Why do I need backyard fence lighting?

Backyard fence lighting can be used as security lights to light up your yard and allow you to see better. They can also be used as accent lights to highlight any areas of your yard you want to stand out. They’re great for setting an ambiance you want for your space.

Backyard fence lights can also double as pool lights in the dark for better night swimming. There are several backyard fence and pool lighting ideas you can look into.

What are the pros and cons to backyard fence lighting?

Let's start with the pros. Backyard fence lighting has many benefits for your yard. The lights themselves as accent lights add a nice ambiance to your yard and provide outdoor lighting for any gatherings and events. Instead of harsh floodlights or trying to stretch the porch light to reach across the yard so you can stay out later, fence lights allow you to have soft, warmer lighting for your yard. If your yard is bigger and the middle is getting too far from the fence to be lit up properly, you can even look into outdoor string lights that span across your yard and provide overhead lighting.

Color-changing LED lights would allow you to change the colors of your fence lights to match the occasion. You can adjust the color and sometimes even the brightness of the lights to better fit the mood you want.

Fence lights can also double as security lighting to keep your yard safer at night. Lights deter potential intruders, and help security cameras spot anyone who tries to get onto your property. Using them with motion detectors and other alarms can create a much safer perimeter around your home. If you live close to the great outdoors, fence lights can also show you when animals and pests are lurking nearby—which is good to know if you’re taking the trash out at night.

Are there any downsides to backyard fence lights?

A couple things to keep in mind before getting fence lights are the initial cost and the necessary upkeep. Depending on how big your fence is, how many lights you want on it, and the type of lights you want, buying and installing fence lighting can get a bit pricey.

LED lights are the most energy-efficient bulb option and so will last for much longer while also saving you money on your electric bill. Other light bulbs like incandescents will burn out faster and require more replacements while using up more energy than LED bulbs.

Fence Lighting Fixtures

Uplighting, which is installed at the base of a fence and points upwards, lighting the entire thing brightly and giving your property a clear boundary line. Downlighting, on the other hand, shines directly onto the ground instead of in the air. You might also find lights which are installed on top of a fence, or on its posts. These lights shine downwards onto your yard and brighten up the surrounding area. String lights can carry from post to post along the interior (or exterior) of a fence, using the posts as supporting points and letting the string of lights drape down over each fencing section. Solar panel chargers on each fixture are cheaper and easier to set up in the long run. However, you can also get fence lighting which is hardwired to your home’s power system, or even to an external generator. This can be a good option if you don’t want to rely on consistent sunlight, or if you want to make sure that your lighting keeps working its best even in dark winter months.

What are some creative backyard fence lighting styles and uses? What styles are trending?

There are lots of creative backyard lighting design ideas you can look into. String lights are trending for outdoor lighting ideas. Whether you are hanging lights down like a curtain from the fence, stretched across the yard, or draping them over bushes, they provide soft, gentle lighting where you need it. String lights are an inexpensive way to light your yard in a soft, classic style.

More outdoor lighting ideas involve lighting up the bottom. This is often paired with path lighting throughout the yard. This is a great idea for garden lighting and landscaping, both to show them off and to avoid tripping over them. Lighting the base of your fence will make your backyard easy to navigate.

You will also have to choose if you want small lights spaced closely together, like string lights or fairy lights, or if you want to have bigger lights spaced out a bit farther. Big lights are going to be more maintenance, and you may need to bury electrical equipment to power them. While string lights aren’t as powerful, they are much lower maintenance and won’t cost as much. String lights are also more versatile and can be moved if you want to change up your lighting.

How do I know which type of backyard fence lighting to choose?

There are several types of lights you can get for your backyard. Which kind you get depends on what you want to do for your yard. Different lights will be better for security, privacy, accent lights, ambiance, highlighting, and energy efficiency.

Security

If your main concern is security lighting, then you’ll want stronger, brighter lights to light up your yard. String lights are going to be too weak for proper security lighting, so you’ll need to invest in stronger, more powerful lights to go on your fence. For security lighting, you can either go for lights that turn on at dark (manual or automatic, so long as you can remember if you need to do it yourself), and turn off in the morning, or you can go for motion sensor lights that will turn on and light up your yard if they sense someone moving around outside.

Privacy

Lighting up your backyard doesn’t have to compromise your privacy at all. Go for more toned-down, soft lights like string lights on the inside of your fence. This will light up the yard enough for you to enjoy it at night, but not bright enough to attract unwanted attention. Keeping your lights just on the inside of your fence and keeping them dimmed down will allow you to see without telling the neighborhood you’ve got something going on out back.

Accent lighting

Accent lighting is easy enough to do with fence lighting. If you don’t want to light up the whole backyard, but want some soft lighting to give it a special something, accent lights are a great way to add personality to your yard. String lights are a great option for this since they don’t have to be super bright and they can go anywhere. Another great accent lighting idea is an outdoor lantern setup. These can be placed on the ground or hung on fence posts to light up certain areas of the yard.

Ambiance

Lights are a great way to set the mood for an event you want. You can create a fun, playful ambiance with brightly colored lights. These are great for parties, game days, or just to bring energy to hanging out.

You can create a romantic atmosphere with more dimmed lights in softer, muted colors. For a fancy dinner outside with your partner, muted lights and warm white lights can help set a romantic mood to the space you’ve set up.

You can also bring a cozy, comfortable feel to the yard with brighter, but warm-toned lights. For those summer evenings when you spend hours talking in the backyard, soft, warm white lights can help create that atmosphere.

Highlights

There are lots of fence lighting ideas that have great ways to highlight features of your yard. Highlighted fence lights coupled with other landscape lighting ideas like path lights or spotlights can channel that focus to the parts of your yard you want to highlight.

There is no rule saying your fence lighting has to go all the way around the yard. You can light up just one side of the fence, or even just a few feet of one wall to highlight something. Many people incorporate their fence light ideas into their pool lighting. If your pool is by the edge of the yard, lights on that side of the fence will help light up your pool.

Energy efficiency

There are a few options you can choose from in the way of energy efficiency. Solar-powered fence lights are a great way to move towards sustainable energy. Going with solar outdoor lights can cut a significant chunk out of your electricity bill.

LED outdoor lights won’t save as much as solar, but they will still save you plenty of money on your bill. an LED light bulb is much more energy efficient than any other light bulb. More of the energy devoted to powering the bulb goes into producing light, while other bulbs give off lots of heat as excess energy that is wasted. LEDs also operate better in colder conditions, as opposed to incandescents that struggle in the cold. This makes them great for outdoor lighting. Their long lifespan also means less maintenance.

Can I install backyard fence lighting myself?

That depends on what type of outdoor lighting ideas you have that you want installed. If all you want to do is hang string lights, you can pick them up from any hardware store along with a hammer and nails. More complicated fence lighting ideas will require more extensive planning and installation. Solar-powered fence lights are going to require more expertise to install correctly. Bigger outdoor lights and lamps may need buried electrical cables to power them, which will be much more successful if done by professionals.

If you have a background in electrical or construction work and know your way around an outdoor light installation, you’ll probably be fine installing these yourself. However, if you don’t know much about electric work and outdoor lights, it’s probably a better bet to get a professional to install it for you.

How can JellyFish Lighting help me?

JellyFish Lighting specializes in LED lights that are permanently installed to your home, backyard fence, patio, or most structures that you can imagine. Their color-changing, programmable LEDs are durable and low maintenance. You can change the colors of your lights to match any occasion, be it holidays, birthdays, game days, etc. and change them back the next day with no problem. They can also be set up to automatically turn on and off at dusk and dawn. They make great security lights and accent lights as well as for events.