Understanding the difference between outdoor line voltage, low voltage, solar and LED lighting can be confounding. Customers will contact us stumped between the various types of outdoor lighting available. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of San Antonio North is here to help you figure out the differences with ease.
Do you know the difference in line voltage, low voltage, solar and led outdoor lighting?
Line Voltage Lighting is Not for the Average Homeowner
Line voltage, standard voltage or high voltage are simply different names for line voltage. This genre of lighting is often used for outdoor security lighting, parking lots or large spotlights that have to illuminate very large areas of property. This old school type of power isn’t cheap to run, and the bulbs can be big and pricey. It’s getting harder to find replacements because there are much better lighting options which are more cost-effective. Here at Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, we replace old fashioned outdoor line voltage lighting frequently to money-saving LED.
Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting is Better than Line Voltage
Low voltage outdoor lighting delivers more energy efficiency than line voltage because it utilizes a transformer to step down the power consumption. Instead of 120v, low voltage uses 12-24v of power lighting. Bulbs and fixtures are cheaper to purchase; and since you are dealing with lower power. When it comes to outdoor lighting, you can only use as many fixtures as equal the total wattage offered by your transformer. So, there are limitations even with low voltage outdoor lighting. The danger of shock is also reduced significantly. Unfortunately, these bulbs don’t last very long and have to be replaced frequently.
Contact us today to learn more about retrofitting your low voltage outdoor lighting system to LED
At Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of San Antonio North, clients often ask us to retrofit existing low voltage lighting to LED to gain even more energy proficiency. We can take these fixtures, and in most circumstances, convert them to LED so you get maximum efficiency without having to scrap your existing system – saving time and money.
Solar Outdoor Lighting Has Limitations
Solar outdoor lighting has some merit due to the fact that it’s inexpensive to run by harnessing the sun’s rays. Unfortunately, if you have even one rainy or cloudy day, your solar lights may not go on at all, so it’s quite unreliable. Solar outdoor lighting is dependent on rechargeable batteries that have to be replaced yearly, or more often, and can be expensive. Solar lighting is best used in decorative elements; such as solar hanging bird ornaments or pool tiki torches that just offer an ornamental touch to your garden.
You wouldn’t want to rely on solar outdoor lighting solely as a form of outdoor landscape lighting because of the fact that it may not consistently go on when you need it to, and it only stays on for a few hours in an evening.
Light produced from a typical solar fixture is minimal, and isn’t strong enough to reach into the roofline of your home from ground level, for example. You can’t illuminate large areas of lawn, and you certainly wouldn’t want to depend on it for security lighting.
LED Outdoor Lighting is King!
LED outdoor lighting is perfect for residential and commercial outdoor lighting installations
When it comes to outdoor residential and commercial lighting, we can’t think of a single reason NOT to use LED’s. You get maximum efficiency with the greatest light output with a bulb that can last up to 50,000+ hours! LED outdoor lighting is safe, produces no heat and LED fixtures have come way down in price in recent years. The sheer variety of styles of fixtures and the effects they can produce at both a short and long distance is unparalleled.
The beauty of LED outdoor lighting is that it is very easy to control the beam of light to produce a desired effect. Changing colors is super simple too! Even a 6 watt LED bulb uses only a fraction of energy of a halogen to get the same effect. Plus, you can install many more fixtures on a single transformer, too. You save a lot of money each month with LED’s, and you get beautifully consistent lighting with few headaches.
Let Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of San Antonio North help you clear the confusion about installing outdoor lighting. Contact us today for a free consultation and evening demonstration.
