In order to enjoy your summerhouse throughout the whole year adding electricity is essential. Read through my guide on how to add electricity as well as some other home comforts which will enable you to enjoy endless hours in your new home from home.
Electricity
You need to ensure that the connecting wiring from your home to your garden building is protected by an armoured cable. You can decide whether this cable is ran above ground and clearly marked or buried in a trench.  The latter is the safer but unfortunately more labour intensive and time consuming option.
Do get help from a qualified electrician who will run a separate supply cable from your consumer unit to your new summerhouse.

Now for the technical part…… Inside you are required to have a separate lighting and power socket ring both of which need to be protected by RCD’s. Get a qualified electrician who is NICEIC approved to put the master switches just inside of your buildings doorway so you can turn everything off when you exit the summerhouse. An NICEIC approved electrician will issue certificates for all work they have carried out in accordance with the national standard BS 7671.

The type of lighting you use in your summerhouse is completely dependent on how you intend to use the room. Florescent tube lights give even light which is great for a home gym or studio. If you are planning to spend time working at a desk I would recommend adding spot lighting around your work area.

Telecoms
If you are looking to use your summer house as an office or simply planning to spend a great deal of time in it is worth getting a telephone point added. This can be done either by a local telecom engineer installing telephone or internet connections into your garden building or alternatively you can simply purchase an extension kit yourself.  You can thread a piece of cork onto a fishing line and use water pressure to push it through a hosepipe. Next tie the end of the fishing line to the telephone cable and pull it through. This method allows you to protect the line.

Heating
If your summerhouse does not have adequate heating installed, come the winter months this room will become redundant and unusable. Small ceramic or portable electrical heaters are a great cost effective way of heating your summerhouse if it is used as an occasional hobby room but if its purpose is as a home office, a more permanent heating system will be required. One or two oil filled radiators are a great option fitted along with a thermostat and timer.
Double or triple glazed windows will also help to keep the heat in and insulate your garden building.

Visit Jacks Garden Store for a great range of summerhouses. Here you will also find a fantastic range of alternative timber garden buildings.

Good Luck!

Gardener Jack

Outdoor  Lighting Designs and inspirations

Outdoor lighting it not purely about security. More and more of us are looking to use lighting to create an ambience within our gardens. Today our gardens can be used as outdoor rooms (weather permitting!) so getting the lighting right outside is just as important is getting it right inside the house. We are going to look at how the right mix of permanent lights, decorative lights and candlelight can really set your garden off and give it a magical glow!

Permanent Lighting

Permanent lighting in your garden needs to be wired into your mains electricity. To reduce the amount of work for yourself and to ensure that you put your lights in the right spot the first time, practice initially where you would like your lights to go by using torches. Think practically – walk to your front door or to your garage in the dark and see the places that really need lighting.
To make your garden appear larger use uplighters to shine against a back fence or wall. This trick will help to lengthen your garden’s appearance.

But remember, in design .. less is more. Individual light spots amongst the dark will help to create a wonderful magical atmosphere.

Key points to remember

• Use the right light bulbs, 40w are best as 50w bulbs can get hot and are not suitable close to your plants.
• Bear in mind what effect your lights will have on any neighbours, will they shine into a bedroom. Always try to be considerate.

Ambient Candlelight

Candlelight creates a fantastic atmosphere on a summers evening. It can make any garden party or outdoor supper feel magical. In order to ensure you create the wow factor, mix different kinds of lighting including tea lights and small and large lanterns. Tealights look great laid on the table and larger lanterns are very well suited hanging from trees or on standing points on the ground.
Remember to keep any open flame away from plants and pets. At the end of every evening scrape off any dried wax from your lanterns and tea light holders and store them indoors to ensure they remain in top condition and so can be used again and again.

Fairy Lighting

These look fab in any garden and your lights can be hung almost anywhere, from a tree , on your house or around a walkway or wall. The range of fairy lights currently available is vast and you can choose whether to purchase ones which run on electricity or are solar powered.

Take your time to establish whether you are looking for traditional fairy lights, or more contemporary lights in coloured balls or mini lanterns. Net lights and curtain lights are also another option available and can be used on a wall or large window. Rope lighting is also available but can sometimes be considered a little tacky and you may run the risk of your guests feeling they are at some naff pub disco.

Do please bear in mind that less is more .. too many lights in one small area can look overdone and garish.

So to conclude, take your time plan carefully and with the right mix you can create a wonderful magical area within your garden which people will remember and adore!

Good Luck

Gardener Jack

Which? Gardening recently put solar lighting products to the test to reveal just how effective they are. 13 widely available solar post lights and spot lights were put to the test to find out just how practical a solution these lights are in helping you to navigate your garden after dark or whether they are purely a decorative item.

Solar lighting enables you to use the days sunlight to light your garden on an evening after the sun has set. No plugs are required, this method of lighting is economical and eco-friendly. Whats more as ‘no wiring in’ is required your solar lights can be moved around your garden whenever you feel the need for a change.

The question on the mind of the skeptical gardener is… ‘Do they really work during a cloudy typical Britsh summer day or on those wintery nights?’

Well the majority of the solar lights tested produced a decent amount of light in both clear summery and cloudy wintery conditions, however the length of time they shone did vary. Expect at least four hours of light from a decent solar lighting product, but do bear in mind the amount of light they give off is simply enough to enable you to keep within your borders!!

When shopping for your solar garden lighting consider:
 
LEDS – Light Emitting Diodes
This type is smaller and more energy effecient than the bulb type but due to the size they do not give off a great deal of light.

Batteries
All require the use of batteries

The Solar Panel
The larger the better. Some solar panels can be angled to allow maximum light capture where as others are a fixed panel on top of the light.

Remote Panels
A great idea if the area you want lighting in the evening isn’t in full sun during the day. Please remember that if the panel is a multi light powering facility it will require higher battery power.

On/Off switch
A light sensor that switches off the LED at dawn and on at dusk. You will find some lights that can have an over-ride switch but beware this will usually turn off the solar panel as well as the bulb so you cannot leave the light to charge over several days without it using the energy to light your garden on an evening.