02 Dec 5 LED Landscape lighting myths
By Mike Gambino
Several perceptions and misconceptions of what LED low voltage landscape lighting is and what it is not have been circulating since the beginning of the use of LED light sources just a short few years ago.
Here are a few of them which I will attempt to dispel and set the record straight on.
LED Lights are not powerful enough to be effective– This may have been true in the past but recently the significant improvements that have been made are simply remarkable. There are quality LED lights available to suitably illuminate just about every type of landscape lighting requirement and subject. True there is a lot of cheaper junk out there with poor color and output per power consumed but it’s like everything else. Generally the higher cost products are going to perform and last much better than the cheaper ones. Only buy your LED landscape lighting products and systems from proven and reliable sources who have a track record, have installed quite a bit of it and will stand behind it.
LED lighting can be installed by anyone with desirable results- LED light sources do not a landscape designer make. A crappy design is still going to look crappy when conceived and implemented by a novice. One doesn’t get invigorated with exceptional design abilities just by the virtue of using LED lighting. In fact good lighting design with LED light sources is more involved and sound design values becomes more important with LED due to the fact that with LED lighting there are so many more types, colors and outputs to consider and choose from. For those who are not experienced and understanding of these important aspects, the results can be less than desirable. Because of the higher cost of LED mistakes made with lamp sources can be very costly to repair.
LED lighting requires no maintenance- This is a major misconception. Plants will still grow and need to be pruned away from fixtures, gardeners will still kick and stomp fixtures out of adjustment. Dirt and leaves will still accumulate on lenses, block light output and need to be cleaned. Timers will need to be adjusted and depending upon the quality of the build It is true that maintenance costs will be generally lower because lamps will last longer and not need to be replaced as often. However this doesn’t reduce the necessity for the system to be maintained on a normal schedule. LED systems can be classified as lower maintenance systems than others but still require monitoring on a regular basis to perform at their best.
LED lighting installation can be accomplished with smaller gauge cable This is possible but the same people who are telling you this are not telling you about the repercussions of doing so. Using small gauge cable places a lot of electrical resistance on your transformer which in turn makes it work harder and consume more electricity. Any cost savings in cable is only temporary as it will quickly be wiped away by the increase in electrical costs to operate the system night in and night out over the lifetime of the system.
LED lighting doesn’t require complicated load balancing and voltage tuning- Voltage to the LED is not important- This is a selling point that some product manufacturers and suppliers are using to make it appeal to a larger installation audience including do it yourselfers. Some providers are stating that their LED’s will operate the same way within a 9-15 voltage range without a difference in longevity, light color or light intensity. Be very skeptical of their claims as its way too early to determine what the long term effects of installing LED’s with voltage that is all over the map in the same system will be. LED lights are a boon to those who are lazy and don’t understand how to properly engineer a low voltage lighting system and are not interested in learning how. LED’s are used by some to mask poor engineering skills . To be on the safe side insist that twelve volt LED’s are operating as close to twelve volts as possible which is their rated and optimum operating voltage.
The same tried and true methods of due diligence should be used when selecting an LED landscape lighting system design builder. A peruse through this blog is a treasure chest of valuable information available to successfully navigate you through the process.
This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .
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