How to Choose the Best LED Bollard Light for Your Garden

If you’ve started to research investing in LED bollards lights for your garden, you may have noticed that they range broadly in price. With prices ranging from around £35 to over £500. We’ve put this short guide together to explain some of the reasons why.

The main reason for such a wide variance in price for lighting products in general is that they’re made from different types of materials. Ranging from lower cost die-cast aluminium to actual wooden timber construction. While the lower cost bollard lights have shorter guarantee periods of 1-2 years, the premium designs come with guarantee periods of up to 7 years. If you pay more, they should last longer.

They also contain different LED chip types which produce a different quality of light and considerably different levels of brightness, which is measured in lumens. Some of the more expensive designs contain 3 LED chips in 1.

Mains Voltage or Solar?

The obvious pros of installing mains voltage LED bollard lights are that you’ll always have power and won’t have to rely on any other external factors. If you’re fortunate enough to have existing mains cables, then mains voltage is your best option…But if your garden doesn't have cables and it isn’t feasible to run them due to obstacles and the additional costs of materials and labor, then solar can be considered as a wire-free solution.

Cheap solar power garden lights from unrecognised lighting brands tend to be underwhelming. With minimal levels of brightness and substandard build quality. If you live in a built up area you can probably look out of your window and see exactly what I mean by peaking at your neighbors efforts...But what if a manufacturer solved these problems and produced a good quality product that really works?

Solar Powered Lighting That Doesn't Cost the Earth

One of the downsides of solar powered outdoor lighting is that its not very bright and the light starts to diminish at night-time as it loses its charge and just when you need it. JCC’s latest range of solar LED bollards utilise the latest advances in solar photovoltaic technology, allowing you to harness the suns energy all year round.

This is an industry first from one of the bigger and more recognised lighting manufacturers who’ve got a reputation to protect. With a charging time of 6 to 8 hours, they produce up to 7 hours of lighting run time and have a very impressive 250 lumen output. This is almost as bright as an old 50W GU10 halogen lamp.

These potentially game-changing LED bollards are easy to install and just need to be physically positioned wherever you want them. JCC offer a genuine guarantee period of 3 years (2 years for the battery pack) and a life expectancy of 36,000 hours. If you use them for 3 hours per day, that's over 32 years and the Lithium-ion battery pack can be replaced.

Fitted with the latest, longer lasting lithium-ion batteries, you’re getting a great quality product with some remarkable specs. Also fitted with a PIR (Passive Infra-Red) sensor that automatically dims the lights down to 15% when nobody is around to reduce energy consumption and save the battery. The PIR has a range of up to 6 metres.

These highly energy efficient bollards consume only 2 watts of energy, giving you an efficacy of 125 lumens per watt, and that energy is all free! They come with everything you need including a mounting spike.

A Multitude of Finishes & Styles

The most popular finishes of bollard lights have always been black or stainless steel, while anthracite has become an increasingly popular choice in recent years. Other finishes you might not be aware of are made from real timber, with the Collingwood Lighting collection.

Timber bollard lights from Collingwood are available in 3 different finishes that include oak, iroko or sapele. What better way to compliment your outdoor space than to use a light fitting that’s constructed from the same materials?

The natural timber look really blends into your environment. The oak version is the lightest finish, iroko offers a more durable option with a darker shade, while sapele has more of a red and brown shade to it and is also harder and more durable.

Timber bollards can be treated to help them to maintain their original colour shades and to provide additional protection against the elements. Each finish is available in 3 colour temperatures of extra warm white 2700K, warm white 3000K and cool white 4000K; as well as options for cable entry points.

Collingwood also produce bollards in other finishes such as black as well as mains voltage versions that don't need an additional LED driver.

Garden Landscaping Lighting Design

If you're not sure which type of LED bollard to choose and need to help with your design, we work closely with leading lighting manufacturers such as Collingwood, JCC and Integral who we can work with to produce your very own lighting design for your garden project.

Get in touch with us on: 01706 521188 or email: [email protected] to get your lighting design and project based quotation.