What are security lights? Well, these are lighting systems that you can utilize in order to heighten the safety of your property or residence. Most security lights run on electricity and the common practice is to turn on lighting systems from dusk to dawn. These types of lighting systems should be placed near entry points that thieves or other home invaders will most likely use. So, you have to make sure that your home has functional lighting systems near doors and windows, as well as backyards. But the concern here is that when you illuminate a place for 6 to 8 hours a night, you will most likely rack up huge energy bills. This is why many homeowners these days opt to purchase and utilize solar powered lights that they use with their home security alarm systems.
You will enjoy many benefits from using solar powered security lights. These are portable, affordable, and these have several uses, aside from being huge energy savers.
Portability
Because several varieties of solar powered lights do not need to be connected to an electrical system, you will be able to put them anywhere you want as long as these will have enough sunlight during daytime. Installation is so easy too. Most solar lights can just be planted into the ground. These can be used as light installations that you can use to illuminate pathways or areas near doors or windows. You can also hang these on posts.
Affordability
Solar lights are quite affordable, especially if you think long-term. There are solar LED outdoor lights that you can buy below $50. There are also solar powered and motion-activated LED lights that cost $60 to $70 or more. But the thing is, even if you purchase a slightly more expensive version, you will save more since you will be able to save a lot on your energy bills. In other words, these solar powered lights will pay for themselves in energy savings.
Variety of Uses
You can use solar powered lights to create a better illuminated yard. There are also solar powered floodlights that act as burglar alarm gadgets. Floodlights will scare away would-be burglars if they trip your floodlight system while attempting to enter your property. Such lights will temporarily blind people, and if used with motion sensors, the sensors can also produce shrill alarms to warn you of a possible home invasion. Solar powered lights are also commonly used in public parking areas, parks and public trails or ways in order to help in deterring criminal activities.
I love living in the country, as it is so quiet and everything seems so much slower. But this does mean I have a bigger yard and a lot of my own space. I thought about how I could use all of this area I own to make it useful. I thought long and hard for about two years until one day, I accidentally ran my car off my own driveway in the middle of the night.
The tow truck driver mentioned getting my hands on some solar driveway lights. After getting them installed and seeing how well they worked, an idea popped in my head. What if I made my whole house run on solar energy? I know now that I was thinking a little ahead of myself at the time. But after looking around online I found some people who will come to your house and help you find out how many solar panels you need of this and that to power your home.
I said “why not” and dug into my nest egg. We started to install more and more green energy around my house. It did take a little bit of time but the people were so friendly and curious. I guess I had bought enough to receive some free panels and they installed those to tell me my meter would hopefully spin backwards and I would receive a check instead of paying for my electric.
After a few months of this, I started to enjoy the lack of bills appearing on my doorstep and started to save for a new car. I thought maybe I could get one of those electric cars and power it off my panels. Then I could reduce my gas bill every month as well.
It’s all said and done now and they have paid for themselves in a few years alone, and my retirement is going a lot better than I thought. Now the only concern is the kids fighting over who gets the house now that it has doubled in value.
One of the most important uses for energy in the Northern Hemisphere is space heating. This includes both residential and commercial applications where an area is heated above the ambient temperature. Energy has been so cheap in the US for so long that people think the number one choice for staying warm is to keep their home or office set at 72 deg. F.
This is not the assumption in the rest of the world. I spent several years working in the temperate climates of South America, in particular, Chile. For people in this part of the world, space heating is not the first choice. Instead, they just add another sweater. That being said, space heating is important in the US so it is something that solar energy proponents are really pushing.
One of the most cost effective ways to heat a home is with radiant floor heat. Combining solar and radiant floor heat makes a very affordable heating medium. It is very easy to incorporate in floor heating systems into a new home because whether the home has wooden floor joists or is on a concrete slab, the polyethylene tubing required for the hot water is easily added during construction. For an existing home it may be a little more difficult.
If an existing home has a crawl space then the tubing can still be strung between the existing joists. But, if it sets on a slab, about the only two options are to either cut into the slab or to lay out the tubing and then install a 2″ layer of floor cement over the top. Both of these are expensive and probably won’t offer a payback period that is acceptable. Most people who go this route do it because of their belief in alternative energy as opposed to the financial benefits to be gained.
Considering the load that space heating puts on the US energy grid, combining solar and radiant floor heat can add to a lot of savings.