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Outdoor lighting

stuarta99stuarta99 Posts: 190
in Garden design
Hi guys,

I'm just after some tips for outdoor lighting if I may. We never seem to have much of a success rate with solar lights and they end up dying after a year. I've just brought in a couple from the garden and although one appears to be the battery, another doesn't work with new battery.

I would therefore like to replace with something that will last and not sure if solar is the way forward. I've seen some plug and play kits with transformers but obviously then need mains power.

All I'd like is something that will work as expected and maybe something that would work on a sunset sensor and turn off at midnight. I like the idea of the Philips Hue Lily ones but not at £290
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Posts

  • K67K67 Leicestershire Posts: 2,507
    Are you able to drill through into the house or garage near a plug?
    If so low voltage lights usually have a separate transformer and a very thin lead and can be plugged in and run with a timer.
  • stuarta99stuarta99 Posts: 190
    For the garden I could, there is flex coming out the garage but then hidden behind plasterboards I'd have to check out.

    We have 3 up the side of the house and I don't think that would be so easy.

    Wish solar lights would last longer
  • K67K67 Leicestershire Posts: 2,507
    Me too. We had fairy lights with a battery back up and they lasted a coupke of years until the rain got into the lights.
    Maybe a separate solar panel would work better.
  • stuarta99stuarta99 Posts: 190
    Yeah our neighbors have that, fairy lights with independent solar stake....hmmm
  • purplerallimpurplerallim LincolnshirePosts: 4,623
    I have tried both on the light and with a separate panel,  but have yet to find a solar light that lasts more than a year. I would love up lighters for two areas , but these are away from power supplies and in shady areas so no power from the sun. It's very frustrating. 
  • stuarta99stuarta99 Posts: 190
    Yeah it is tricky. I think our problem is buying cheap ones from supermarkets and possibly not IP rated but I don't want to fork out lots of money if it makes no difference. 

    Like the idea of the plug and play ones but would mean sorting power sources and the Philips Hue ones are just way too expensive
  • mikejames2011mikejames2011 Posts: 35


    We did this with our old small garden with a £50 plug in low voltage spotlight kit from B&Q. It had 4x20w spotlights with a plug and transformer. 

    We plugged into an outside socket and then covered the transformer with a waterproof box. You could also add a timer.

    im not a fan of solar as they don’t seem that reliable in my opinion but may have improved in recent years. 
  • Chris-P-BaconChris-P-Bacon Posts: 939
    mrsteveearsom said:
    If you need to buy solar lights, you can start your search in local stores such as hardware stores and department stores. You can also find them in Costco, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. Fortunately, solar energy products are easy to find these days. For sure, you’ll never run out of options to compare.
    Why the flags??..😒
  • Dave HumbyDave Humby HampshirePosts: 1,142
    Chris-P-Bacon said:
    mrsteveearsom said:
    If you need to buy solar lights, you can start your search in local stores such as hardware stores and department stores. You can also find them in Costco, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. Fortunately, solar energy products are easy to find these days. For sure, you’ll never run out of options to compare.
    Why the flags??..😒
    Favourite forum past-time  ;)
  • Chris-P-BaconChris-P-Bacon Posts: 939
    stuarta99 said:
    Hi guys,

    I'm just after some tips for outdoor lighting if I may. We never seem to have much of a success rate with solar lights and they end up dying after a year. I've just brought in a couple from the garden and although one appears to be the battery, another doesn't work with new battery.

    I would therefore like to replace with something that will last and not sure if solar is the way forward. I've seen some plug and play kits with transformers but obviously then need mains power.

    All I'd like is something that will work as expected and maybe something that would work on a sunset sensor and turn off at midnight. I like the idea of the Philips Hue Lily ones but not at £290
    Garden lighting - especially mains, can go very badly wrong if not done correctly. I've seen some horror stories that would your toes curl, mainly to water pumps, but the principle is the same.
    Solar lighting imo isn't worth it. 
    If you can afford it get a quote from an electrician..some now specialise in outdoor electrics. It can be expensive but for the piece of mind and reliability it's worth considering.
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