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There’s no better way to upgrade your outdoor space than by adding bright lights to illuminate the area, set the mood, and keep you safe at night. And we’re not talking about just any light, but the best LED yard lights.

Here’s a comprehensive review and buying guide of the best LED yard lights and fixtures for 2021 to help you make your pick on which one is the most suitable for your property and will give you the best value for your money.

Top LED yard lights

Take a look at these ten best LED yard lights and fixtures that are perfect for outdoor spaces in both residential and commercial areas. These affordable yet durable and high performing lights are guaranteed to add to your safety and even set a nice ambiance.

We’ve included the best and most promising specs of each product, as well as our favorite features as to why each one is the best. And if you’re having a hard time choosing, don’t worry, we’ve got a detailed buying guide for you right down below, so read on further!

LED yard lights buying guide

Installing some LED yard lights is a great and effective way to set the mood on your patio, brighten up an otherwise dark alleyway or garage, or keep strangers off of your property at night. But, how do you make the decision on which LED lights are right for you?

In order to help you make the right choice, we’ve listed down all the important things you need to take into account when buying LED yard lights, from how they are installed, how powerful the light is, what you want to use it for, and more.

Installation

One of the first things that you need to consider is how and where you want to install the lighting fixture, since this will determine the types of lights that you can purchase. For example, do you want mood lighting along your garden path, or a bright light that can illuminate your entire lawn?

Moreover, how permanent do you want the fixture to be? For one thing, some lights require screws and bolts for mounting so you’ll have to do a bit of drilling and hammering, and if you live in a rental, this may not be a suitable choice.

Ground lights

There are mini yard lights that you just switch on and stake on the ground, which are perfect for soil and sand areas on your property. These are not that bright, but should be enough to illuminate your path and give off a nice ambience in the evening.

Pole/ wall lights

And then there are bright lights that can act as a flood light and let you see far ahead. These are often mounted on the walls and fences of your property, or on poles. Large outdoor lights like this are big and bright, and will require a bit more effort in installation.

Power and lumen

Another important thing that needs to be taken into account is the power and lumen of the light bulb, especially if you’re looking for a flood light, since that will need to be as bright and far reaching as possible.

Wattage

Generally speaking, a higher wattage means a brighter light, but that will also consume significantly more power, and consequently, a higher electric bill. The good thing is, when it comes to LED bulbs, these have a much lower wattage and a low voltage as compared to incandescent bulbs.

Brightness

When it comes to brightness per se, we are talking about the lumen of the light bulb. On average, a 4,000 to 5,000 lumen should be good enough for average sized properties, but the brightest light bulbs can offer up to 10,000 lumens of bright light.

Color

In relation to the brightness of the light is its color. For example, do you want a 3000K warm light that gives you a pleasant and romantic vibe, or a bright and cool 5000K white light that’s excellent for commercial and utility spaces?

LED yard light lifespan

When talking about how long the light bulb itself should last, obviously you’d want to go with something that has the longest lifespan so you don’t have to keep spending on replacements every few months or years.

What’s great about LED light bulbs is that they generally have a long lifespan, significantly longer than those of incandescent bulbs. More often than not, you’ll find LED lights that promise a 50,000 hour operation, which translates to 14 to 20 years depending on usage.

Now, when we say depending on usage, this means how many hours the light is turned on in a day. If you have a light fixture with a photocell, it should automatically power up and down depending on how dark it is, and on average, we are talking about 6 to 8 hours a day.

Intended use

As we have mentioned earlier, the lighting fixture you should purchase also depends on what you plan on using it for, since this will determine the right LED yard light for you. There are light bulbs that are great for setting the atmosphere, and lights that work as security and flood lights.

Depending on this intended use as well is how many options you’ll have when it comes to the appearance of the lighting fixture. Utilitarian lights such as security and flood lights will almost always look the same, but you should still have a bit of leeway in finding something that matches the look of your property.

But, if we are talking about decorative lights, then you can expect to have a more sizable selection of lights ranging from the retro and vintage looking, to the country and cozy, and even the sleek and modern.

Atmospheric landscape lighting

Low powered LED yard lights are designed to function as decorative and atmospheric lighting on your residential or commercial landscape. Although there may be landscape lights that appear as mini streetlights, more often than not, what you’ll find are ground lights.

These are meant to be staked to the ground so you can see where you’re walking on. Sometimes, these lights are flat and level with the ground, so you can walk on them, but others are a bit more fancy and decorative.

Security light

More often than not, LED yard lights are bought for the purpose of serving as security lights in order to illuminate your property at night. These are bright lights and are automatically activated by the photocell that detects the brightness of the surroundings.

Security lights are great for illuminating dark spots on your property that are not reached by your standard light bulbs, especially so that it’s not pitch black when you go outside, and more importantly, when you leave the house unattended for a certain period of time.

Flood lights

What’s even better than security lights are flood lights, since they are brighter and stronger, and can illuminate a much larger area on your property, allowing you to see much more at night. However, they are also more expensive.

Many, if not all, flood lights are equipped with motion detectors. As such, it will suddenly and automatically flash a bright beam of light whenever a person or animal is detected within the light’s range, thus warding off strangers and alerting you to possible intruders.

Conclusion

An LED yard light is a must have addition to your home and commercial property. It not only gives you that much needed visibility at night, but also adds to your safety and security, and can even set a nice and pleasant mood so you can enjoy the outdoors during the evenings.

The good news is, there are lots of excellent LED yard lights out there, as you’ve seen from our review of the best ones online. As long as you know the things you should watch out for, you’re sure to find the best LED yard lights for your property.