quickly get to their maximum output.  Many are designed to closely mirror the size of a standard general purpose lamp.

When using compact fluorescent lamps in place of conventional lamps in your home lighting the following table is a guide to the equivalent wattages:

Ordinary Bulbs

Energy Saving Equivalent

25w

6w

40w

8-11w

60w

13-18w

100w

20-25w

Retro Fit Low Energy

This type of lamp is available to suit most home lighting common lamp holders (BC, ES, SES, and GU10).  It is still a fluorescent lamp but the control gear is housed inside of the lamp.  They tend to be more aesthetically pleasing to the eye and are available in the more common shapes, candle, golf ball and gls and varying wattages.  A guide for equivalent wattages is below:

Ordinary Bulbs

Retro Fit Lamp

25w

5-7w

40w

8-10w

60w

11-14w

75w

15-17w

100w

18-22w

150w

23-27w

Energy Savers

These lamps are halogen versions of the popular home lighting lamps.  Primarily the ones affected by the phase out.  The lamps are clear, and contain a halogen lamp instead of the normal tungsten filament.  They give the same light output as the lamps they are replacing but use less power.  It generally represents a saving of approximately 30%, although not as efficient as the compact fluorescent lamps or retro fit lamps it is still a substantial saving and of course it has other benefits.  These lamps will look fantastic in a crystal chandelier as the halogen aspect will make the crystal sparkle.  Versions of these lamps are already available and are sufficiently efficiency rated to survive the phase out until at least 2012.

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If you were offered an investment with a guaranteed return of 900% a year or 10,000% over its lifetime, with no tax to pay, and which had a positive impact on the world, you would snap it up, right? Well this is the sort of return you can get by installing low energy lighting inside and outside your home.

Letâ??s look at some of the figures. Energy saving bulbs now cost from around £1 each. If you replace a bulb that you use for around 3 hours a night, then you save about £9 a year on your annual electricity bill. Because they last much longer, according to the Energy Saving Trust each low energy light bulb can save you up to £100 in electricity bills over its lifetime. If you add up all the light bulbs and fittings in your house, this adds up a surprisingly large saving.

Plus the benefits arenâ??t only financial. Something as simple as using low energy bulbs can have a big impact on your personal contribution to Climate Change, by reducing the carbon dioxide emissions you are responsible for. Each bulb on its own will save up to half a tonne over its lifetime. If you replace 10 old-style bulbs in your house that you use for 2 hours a day with low energy bulbs, you will save around a quarter tonne of carbon dioxide each year.

Finally, low energy light bulbs save you time and effort. Because they last around 10 times longer than normal bulbs, when you switch to low energy bulbs you wonâ??t have to get the ladder out so often to replace bulbs that have blown.

So why isnâ??t everyone making the change to low energy bulbs? Sadly too many of us are creatures of habit, and just carry on buying the same bad bulbs we always have. But now with the wide range on offer, and recent developments which have made low energy bulbs perform just as well as old-style bulbs, it makes sense to change all your bulbs straight away.

It does take a little effort to make the switch at first. First you have to go round your house and write down a list of the bulbs you currently use â?? including wattage (60w, 100w etc.), type of fixture (screw, bayonet etc), size and colour (e.g. are they toned?)

Next you have to work out the wattage for a low energy bulb that matches the wattage of your current bulbs (for example a 20 watt low energy bulb gives off the same light as a 100 watt old-style bulb). You can find simple tables that can help you do this on the Internet at sites like downwithco2.com.

Once you have worked out the bulbs you need to buy, you can then go shopping. There are many retailers of low energy bulbs on the Internet, or now they are commonly available in supermarkets or hardware stores.

Plus you can also save a lot of money by installing more energy efficient lighting outdoors. Just a few outdoor lights left on each night can double your household lighting bill and your greenhouse gas emissions. The best solution is to fit daylight and movement sensors so outdoor lights switch on when theyâ??re needed, but donâ??t waste electricity. This also improves your homeâ??s security, as you can tell when someone is approaching the house.

For outdoor lights that must stay on for long periods, use energy efficient, compact fluorescent or LED lamps and choose the lowest wattage lamp that gives enough light. In the garden, you can now buy solar powered garden lights that use no mains electricity and so produce no emissions when used. Plus you donâ??t need to wire up your garden to get lighting.

So now you have seen all the benefits of low energy lighting, it really does make sense to make the switch as soon as you can.

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