There is a growing debate over which type of landscape lighting is better:
Solar Lighting or Low Voltage Lighting.
This article highlights some of the pros and cons of both based on my own personal experience.
Low Voltage Lighting
This type of lighting is available in a variety of brightness levels and styles. The light emitted varies from fixture to fixture, but is usually very good. A transformer provides the electricity and can be controlled by an automatic timer. Low voltage lighting is shockless and safe to use around children and pets. It's also cost effective and the hardest thing about the installation is burying the wires.
Some of the benefits of low voltage lighting systems are listed below:
A professionally installed lighting system has been known to increase the value and resale of properties. Showcasing your house at night with low voltage lighting helps potential visitors find your property easier too.
Compared with line voltage, low voltage is easily installed, safe to operate, extremely economical, and casts beautiful light.
As a homeowner, you can enjoy more hours outside entertaining friends and family. Low voltage lighting can even be wired on your deck giving you great ambient light or even direct light for your grill.
Low voltage lighting systems are expandable so they can be adapted as properties are expanded and/or owners' needs change.
Proper lighting offers increased safety and security.
Some of the cons:
Bulbs burn out and need replacement.
Wiring can be damaged and need replacement.
Timers need to be reset with daylight savings time.
Solar Lighting
Solar lights use LEDs instead of traditional bulbs. LEDs last longer than any other light source, sometimes lasting as long as 10 years. This type of lighting requires no wiring and is the most energy-efficient lighting because it uses the sun's energy to recharge batteries. It costs nothing to operate and is easy to install. However, it should not be used to illuminate large areas brightly or for activities such as grilling and socializing.
Some of the benefits of Solar Lighting:
Lasts longer than other light sources. With LEDs there is nothing to break, rupture, shatter, leak, or contaminate.
Unlike typical conventional light sources, LEDs are not subject to sudden failure or burnout. There is no point in time at which the light source ceases to function; instead, LEDs gradually degrade in performance over time.
Reduced Maintenance Costs - Since LED based light sources last at least 10 times longer than a normal light source, there is no need to replace the light, reducing or even eliminating ongoing maintenance costs and periodic bulb replacement. This is especially nice if you have an area that is difficult to access to change bulbs.
Energy efficiency - You can rest assured knowing that you aren't contributing nearly as much to global warming or the energy crisis when you use Solar products.
There is no mercury in the light source. Eliminating Mercury from your lighting system will enable you to meet new and future increasingly stringent environmental regulations.
Some of the cons:
The solar panels that typical lighting fixtures use need to be small. This means they collect less energy from the sun to recharge the batteries.
Areas that are frequently shaded or get little sun geographically also affect the recharging capabilities of the fixture.
The lighting is typically dim and does not cover much ground. It also tends to look blue even though it says they use "Super Bright White" LEDS.
The dim lighting means you have to use more fixtures, which creates a sort of landing strip look, or if you are using deck light fixtures they end up looking like a bunch of bug zappers, (without the ability to zap the bugs).
No matter how long they say that LEDs last, it has been my experience that the solar panel usually becomes covered in dirt and the batteries don't last nearly as long as they are supposed to. You have to keep that solar panel clean or it won't work, this means more maintenance more often.
Fixtures are usually set to come on at dark and off at light. Not much control there.
Summary
I tend to prefer low voltage lighting for the simple fact that it is better quality light and can be controlled better with timers. LED landscape lights will probably always be dim. Solar lights just don't harvest much energy from the sun, so no matter how efficient their LEDs, they will never be really bright. In comparison to your cheapie solar lights, low voltage is likely to be a huge improvement, and the low-voltage installation process is not really that much harder than it would be for solar fixtures.
I say, low voltage is the way to go until the technology can improve solar panels? ability to capture energy and improve LEDs ability to output more light.
Article Tags: light, lighting, voltage
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Thaddeus Young of the Philadelphia 76ers lays the ball up against the Detroit Pistons in Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference quarter-finals at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
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Having a grandfather clock in the home as a child often means that a particular melody remains steadfast in your mind – a melody that carries over into adulthood when you consider making your own grandfather clock purchase so that such a melody can take its place in your own home. That, in a nutshell, is what makes grandfather clocks so unique and so very special; they are more than just clocks by which to tell the time. Grandfather clocks are a shared history for many of us – a touchstone to o
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A Featured double vanity sink ArticleWall hangings are perfect for home decorating
When first decorating with tapestries it can seem a little different. You are needed to determine if you walls are big or what sort of theme or colors should you use. Most tapestries come from the area of France and Belgium. If fact you can get custom ones made if you really want to. Tapestries have depicted the themes or subjects of their time and place. For the first 600 years or so, the weaving ateliers were entirely patronized by the wealthy nobility. They chose medieval themes ranging from nature and peasant life to war victories, consorts with the gods, hunting and fishing and various classical and religious subjects.
There are some factors you might want to take in to consideration when thinking about buying a wall hanging. A large wall d?cor item can dominate what is being seen. The impact is will we different depending on the size of your room. For example if you view a wall item from five feet away it will look different then from twenty feet away. As a general principle, tapestries tend to realize their fullest potential when displayed in larger sizes. So this is something that you definitely want to take into consideration when looking.
Now the important thing do you want an original one or a reproduction. Many, even most, old tapestries are in fragile, weak, condition. Some antiques are pieces cut from a larger original. Some have been substantially restored, sometimes unprofessionally. It can be difficult to find them in top condition. On the other hand , wall d?cor items that have been reproduced attempt to capture the natural beauty. The other options available in the market place include hand-woven, machine-woven or silk screened masterpieces. You can definitely find one that will catch your eye and add beauty to your existing home. About the Author
A successful publisher who understands your home decor needs thru Tapestries, and Wall hanging tips.
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Another Great venetian mirrors ArticleReef Tank Lighting
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Reef Tank lighting is one of the most important aspects of reef keeping and undoubtedly the most discussed debated and disagreed about too!
Proper lighting intensity is essential for the corals to carry out the process of photosynthesis, the process through which they create energy needed to survive and grow. Whatever the approach or equipment be, the ultimate goal of al lighting methods is to provide photoperiod, intensity and proper spectrum for your reef inhabitants to flourish and thrive easily.
The commonly used phrase, "watts per gallon," is a way of expressing the lighting necessary for a tank by the ratio of the power used to illuminate the tank divided by the tank size in gallons. Many hobbyists suggest that an adequate amount of light would vary between four watts and six watts per gallon for low light coral and as much as ten watts per gallon (or more) for light loving coral. While such a rule of thumb may initially sound like a good idea, it should only be used as a rough guideline and not as a strict rule. Obviously, such a loose rule is misleading, and aquarists need to consider more than just "watts per gallon." Specifically, they must take into account the height and overall size of the tank.
Lighting in the reef aquarist parlance is generally expresses in ?Watts per gallon?. A thumb rule suggested by many says that light should vary between four to six watts per gallon low light coral and about 10 watts for corals with high light intensity needs. But this is not a hardcore researched rule and should only be used as a rough estimate. There are other factors like the overall height and depth of the tank before making a choice.
A very innovative method of using a multi-light system with timers or controllers to vary the number of lights on at any given time is probably the most effective one. In this system usually one bulb remains on for an hour, then all the bulbs for 10 hours and then just one is left on for next hour. This method actually simulates the sun passing over. This is as close one can get to re create the natural lighting mechanism of the sun.
There is no doubt that steady advances made in the light manufacturing industry have made these equipments better and better and more efficient.
The solution for your reef tank can vary in price from inexpensive to very expensive. What suits you depends upon the kind of life you want in your tank.
Two primary lighting equipments available in the market and widely used are Fluorescents and Metal Halides (MH).
There are several variants of Fluorescents. These are the least expensive or rather value for money choice and are suitable for practically all light choices. These are relatively cool (literally speaking, not metaphorically!). And generally they last for many months before requiring replacement. Examples of different fluorescents are: Normal Output (NO), High Output (HO), very High Output (VHO), Power Compacts (PC) and T5?s.
Among all the variants in fluorescents you can call Power Compacts a next generation fluorescent bulb. They have a modern twin tube design, basically a fluorescent tube that is bent in half. Therefore much greater light intensity is produced than other standard fluorescent variants. The fluorescent tubes are available from 10 to 130 watts and can last up to a year to two.
You should opt for a fluorescent if your reef tank is not very deep. There are some corals like SPS corals for which the light intensity of fluorescent is not enough. So keep these points in mind while thinking of a fluorescent.
The other popular option is the Metal Halides. There are different parameters to be considered here too. They are the most intense of all available lighting systems. If you have a tank which is deeper than 20 inches, this is what you may consider to buy, as halides have greater capacity to penetrate to depths beyond 20 inches. Apart from the utility they beautify your tank also by producing sparkling glitter lines.
About the Author:
So if you want to have a successful reef, know your tank and corals well and then make an informed choice. Only then ?Let there be Light?! When Looking to buy live coral there is only one source online: Buy Live Coral Article Tags: light, tank, lighting
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A Featured custom vanities ArticleWhen Accents Attack - Overcoming Communication Problems
This is a situation we?ve all run into at one time or another, be it at work, the mall, or any virtually any other setting: We have a hard time understanding someone because of their accent. While they may be speaking perfectly fluent English, it can be really difficult to understand someone with a thick accent. While it may only cost you an extra pair of socks at the mall, or make you return your dinner because you got the wrong dish, at the office the cost of such a misunderstanding can be much greater. The problem is some people don?t want to ask for clarification from someone if they can?t understand them, because they think it?s rude. This leaves them in a self-made catch-22 situation: If they don?t ask, then whatever they are working on with that person probably won?t be done right, but if they do ask they feel they?re going to offend them. The solution to this can be simple: Just ask. It?s been my experience that if you really are having a hard time understanding someone because of their accent, it?s much better to ask for clarification then to just interpret the best you can. Why? Because it?s better that you ask and the work gets done right than if you don?t? ask and the work ends up wrong. Now, you don?t need to be rude about it and say ?What the hell are you saying????, but a polite ?Excuse me, could you go over that last part again?? or something to that effect will do the trick. Will some people get offended? Probably, but as long as you?re not asking every three seconds for them to repeat themselves, 99% of the time they should be ok with it. This leads us into another situation: What do you do if you constantly can?t understand someone? I haven?t run into this situation too many times, as I?ve found that when you work with someone for a while, you generally learn to interpret their accent better. However, one way to mitigate this problem is to have everything in writing. Through email, meeting minutes, letters, whatever you can get your hands on, try and get their thoughts in writing. It should be much easier to read what they are trying to say instead of trying to guess at it. Once again, don?t just say ?I can?t understand anything your saying? and throw a notepad at them. Instead, try something like ?Could you send me an email with that??. It?s not unusual to request an email even if you can understand someone, as you may want to pass it on to other people or look at it later, so this shouldn?t be a problem. Email is a widely used tool nowadays anyway, so people are pretty used to sending much of their communication through it. At the end of the day, your decision will come down to this: Do you want to risk making a mistake on what you?re working on because you feel uncomfortable asking for clarification? Only you can make that decision, just make sure you given it sufficient thought before you make it. At Workplace Life, I specialize in making the life of the everyday business professional easier. For free tutorials on common Microsoft Office applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel, career management advice, office life advice, funny office stories, and professional email tips visit http://www.workplacelife.com. | |
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The Best demilune chests Articles on WineLighting At Your Wedding Reception - More than Discoballs and Flashing Colored Lights
Gone are the days of police beacons, strobe lights and flashing colored light bulbs. Currently there are many high tech options for lighting your wedding reception. Is your reception under a tent? The ceiling of the tent works wonderfully with theatrical style lighting, such as subtle color changes, flowing water patterns, or a custom gobo displaying images of constellations and a delicate blue tint onto the ceiling. Want more of a club feel? Enter the era of high-tech club style lighting, with fast moving, color changing lights, and lights that create spinning patterns all over the dance floor and walls. Or, do you simply want a shifting color wash on the walls or columns in your banquet facility? A professional DJ can create this type of soft atmosphere within your facility. From the simple to the most complex lighting, a lighting professional or Disc Jockey has the resources to create the perfect visual atmosphere at your event - whether big or small. They have spot lights, lasers, UV black lights, moving mirror effects, moonflower effects and can even project the night sky onto the ceiling if you wish. Lighting at an event is something people don't take into consideration. With lighting, you can do so much in conjunction with the music. They could turn the room pink as the two of you come down the stairs for introductions. They could follow you as you enter with a soft white spot light. They could flood the room with moving lights of various shapes and colors as your dance floor fills to capacity. The difference between a room with lighting versus one without it is like the difference between eating in a cafeteria under glaring white lights and dining in an upscale lounge with soft romantic mood lighting. The ambiance you create with lighting can be wonderful. You can turn a cavernous white tent into a warm and welcoming place. We can make every effort to match fixtures, wiring and cords to the surrounding areas so they do not clash with your event. These are just some of the possibilities when you consider lighting your event. Please talk with your DJ/MC or Lighting Specialist and see what we can do for you to create a visual experience at your wedding. Rob Alberti
owner of After Hours DJ Service (www.afterhoursdj.net) and proud member of The DJ Network (www.thedjnetwork.com) has been a wedding entertainment specialist for over 20 years in the New England area. | |
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