The Best Outdoor Light Bulbs for Patios, Backyards, and More

Do you think your home or garden is too dark than it should be? It’s time to illuminate it with light bulbs for the outdoors.

It is crucial to light the surroundings of every house, or how bright the garden in front of your house is. Thanks to illuminating these areas, your home can have a beautiful view in the evening. It is a very pleasing thing for every person to come to a sunny location. Seeing your home brightly when you return home from work will make you feel much different. Or when you want to give an invitation to the garden of your home, beautiful lighting will make your invitation even more attractive. Moreover, this lighting helps you and your family sleep peacefully by making your home safer at night.

You can read most of the information about the light bulbs you need for all this lighting, what you should pay attention to when purchasing and what kind of relationship between insects and lights in our article.

If you’re ready, let’s start!

Motion Sense

If you want the Light to be lit only when you are there, getting a motion-sensitive light can make your job easier. Thanks to its sensors, it detects you and turns the Light on. If it does not see motion for a certain period, the Light turns off automatically. In this way, you will not have to worry about forgetting the Light on, and you will avoid waste. The most common sensor used in these lamps is the Passive Infrared sensor (PIR-Passive Infrared or Pyroelectric). An infrared receiver sensor that monitors the temperature change in the environment detects the movement when there is a rapid temperature change between the environment and the object.

How many watts/lumens should the Light be?

Power values ​​were taken into account when comparing two incandescent bulbs. Because the more powerful bulb means more Light, it gives. However, with the introduction of LED technology in our lives, this comparison technique has changed. Now, when two lights use the same wattage of electricity, their brightness can be different. Simply put, while one 20W LED bulb lights up your living room, you might not get the same brightness when you use two of another 30W led bulbs. The result we will draw here is the difference between watts and lumen. Watt indicates the electricity used by the bulb, while the lumen is the measure of the amount of light emitted.

So how many lumens should the bulbs we buy for the outside?

Let’s examine it together.

The lighting level is expressed in a unit called lux. Lumen value per square meter equals to lux. While 500 lux lighting is required in offices, 100 lux lighting is sufficient in living rooms. A tennis court should receive 500 lux, and a swimming pool should receive 300 lux light. At this point, current lighting requirements should be reviewed according to the application type. For landscape use, we recommend bulbs with a minimum of 500, recommended around 600-800 lumens. You can adjust the brightness you want by increasing/decreasing the number of bulbs. Also, keep in mind that the height of your bulb from the ground will affect the illumination.

Which light bulb type is the best?

Before talking about which bulb type to choose, let’s get to know the bulb types.

Incandescent Bulbs

It is a type of bulb used for a long time. Since it works according to the principle of heating the filament, the filament melts over time, and the bulb becomes unusable. It gets too hot. Its life is short, and efficiency is low.

Halogen Bulbs

They are the same as an incandescent lamp in structure, but unlike incandescent, the lamp contains halogen gas. Halogen lamps are more durable than incandescent and emit more Light.

Fluorescent Bulbs

The fluorescent lamp is a discharge tube filled with low pressure, for example, mercury vapor. Ultraviolet radiation occurs when electrical current flows through mercury vapor. This radiation hits the phosphor, causing the phosphor to radiate. Fluorescent lamps are more efficient than incandescent lamps. It is because heat losses are less.

CFL Bulbs

It means the Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL). The operating logic is the same as that of a fluorescent lamp. Being compact and being more efficient than standard bulbs has made it widespread.

LED Bulbs

They mean a light-emitting diode (LED) and have a very long life and high efficiency. Their use is gradually increasing thanks to their long life.

LM / BULB TYPE	INCODENCANT	HALLOGEN	CFL	LED
450 LM	40 W	29 W	9 W	8 W
800 LM	60 W	43 W	14 W	13 W
1100 LM	75 W	53 W	19 W	17 W
1600 LM	100 W	72 W	23 W	20 W
LIFE	1 Year	1-3 Years	6-10 Years	15-25 Years
SAVING	–	Up to %30	Up to %75	Up to %80

If you care about energy saving, choose bulbs with LED or CFL. With this choice, you will get a brighter light, you will be able to use the product for a longer time, and your electricity bill will be lower.

Waterproof Feature

One of the most critical elements to consider is waterproof if you are looking for an outdoor lamp. When you use a non-waterproof lamp backyard, the situation can lead to a breakdown of your electricity grid in the rain. Choose waterproof lamps if you want your lamp to work smoothly in all weather conditions and to prevent damage to your electrical system.

Cold Weather Conditions

Since LED bulbs do not heat up quickly, they can be preferred in cold weather. Also, led bulbs can work up to -40 degrees, and the Light they emit becomes brighter in cold weather. Incandescent bulbs heat up pretty quickly in cold weather. An alternative to LED bulbs, you can try CFL bulbs. However, incandescent bulbs are not well suited for cold weather.

Br30 Light Bulb

Br30 Light bulb is a type of Light bulb called reflective light bulb used in general area lighting or directional lighting such as parking lights. It is a measurement showing the diameter of the front of the bulb.

Why do insects turn to Light?

Insects, which can perceive the Light of different wavelengths from infrared to ultraviolet, use it to find food, determine the direction, and protect from dangers.

How does Light affect insects?

Insects determine their direction using natural light sources such as sunlight and moonlight. Unlike sunlight and moonlight, when it comes to artificial light sources, the distance between the Light source and the incident angle of the Light changes significantly during the insect’s movement, which causes the creature to be disoriented.

Do all insects go to the Light?

Phototaxy is the movement of living things according to Light. Creatures with positive phototaxis move towards the light source when exposed to light, while those with negative phototaxis move away from the Light source. Insects moving around Light have positive phototaxis. Cockroaches, which are active at night, are an example of a creature with negative phototaxis.

Will any yellow bulb keep bugs away?

According to the research results, the Incandescent lamp attracts the insects the most, followed by the fluorescent light, halogen lamp, LED lamp with cold color temperature, and yellow lamp. The lamps that attract insects the least, interestingly, are not those that claim to attract insects less. According to the findings, the Light that attracts insects the least is the warm color temperature LED.

And we understand from this that there is no particular light that works to repel insects, but even if we cannot drive them out, knowing which Light attracts them less, we do not invite them.

#1 Best Design: Cppslee LED Flame Light Bulb

Are you looking for a Light bulb for cool decoration? These flame effect led bulbs are just for you. Whether you are looking for a Light bulb for Halloween or any decoration, it will very well satisfy your need. The ambiance of the place you put it will change a lot with the incredible atmosphere it provides. Get the air you want with four different modes: Flame emulation mode, breathing mode, general Light mode, and gravity-induced mode.

Nevertheless, if you’re going to leave these lights outdoor permanently, its non-waterproof does not allow you to do it. Also, customers report that there is a possibility that it cannot work in hot and damp weather. Another aspect that receives the most complaints is that the mode changes automatically when you turn the product off. Failure to save the mode you last set may cause you to struggle with decor.

#2 Best Durable: Sunthin Patio/Backyard Light Bulbs

Do you live in a place with constant rain and want to light the entrance/garden of your home/office? These bulbs are snowproof and waterproof, allowing lighting even in the worst weather conditions. Thanks to its shatterproof feature, you do not have to be afraid if you drop it due to an accident, it will not break. Thanks to its brightness-adjustable feature (Dimmable), you can adjust your light’s brightness according to the environment. Also, get rid of the dark wherever you want in minutes thanks to its easy installation.

Yet, besides being dimmable, it needs a dimmer, and you have to buy it separately. It means an additional expense. Some consumers reported that the outer material of the bulbs melted after some time of use. Besides, some other users stated that two bulbs inside the packages were missing or not working.

#3 Best House Entrance: Torchstar Dusk to Dawn Light Bulb

TORCHSTAR LED A19 bulbs that turn on themselves when they detect motion will give you great comfort. Offering three different light color types, including daylight, soft white, and yellow, this Light allows you to order whatever color you want. The 800 lumens light output offers you bright light. Thanks to Dusk-to-dawn’s feature, turn on automatically when the sun goes down and turn it off when the sun rises to help keep your home more secure and saves energy compared to regular LED lights.

Still, there are some complaints that the light’ sensor reacts late to the motion. When sunlight hits the bulb, there can be some problems with daylight sensors, which leads to flickering. Also, it can stop working after using it for a while.

#4 Best Smart: Philips Hue Outdoor Bulb

Have you always wanted to turn on your lights with a word? It is possible with Philips smart bulbs. These bulbs, which can work with your smart home system or digital assistant (Apple Homekit or Alexa), allow you to control your Light from your mobile phone with the application you can install on your smartphone. You can adjust the brightness, color, or time of your Light with this application. Thanks to its weatherproof feature, it can continue to work in weather conditions such as rain, so you can easily use it outside.

However, it needs a hue bridge to manage it via a smartphone and connect it to your home. Also, after some time of use, some users reported flickering. Also, take into account that it may perform less than its expected performance in cold weather.

#5 Best No-hub & Control: Sunco WiFi LED Smart Bulb

You can get this bulb if you want to control your Light with your phone without buying any other gadgets. It offers you a remote control option by connecting to the wi-fi network in your home without the need for another bridge. It also allows you to set a lot of color options and Light temperature. If you are going to throw a party in your garden, you can use this lamp. It brightens up the air and changes color according to the song in sync with the music.

However, when we consider customer feedback, we can say that the most complained thing is that the lamp is tough to install. It is challenging to connect to the wi-fi network and use the app. Besides, the handicap of not being long-lasting and being sensitive/deteriorating, which is the problem of smart bulbs, is also present in this product.

We chose these five products among most of them, brought them together with you, and shared the sides we liked and disliked with you. But the remaining products may be worth looking at and examining for you.

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LED Light Bulb

You have learned what you need to pay attention to while buying a light bulb for outdoor, the difference between lumens and watts, and the relationship of light to insects. Now you can consider the products you find yourself with the information you learned in this article. If you found this article useful, you can find reviews of many other products by regularly following our site.

Which type of light do you think is the best?

Will lights that are more efficient than led lights come to the market in the future?

What do you think is the place and importance of light in our lives?

We would be glad to share your ideas, corrections, or additions by leaving a comment below.