Garden lamps and garden lighting

Harmony in landscape design cannot be achieved without the help of light: properly placed garden lamps will secure the garden space and enhance its natural beauty. Two main types of lighting can be used in garden lighting design. Bright directional light creates the main light, and soft light diffuses the light additionally, carrying a decorative function. There are inexpensive garden lamps on the market that perfectly illuminate the surrounding landscape and bring a decorative element to it.

Both classic and modern private gardens and public places use garden lighting for illumination:

By combining the main light and accent light, you can achieve an overall picture of the space, drawing attention to the most successful and original solutions and obscuring the least attractive corners in the garden.

As in any other form, in the field of landscape lighting there are a number of subtleties and rules that facilitate the process of selecting and designing a finished outdoor lighting system.

Outdoor lighting, and safety

Garden lights should have reliable grounding. This requirement is mandatory for garden lamps made of metal (or other conductive material). In the case of lamps made of plastic, which is an insulator, grounding is not necessary, since such an outdoor luminaire housing does not conduct electricity.

For safety reasons, it is also worth considering the use of low-voltage lamps. It is a safe solution even in case of damage to the luminaire itself or to the cable supplying it. We can use the low-voltage power supply for dedicated low-voltage lighting or any garden lamp with a replaceable light source. Garden lighting with a replaceable light source allows us to use a low-voltage bulb (preferably LED), but requires a power supply at the beginning of installation. When designing low-voltage garden lighting, it is necessary to take into account voltage drops in the case of a long power cable (for lengths of more than several tens of meters) and solve this problem accordingly, such as. Through the use of a voltage-controlled power supply, the use of alternating current (less voltage drop), the use of an inverter.

Security features. Outdoor installation allows only dustproof and waterproof luminaire models. The body of the garden lamp should be airtight and made of corrosion-resistant materials. The watertightness of a garden lamp is indicated by its IP rating. We assume that LED garden lamps, as well as ordinary lamps, are safe for outdoor use with a protection level of at least IP44. These lamps are not airtight, but they shield electrical components from rain and weather, and their design allows water to drain through gravity.

Ideally, the laying of cables to power the outdoor lighting system should be done even at the stage of construction work, then there is no risk of damaging green areas. In practice, designing ahead is often impossible for several reasons, but there is still no absolute need to dig up your favorite lawn. A significant portion of the market has been taken up by LED garden lights powered by solar cells.

Garden lighting - choosing the right light source.

To prevent the garden from being transformed into a stadium covered with vegetation, prefer lamps with soft diffused light. For decorative lighting in the garden or at home, LED bulbs of 2W to 5W are enough. The use of a more powerful light source will cause a glare effect and looking at a garden lamp with a higher-powered source used will be a difficult experience for the eyes.

The situation is different in the case of garden lanterns that are mounted high, where their purpose is to illuminate what is underneath them, i.e.: garden, path, driveway, road, park. Tall standing lamps are equipped with LED light sources from 9W upwards, up to 50W or even 150W for street lighting.

Modern garden lights - replaceable or integrated LED light source?

Modern garden lamps are available in two variants:

Contrary to appearances, the latter solution has a lot of advantages, because, admittedly, it means that you have to choose and purchase the appropriate light source yourself from among a wide range of products (which Lunares store staff will be happy to help you with), but it also means that it is an interchangeable light source. The interchangeability of the light source is of inestimable value when such a light source becomes damaged and there is a need to replace it. Thanks to the interchangeability of the light source, you simply need to replace the bulb and the garden lamp is fixed and back to light. With integrated LED light sources, it is often necessary to replace the entire lamp in case of failure.

Modern outdoor lamps are often offered with integrated LED light sources. Which also has a number of advantages: the light source is optimally selected for the lamp so that the responsibility for the selection of the bulb is removed from the customer. The use of integrated sources allows manufacturers to offer products with any contoured shape of the luminous element itself, so they can offer more fine garden lighting. Here it is worth paying attention to the aspect of quality and whether the offered lighting has the possibility of replacing the bulb provided by the manufacturer, as well as the warranty period, because if the non-replaceable light source is damaged, we have to replace the entire garden lamps.

Catalogs of online stores, have in their offer thousands of products to design your garden and home lighting. Outdoor lighting is divided into several basic types:

Garden lanterns - tall standing lamps

They can be either generally in the form of classic wrought iron lanterns, or miniature ones. The height and power of the lamp varies depending on the function of the installation site. Usually lamps of this type are installed to illuminate the main garden paths and garden gates.

Light posts for the garden

Allow you to illuminate and mark a path or walkway in the garden or around the house. They define the direction of movement and can be used to highlight topographical features. Most often, garden lamps are made in the form of light columns or posts and installed directly into the ground. Thanks to their not-too-high height and downward pointing light, they do not blind the observer, while fulfilling the role of a striking decoration that helps give expression to the style of your garden.

Outdoor wall lamps

Hanging on the house or fence, they allow you to illuminate the area around you, or illuminate the facade of the house or fence. Considerable popularity among architects have outdoor wall sconces with a narrow angle of light distribution, because such allows to achieve characteristic striking columns of light on the building.

Garden recessed lighting

Recessed outdoor lamps are recessed into the ground or surface: paving stones, paving slabs or asphalt. You can use them for utilitarian purposes of marking a road or path, as well as illuminating buildings or plants of your garden. Recessed garden lamp can be installed in the covering of paved paths, curbs, steps of stairs. These lamps should be fully waterproof, with an IP67 rating. It is also important to know the pressure to which they can be subjected, in particular, that they can be overrun lamps, on which we can drive a car. There are also recessed lamps designed to be placed in a pool or pond to illuminate the water.

Garden pendant lamps

Like ordinary wall lamps, single or in complex compositions: light garlands. Hanging garden lamp is useful for illuminating gazebos and open verandas. Hanging garden lights can be mounted on walls, columns, beams and even tree branches.

Floating lights. A spectacular way to highlight a decorative pond or fountain. Manufacturers offer closed high-tech lamps made in the form of frosted and transparent balls, as well as elegant models imitating water lilies and lotus flowers.

Current trends in landscape design call for several garden lamps at the same time, and even emphasize the combination of several types of lamps at the same time, so that the final result looks like a real work of art.