Opinions please: Garden lighting

[Helen_B]

I am looking at putting some lights in my garden to improve the night appeal of my garden beds and some trees.  Initially will be doing a smaller garden bed but planning to highlight some larger trees down the track.  We are on acreage so running cords to powerpoints is not an option for the trees.  But, my first garden bed I would like to feature is only about 4 metres from an outdoor point. My question is.... is it worthwhile to go down the track of 'smart' lighting or is it overrated?  I am worried that the smart options may become superseeded when new and more tech savvy items are invented.  Should I stick with non smart options, and if so what have you had experience with and were they great?

thanks so much 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Helen_B,

I believe your question will be answered by what you want to achieve with the illumination of the garden. If you just want to illuminate the area, would like the lights to come on at dusk and turn off at dawn and are happy with a single colour then that can all be done with standard lighting. If you would like to choose from 16 million colours, control your lights remotely whilst you are not at home, control the lights via an app or voice and set timers for your convenience then smart products would be for you.

Most smart products can be controlled via Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit and the Google Assistant. Manufacturers work hard to design products which are compatible with future tech. In regards to the smart options becoming superseded by newer more tech-savvy items, that could be a possibility. However, there is only so much you can do with lighting and most of that is already being catered to in these systems.

You should find this article helpful: How to choose smart garden lighting. You might also like to read this discussion: Smart lights by @ProjectPete.

I know @Walter is a great fan of smart lighting and I would be interested to hear his opinion on smart garden lighting.

Smart systems are great and it comes does to whether you want that functionality and is it of benefit to you.

Mitchell

[Helen_B]

Thanks for that Mitchell. I'm now in bunnings to have a look at the options there. 

I really appreciate your reply and will check out the links when I get home.

Helen