Home Interior and Design

Gardens enhance the looks of the house to a great extent and also add to the value of the property. Gardening is passion for some and for some a garden serves a decorative purpose. When you have a garden, you should be able to enjoy it at any time you want.

To enhance the beauty of your garden in the night, you can add lighting to it. How well you plan the lighting makes all the difference to the garden. If your garden is divided into seating and cooking area, then make sure you add additional lighting there. If you want to add a touch of green concept, then use solar lights which come along with beautiful lampshades. Have a step by step strategy to decorate your garden with lights.

Evaluate how much space you have in the garden first. Take a walk around and think where will a light fit and how it will enhance the beauty of the garden. For example, if you have carpet grass and rocks, adding a light there could add beauty to the garden. The darkest spots in the garden always need more light. Also, adding lights where there are artificial or natural water features can change the look of the landscape completely.

Lighting can also be placed underwater to enhance the beauty of the pond or a small water area. Combine them with small fountains to contribute to an overall effect. Both underwater pond lights and small fountains can be solar powered. So, proximity to electrical service is not necessary. Also, highlight some trees which tend to change color in the fall. In winter, serial lights looks better on trees with stark branches. There are several gardening magazines which give you several ideas on how to effectively decorate your garden with proper lighting.

Xenon light is a relatively new technology in lighting, proving to be brighter than most artificial lighting, including halogen, and even more cost- and energy-efficient, as well. Xenon light produces five times more light than Halogen lights, and lasts even ten times longer. It has now replaced Halogen bulbs in automobile headlights.

It is preferred because the transition border between light and darkness of Xenon light is more defined than Halogen light, therefore there is much less light reflected from the headlights of an oncoming car using these bulbs and the glare doesn’t disturb the drivers – unless they look directly at the light. This may only occur because drivers may not be accustomed yet to such bright, yet controlled, headlights. But they soon will be.

How does Xenon light work?

The micro-discharge bulb is full of noble gases, of course including Xenon, and is unlike normal incandescent bulbs in that it does not have any filaments. Instead, it lights up when an arc is created between two electrodes of tungsten metal. Also called High Intensity Discharge lamps, or HID, Xenon light also comes with an electronic starter and a ballast to start up and maintain this arc and the resulting light.

The ballast is important as it converts and manages the high energy that fills and supplies the bulbs with energy. The ballast also controls the flow of energy. Its built in tracking system regulates the energy levels and automatically shuts off when voltage threatens to escalate beyond acceptable levels. This ensures that the bulbs do not suddenly explode.

Where can you use Xenon lighting?

The light given off by Xenon bulbs is cooler in color temperature than an incandescent bulb, yet warmer than a halogen bulb. Xenon bulbs actually emit light that is close to the brightness of the noon sun, which is why these bulbs are used for indoor gardens and greenhouses.

Xenon lights were originally used for large areas that needed adequate lighting, such as gyms and indoor basketball courts, warehouses, parking lots, and movie houses. As the lighting system has been developed, lighting was adapted for cars, greenhouses, indoor aquarium systems with fish that needed “tropical lighting,” and even on airplanes as landing and taxi lights. HID lights are often used in agricultural, marine and mining industries, as well in construction sites and on highways.

These bulbs are now being used for the home, and not just to flood your garage with light when you come home, or for use only in the garden and the kitchen. They can be used for desk lamps in studies, spotlighting for paintings, book cases, and to light up staircases and cabinets.

A disadvantage to the bulbs is that they are usually expensive, much more so than your regular bulb. However, if you calculate how many incandescent, fluorescent and/or halogen bulbs that match the durability and brightness of one bulb, you’ll find that it’s not as expensive as it first seemed, and may even save you a lot in the long run.

There are Halogen bulbs currently available in the market that have Xenon gas in them. This is not the same as Xenon HID bulbs, and will not save you money. Still basically Halogen bulbs, the light they give off is not as strong as HID bulbs, and will take even more power to operate them, resulting in more used up electricity. Make sure your bulbs are labeled “High Intensity Discharge” to get the full benefits of true Xenon light