Decorate Your Landscape With Solar Outdoor Lighting

  When you hear the phrase "outdoor solar landscape lighting," what comes to your mind? Some people think of solar lights as being some type of pole light, floodlight, streetlight, or garage door light. While it is true that solar lights do include these types of fixtures, there are in fact, many more than that. Recent advances in solar technology have greatly expanded the kinds of outdoor lighting products that are currently available on the market.

Solar Lighting is Energy Efficient and Cost Effective

This makes it a perfect alternative to a 120-volt system that must be installed by an electrician or lighting technician. Solar lights do not require the use of external cables and transformers because they are powered by the energy of the sun.

The sun's rays are collected by small solar cell panels attached to the lights, which is converted into electricity and stored in batteries to power the fixtures at night. It is a self-generating power supply, which enable the lights to be used in many areas where it would have otherwise been too expensive or impractical.

Installing solar powered lights is a terrific Do-It-Yourself (DIY) project for the homeowner who wants to reduce energy costs and save some money. Installing is easy and simple. A small project of a few lights could be put in place and be ready to use in an hour or two. If this kind of project sounds interesting to you, here are some great solar lighting ideas you can easily do yourself that will bring your outdoor areas to brilliant life at night.

Solar Post Lights

Post lights are a very good choice for larger areas that need good illumination, but need a bit less than the brilliance that comes from floodlights. Post lights work well for driveways, patios, porches, decks, and front and back yards. They come in a wide range of decorative styles and colors, which makes it a breeze to find one that will go with the design of your home. Whatever the style you are looking for, be it modern, vintage, or somewhere in between, solar post lights are sure to add a stylish flair to your home

Solar Post Cap Lights

Solar post cap lights are decorative and functional light fixtures that are used to top posts on decorative fencing, walls, and entry gates. A post cap light becomes an attractive extension of the wall and gate that enhances the existing design rather than detracting from it.

Solar Deck Lights

Decks are great venues for parties, barbeques, and other outdoor activities, but when it gets dark, you will need to turn on the lights to continue the fun, and improve the safety for you and your guests. Most decks are elevated a few feet off the ground, so lighting the deck for night use is a no brainer from a safety perspective https://streetlyte.com/. Putting deck lights along the deck's stair treads is also a great way to add ambient lighting to the area.

Solar Porch Lights

A porch light provides illumination for those times when guests come to visit, as well as adding a distinctive decorative touch to your home. For example, putting a custom porch light by your front door is an inexpensive yet effective way to differentiate and customize the entryway.

A porch light also brings about some safety benefits. When someone rings your doorbell at night when it is dark, you can flip on the porch light and look through the peephole to see who is there. In addition to improving visibility at night, the porch light may also act as a deterrent to a prankster or thief who is up to no good and hopes that no one will respond.

Solar Fairy Lights

For temporary lighting purposes, festive occasions, parties, apartment tenants and renters, solar fairy lights are a great option. They are a temporary lighting arrangement that adds a lot of charm and warmth to any patio, deck, porch, or balcony. Solar fairy lights come in many different colors, including red, pink, blue, green, clear, and assorted colors.

Floating Solar Lights

Floating solar lights are used for more than just swimming pool accents. They can be placed in practically any water feature deep enough to accommodate the size and weight of the lights, such as ponds, fountains, and birdbaths. Use them as a centerpiece for your outdoor party table or buffet. Fill an attractive bowl or vase with water, and add the floating lights. Match your event's color scheme by putting a couple of drops of food coloring in the water. This is an inexpensive yet effective way to add a touch of ambient lighting to your festive event.

Solar Step Lights

For nighttime safety and decorative appeal, add solar step lights to your deck or outside stairway. This low-level lighting is less intrusive than would be floodlights or pole lights, yet provides enough lighting for people to find their footing on the steps in even the darkest evening. It is similar in function to the aisle lights in movie theaters, which provides the light for moviegoers to find their way to their seats in the darkened room.

Solar Accent Lights

Well-placed outdoor solar accent lights can create an impact that is both subtle and dramatic. Accent lighting can highlight distinctive features, direct attention to unique ornamental plants, and provide functional lighting for garden paths, sidewalks, and driveways. Garden statuary, specimen trees, shrubs, and decorative masonry or are just a few of the many features that accent lights can enhance and bring to life.

Solar Floodlights

Solar floodlights are a sure way to show off any home with great architectural features or landscaping. These fixtures make it easy to create a focal point of light for any landscape feature in your yard or garden. Because they are bright, and enhance visibility for up to a hundred feet or more, floodlights also improve the security of the home. Before installing floodlights, check with your homeowner's association rules to see if there are any restrictions or guidelines on the types of lights and wattage that is allowed.

Solar Pathway Lights

There are numerous different styles and heights of solar path lights. If there are many low growing shrubs and flowers that border your garden pathway, fixtures that are one to two feet tall are probably sufficient. When the plants are taller than 2 feet however, you may want to use a longer length light fixture that illuminates the path and the plants. Should your landscape already have pole lights or other light fixtures nearby, consider installing ground level lights, which includes fixture types such as well lights, string lights, stepping stone lights, and solar tile lights.

Solar Rock Lights

Solar rock lights provide a good alternative to many of the more traditional styles of fixtures. They are similar in features to most of the other types of solar accent lights, but are distinctive in their unique design. Because they look like rocks, they can easily blend in to landscapes with a natural design. Use rock lights in places where you might use a traditional accent light, without drawing attention to the lighting fixture itself.

Copper garden lights are a good way to complement a lighting layout that includes unique or artistic features such as statuary, fountains, wishing wells, and so forth. To keep the copper finish shiny and like new, you can protect it from the elements with a coat of clear lacquer. If however you want the copper to achieve a weathered, natural appearance, just leave it as is and let the forces of nature take its course. After some time exposed to the elements, the finish will eventually change into a blue-green "verdigris" sheen that has an elegant and vintage appeal.

Mosaic solar garden lights

Mosaic lights provide another artistic lighting option. Mosaic designs are not new; they have been around since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Mosaics are usually made of broken glass or pottery, which is set into plaster or cement, creating a very durable and colorful material. It is then fashioned into a glass ball that fits over the light bulb and attached to a stake.

You can create a virtually unlimited number of designs and colors with mosaic lights. If you can't find a mosaic light that fits your design scheme, you can have a local artisan create a custom design for your solar fixture.

Foods You Can Eat For Better Health

A nutritious diet is the foundation of good health, so it's very important to make sure that you know how to eat properly. Many of us assume we are eating a healthy diet, when really, we may be missing vital nutrients. This article will give you some great tips for ensuring that your diet is as healthy as possible.

Choose the right foods as recovery nutrition after working out. While protein is good, it is not as good for recovery as carbohydrates can be. The best idea is to find a comfortable mix of the two, as long as they supply you with the right nutritional balance your body needs.

Make sure to have a light snack or meal with protein before beginning a workout. Protein is the body needs to repair damage and build new tissue each time you exercise. Protein will keep your body from feeling more worn down than it needs to, and will help protect the leaner body you're building.

One great way to live healthier is to eat nuts. Nuts have been proven to be very good for the heart. Nuts have monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that are great for the heart. Nuts also have other nutrients such as fiber and vitamin E that can lower your risk of heart disease.

We should consider carefully the meats and poultry we eat. Most are still laden with antibiotics and hormones, nitrites and nitrates--all detrimental to our health. Fortunately, in recent years, meats raised without these chemicals have become far more widely available to the general public. We can find them now at major supermarkets.

Eat raw foods. As you get older, your body has a harder time digesting foods, making it less likely that you will be able to extract all the vitamins and nutrients from processed and cooked foods. Raw foods have more nutrients, therefore it's easier for your digestive system to access them.

Regularly consuming lean meats to significantly increase your muscle growth. By eating four to eight servings of lean beef, fish, turkey, and chicken, you should experience greater muscle mass than someone who follows a similar workout program but does not regularly eat a diet in which meat is present.

To boost your energy in a nutritious way, eat foods high in magnesium. Magnesium helps your body make a substance called adenosine triphosphate, which significantly increases your energy levels. A wide variety of foods contain magnesium, including cashews, yogurt, and spinach. If you have a sweet tooth, the cocoa powder used in making dark chocolate is another excellent source of this nutrient.

Eliminating sodas and soft drinks from your daily routine is one of the most important steps to eating a healthier diet. Most sodas are packed full of calories and contribute absolutely no nutritional value. When you're thirsty, have a glass of water instead, or at least substitute real fruit juice for soda.

Rather than stressing yourself out by trying to identify things to cut from your daily diet, think about how you can add healthy and nutritious snacks and foods to your regimen. If you make a commitment to add in more vegetables or fiber-rich foods, you may find that you are satisfied with the change and don't even miss the unhealthy snacks.

Eating spicy food is an excellent choice. Hot foods that are made with curry or chilies help to trigger endorphins https://ravishmag.co.uk/. That is what makes people feel good and balanced. A release of these hormones will give you a little pick me up if you are feeling sad or depressed.

Increase your use of herbs and spices. Part of the reason "eating healthy" seems so unattractive is the perceived blandness of the food. The truth is, fat and salt are natural flavoring agents, so if you remove them you've got to start experimenting with herbs and spices until you've got healthy food that is full of flavor.

During pregnancy, you need to increase your calcium consumption. Calcium is important for unborn babies so they can develop healthy teeth and bones.

Instead of eating junk food when you get a craving, turn to rich, nutritious pumpkin seeds. These snacks are extremely delicious and can help curb your appetite as well. Change your diet and the snacks that you choose if you want to improve the way that you feel and look.

Beets are a great addition, but only fresh ones. Beets offer a plethora of minerals and fiber. You can steam fresh beet greens and add them to salads.

A great nutrition tip is to not overcook your food. When you overcook food to the point where it becomes burnt, you are altering the food's nutritional value. Protein in the food might become denatured. A lot of vegetables will lose their nutritional value if they're overcooked.

HDL stands for High Density Lipoprotein, which you should eat more of than LDL, Low Density Lipoproteins. The low density forms of cholesterol, LDL, can get clogged up in the arteries of the body. Blocked arteries may present major health problems for people who ingest a lot of red meat or other fatty foods. Because of this, it's important to monitor the different amounts of HDL and LDL going into your system.

When you're trying to feed a picky eater nutritional foods, a routine can be your friend. Feed your child meals and snacks around the same time every day. This will help their body to become accustomed to regular eating times, and it also keeps blood sugar and insulin levels in check.

If you're trying to adopt a healthier diet, don't try to change everything at once. Start small by cutting down portion sizes, or adding some fruits and vegetables. As you get used to the small changes, you can make more changes, and eventually you'll be left with a healthy diet that you're happy with.

Knowing how to eat a healthy, nutritious diet isn't really very hard. The basic principles of nutrition are easy to learn. If you utilize the information you've learned from this article, you shouldn't have any problem eating a healthy diet. Before you know it, you'll be in better health than ever.