LED Landscape Lighting 101
Landscape lighting for your home is often overlooked despite the fact that there are many advantages to installing landscape lights. Outdoor landscaping lights increase your home's curb appeal and lower the risk of break-ins with improved security lighting. Also, having a brightly lit landscape makes your space more accessible in darker paths or areas of your yard. For these reasons and more, we recommend adding lighting around your home.
Benefits of LEDs in Residential Landscape Lighting
There are many advantages to choosing LEDs over fluorescent, incandescent, or halogen lights. LEDs have a longer lifetime and higher energy efficiency than traditional bulbs. Therefore, they allow you to save money by reducing the need for replacement bulbs and lowering your energy consumption.
Integrated LED lights come with the LED chip directly installed in the fixture, so you don’t have to find and insert compatible bulbs yourself. Integrated fixtures require no maintenance and have excellent performance. Or, swap your existing fluorescent bulbs for LED bulbs to keep your current light fixtures.
For areas that see high numbers of insects at night, LED landscaping lights can be a solution to decreasing the number of bugs swarming your light source. Since LEDs produce less UV light and heat (both elements that many bugs are attracted to), LED bulbs are less visible to bugs and therefore attract fewer insects.
Understanding the Challenges of Outdoor Landscaping Lights
Before you purchase outdoor lighting, create a landscape lighting design so you can choose light fixtures and choose LED bulbs with the suggested IP rating for their intended use. The first digit on the IP rating refers to how it is rated for solids, such as dust, dirt, or tools. The second digit refers to how it is rated for liquids, such as water droplets or full submersion. Read our article on IP and UL ratings to figure out which IP rating you need for your landscape fixtures.
To ensure your lights are durable and will last in various outdoor environments, we test all our lights in our in-house test lab to ensure they withstand a variety of different conditions. Landscape lights from Super Bright LEDs come with a warranty. When you shop with us, you can rest assured that you will buy quality, long-lasting products. Browse our high-quality, tried-and-tested products here.
Top Landscape Products
Getting the Desired Effect From Your LED Landscape Lights
Different light features will have different effects on your landscape. Understanding the various attributes of your outdoor landscaping lights will help you determine which options are best for you and your landscape lighting design.
Beam Angles
Use different light types to create beam angles that fit your lighting design. Spot lights emit a beam angle of up to 30° for highlighting narrower points of interest. Landscape flood lights have a beam angle of 40°-120° which lights a wide area using only a single light. Certain beam angles are best suited for creating different lighting effects.
RBG Colors
If you want the ability to display different colors, choose an integrated fixture with RGB colors or select an RGB LED landscape bulb to install in your LED-ready fixture. When paired with a smart device, this will allow you to easily change the color display of your landscape lights.
Color Temperature
Warm white light is good for ambient outdoor lighting and accent lighting, making your landscape feel inviting and relaxing. Cooler white light is best for security lighting since it is brighter and easier to see. If you know which CCT you need, select a bulb or light fixture with the temperature that is needed. For customizable CCT options, choose fixtures with selectable or tunable CCTs which will allow you to change between temperatures with ease.
Brightness
Select outdoor landscaping lights with a brightness that suits your design. Lights with a higher lumen value work best for security purposes or full, bold light designs. Lights with a lower lumen value work best for accent lighting and creating the ideal lighting design for residences.
Programmable Options
There are several ways to control when your landscape LED lights turn on and off. Use a timer to turn your lights on at programmable times. We offer MiBoxer products that allow you to control the schedule of your lights. Program and control the brightness, saturation, and color of multiple light zones with the MiBoxer remote, app, or wall-mounted controller. Or, choose dusk to dawn lights and transformers that feature an integrated photocell and turn your lights on when the surrounding environment reaches a certain darkness.
Smart Bulb Options
Control your landscape LED Wi-Fi lights and LED smart bulbs when you pair them with a Wi-Fi controller hub and app or a hubless controller. MiBoxer products can be paired with Alexa and Google Home Assistant for easy voice control. Change the color speed, brightness, saturation, and dynamic or static mode of your lights.
Choose the Best LED Landscape Lighting for Every Part of Your Space
Low-voltage LED landscape flood lights illuminate large areas and structures with their 40°-120° beam angles. Choose from integrated flood light fixtures or individual flood light bulbs. Common applications include lighting trees, building facades, and large shrubbery.
Spot lights produce a focused beam of light that extends up to 30° wide. They are ideal for lighting smaller structures or creating dramatic light effects through down-lighting and up-lighting. Select individual spot light bulbs or integrated fixtures. Landscape spot lights are used to illuminate gardens, fountains, and statues.
Landscape path lights illuminate the ground for walkways or gardens. Use path lights to line your driveway, gardens, or any long stretch of land.
Hardscape lights are designed for installation on solid surfaces like stone retaining walls. They provide practical and decorative lighting to your landscape lighting design. View common applications and customer reviews for our top hardscape products here.
Well lights are mounted in the ground and direct light upwards. This makes them ideal for lighting from underneath. Use well lights to illuminate trees, columns, plants, and ponds.
Fixtures with an IP68 rating and above can be used in underwater environments to light up your ponds, fountains, and docks. Choose between waterproof spot lights, well lights, or fountain nozzle lights.
Step and deck lights install directly into your deck or patio to provide practical safety lighting. Install these fixtures on the riser of a step, under the step lip, or along railings. Choose from surface-mounted or recessed lights with downward shining eyelids, windowed faceplates, and louvered faceplate designs.
Outdoor wall wash lighting fixtures are designed to light large architectural structures like walls or fences. Link multiple fixtures together for an extended lighting effect.
String lights decorate your outdoor space and provide accent lighting. Hang them around covered patios, gazebos, and pergolas. For string light design inspiration, view our product video and blog post here.
LED Landscape Lighting Design: What Lights to Use and Where to Use Them
Our LED Landscape Lighting Design article has an in-depth look at different residential landscape lighting fixtures and the areas you can use them. Or, for more design inspiration, read our blog post on how to create the perfect outdoor oasis here.
What You Need to Complete Your Landscape Light Project
In addition to your light fixtures, you will also need power wires and cable connectors to join your individual light fixtures to the main line and a low-voltage transformer. The total wattage of lights in your system should not exceed 80% of your transformer’s capacity, so choose a transformer that fits your specific needs.
Visit our blog post on planning an LED landscape lighting installation for more information on how to figure out which power supplies you need and for more information on the installation process.
If you are still unsure what you need for your landscape installation, we offer complete LED landscape lighting kits that include everything you need to get started. Expansion kits are also available that will allow you to add on additional fixtures to your current lighting system. For more assistance, give us a call at 866-590-3533.
Tips for How to Create a Successful Landscape Lighting Design
- Swap out your halogen bulbs with LED bulbs for the benefits of LED lights without replacing all of your existing fixtures. This option is great for individuals who are looking for an easy and inexpensive upgrade. Make sure the voltage and base type are the same.
- There are many lighting techniques you can add to achieve your ideal lighting design. Common lighting techniques include downlighting, silhouetting, moonlighting, and grazing. For an in-depth look at these designs and more, check out our landscape lighting techniques blog post here.
- Depending on your environment and type of soil, you can bury your wires around 6 inches beneath the surface to protect them from animals and lawn maintenance tools.
- The farther you extend your lights from the power supply, the more you will experience an evasive voltage drop. To determine the optimal length between your farthest light and your transformer, reverse this equation using 1.5 for the acceptable voltage drop and solve for length. Visit our lighting installation guide here for more information.
Voltage Drop Formula:
