A well landscaped garden is a wonderful escape. The only thing better is enjoying that getaway after the Sun has gone down. Accomplishing that requires landscape lighting and the very notion was once both prohibitively difficult to implement and painfully expensive. Fortunately, developments in landscape lighting have made this an attainable dream with low-cost, easy-to-install landscape lighting kits. But before you dash off to the hardware store, you really should know their limitations or you’re sure to wind up disappointed.
Inexpensive landscape lighting kits manufactured by companies like Malibu seem like a great idea. It’s important that you know that there are limitations inherent in their plastic construction that put them at a disadvantage relative to their metal counterparts. Not knowing those limitations can lead to disappointment and we don’t want that so this article will help you understand the good, bad and ugly (not necessarily in that order) about plastic landscape lighting kits. Just be sure to read to the end before you make your decision.
The ugly is pretty straightforward. Plastic landscape lighting kits are relatively uninspired in their design compared to the myriad options available with metal lights. Now I don’t mean to say they’re truly ugly, just that mass production with an eye on keeping prices low means you aren’t going to get much in the way of variety, particularly if you consider the alternatives available with much more expensive metal lights.
Truly inexpensive landscape lighting kits will be made of plastic and will have what can best be described as a dime-a-dozen look. There won’t be any variety in your kit. All the lights will look the same excepting cases in which you buy a kit containing path and spot lights. In that case, all the path lights will look the same and all the spotlights will look the same. Of course, remember that you’re trying to save money here so variety and unique features are two of the sacrifices you’ll have to make.
Moving on to the bad, we only have one real concern and that’s in brilliance (or the lack thereof). It’s the very construction material of landscape lighting kits that hurts their performance because, as you might already be aware, plastic has a much lower melting point than metal. That lower melting point limits the heat they can endure from bulbs which means having to opt for lower wattage and, by extension, luminescence. Higher wattage bulbs common in metal lights would turn your plastic landscape light into a puddle. If you plan to light up trees and large features, you’ll have to pay the extra money for metal lights.
So with the ugly and the bad out of the way, let’s talk about why you should consider landscape lighting kits and discuss the positives. The first positive which we’ve already touched on is price but let’s put that into perspective. Malibu Lighting offers a plastic landscape lighting kit containing power cable, power pack, 6 spot lights and 14 tier lights (for paths and borders) for around $60. They also offer a nice looking metal kit containing power pack, cable 4 tiers and 2 spot lights for $117.02. That equates to less than half the lights for almost twice the price and even that metal kit is pretty low-cost compared to other sets I’ve seen out there.
What may not be so obvious in terms of savings is what you’ll save should one of your lights be damaged by a clumsy guest or an overzealous landscaper with poor lawnmower control. A damaged plastic light will cost you very little to replace. A damaged metal light, crushed by a stray lawnmower or weed-whacker will cost you substantially more. I’ve trashed one of my own lights and can assure you, this is a very valid consideration.
Finally, you should keep in mind that plastic construction isn’t just some cheap and barely passable material. Your lights will be virtually indistinguishable from metal lights when they’re doing their job at night. The material is also surprisingly durable. It tolerates weathering well and stands up to wear and tear. It also won’t dent, which sounds minor, but if you could see the damage inflicted on my metal lights by rocks and debris thrown from lawn mowers, you’d understand the appeal.
Having read this far I hope you’ve come to appreciate that there are some definite up sides to plastic landscape lighting kits including initial cost, replacement cost and durability. Saving money is the big selling point. Just know that you will be limited to using them to define paths and borders or spot lighting smaller features. If you have grander ambitions involving uplighting trees and statuary, you be better served by more expensive, higher-wattage metal lights.
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