LED puck lights will always do the trick if you want to add brightness and creativity to your compound’s ambiance.
Moreover, their unique miniature design lets you install the lights in various spaces.
Here’s an in-depth look into outdoor LED puck lights, including placement areas and the principle of operation.
What Are Outdoor LED Puck Lights?
Now LED puck lights enhance uplighting or downlighting in an outdoor setup.
They create subtle accent lighting on any object or structure outside your house.
Typically, these lights are round, creating a spotlight effect when installed.
You can install these lights anywhere in your yard without digging holes to fix poles.
Also, they blend well with outdoor landscapes, including trees, stones, and even dark corners.
What Are Outdoor LED Puck Lights Used For?
Remarkably, you can use puck lights to improve your outdoor space in various ways.
Tree Up-Lighting
First, let’s understand up-lighting. It refers to lights you install, typically at low or ground level, and face them upwards so the light shines upwards.
Such lighting dramatically enhances a landscape.
In the case of tree uplighting, you’ll place the LEDs on the ground, usually at the base of the trunk or below the canopy of a tree facing upwards.
For a relatively slim tree, one medium beam uplight will do. But if the tree is wide, you’ll need two uplights or more for the best effect.
(Caption: Tree uplighting)
Tree Downlighting
Yes, you guessed right. It involves placing the lights higher than the tree and facing them downwards.
The result is a downward light effect that illuminates the tree and the path below it.
To Make Garden Features Stand Out
By installing puck lights, garden features like shrubs stand out. Also, they add a glow to your landscape’s ambiance by generating a warm yet sporty experience.
To Illuminate
If you want to illuminate hazardous areas on your compound, consider installing larger, brighter LED lights.
With these lights, you can also ensure people avoid steeping your flowers planted along the paths.
(Caption: Illuminated garden)
Also, you can use puck lights to illuminate arborvitae (white cedar) trees.
You can employ this concept to illuminate plants, bringing out their tall, conical shape in your courtyard or garden.
Deck and Step Lighting
This is an excellent way to illuminate the steps on your porch or anywhere outside.
That way, it makes the steps safe for you and your guests who are not used to your home’s outdoor setup.
Another great idea is decorative LED lights to enhance the visual appearance of the steps and deck.
(Caption: Step lighting)
Walkway and Seat Lighting
Outdoor puck lights are an excellent way of lighting up your walkways and outdoor sitting areas.
See, the shading of the lights makes the light they generate not too bright to have a blinding effect.
Instead, the lights retain the dark and cozy experience late at night. Also, you can place these lights around the seats.
Overhead Lighting for Sitting Areas
In the case of overhead lights for sitting areas, instead of fixing the lights on the seats, you hung them above them.
The effect is a soft, gentle touch, creating a soft evening illumination of the entire sitting area, not just the individual seats.
Garden Bed Illumination
Generally, it’s easy to notice trees and shrubs in a small distinct, floating garden. However, seeing the bordering parts of the garden is usually challenging.
But with a spotlight around the small garden, it becomes possible to see the entire bed rather than only the plants.
How Do LED Puck Lights Work?
How Are They Powered?
While you can plug in LED puck lights to power them up, they come with rechargeable batteries.
These are 3 AA batteries, and the good thing is that manufacturers include 18 of them in the buyer’s pack.
Mind you; these batteries can run for 100 hours or more before you need to replace them.
To install these lights, you screw them in or use adhesive tape, both of which also come with the lights. And to turn them on, you lightly tap on the sensor below the lens.
How Long Do LED Puck Lights Last?
And What’s interesting, the lights can last 20,000 to 50,000 hours, which translates to four to six years, provided you maintain them well.
Are LED Puck Lights AC or DC
Like all other types of LED lights, be they grow lights, LED strips, or high-output LEDs, LED puck lights use low DC (direct current) voltage.
So often, you’ll need to use an LED driver to convert the voltage to the appropriate amount and the appropriate type (from AC to DC).
Do LED Puck Lights Burn Out?
As far as burning out, LED lights generally last much longer than incandescent or fluorescent bulbs. So do LED puck lights.
Also, they don’t flicker as much as other artificial lights, primarily because their flicker is unnoticeable to the naked eye.
Are LED Puck Lights Dimmable?
Yes, you can find dimmable puck flights. Then you can vary their brightness to suit your needs anytime using a remote control or smartphone.
Where Do You Put Puck Lights?
Here are some examples of places you can place these lights:
- Pebbles or stones: These are excellent places to put your puck lights. That’s because they create a beautiful flush mount recessed look at night.
- Ornamental grass: Another way to place your pluck lights is on ornamental grass. The effect is a full soft feature of the grass. Alternatively, you can uplight the grass to bring out its beauty from the lower part of the grass moving upward.
- Potted tree: Also, you can have uplighting in a potted tree. So you’ll place the light inside the pot facing upward to display the tree’s full beauty at night.
- Water gardens: No lighting a water garden adds to the beauty of its soothing sounds and aquatic plants. For example, you can place asymmetrical puck lights on either side of the water garden, casting their light directly into the pond.
FAQs
Can Puck Lights Get Wet?
Well, it depends on whether or not they’re water-resistant. Usually, though, manufacturers design outdoor puck lights for use outdoors.
Thus, they’re waterproof and won’t get wet even when used on decks or step-lighting areas.
But keep in mind you must get the right kind of lights clearly marked waterproof with an IP of at least 64.
Why Are They Called Puck Lights?
Funny as it may sound, puck lights borrow their name from the shape of the lights. See, the lights have a shade that diffuses the light produced.
The result is light that has a softer, lighter tone, which enhances the ambiance of the surrounding space.
What Are LED Puck Lights Used For?
Interestingly, LED puck lights have a broad range of applications both indoors and outdoors and even in vehicles.
For LED outdoor puck lights, we’ve seen that they light up walkways, decks, and steps.
Also, to make garden features pop, tree uplighting and downlighting, and to illuminate hazardous areas.
And indoors, you can use them under cabinets and shelves. The idea is to light up dark spaces.
Further, you can use them to light up your car trunk and glove compartment.
Conclusion
Now you have a clearer understanding of LED puck lights. You know how they work, the different ways you can use them, and exactly where you can place them.
With the tips mentioned above, you’re now equipped to transform your compound into a beautiful and stylish space.