+ Magical Places To See Christmas Lights In Ontario
· Updated September 15, 2022
Every year when the colour fades from the trees in late fall a whole new colour descends on Ontario! Holiday lights! Strung up across every city, small town, and tree youll see Christmas lights in Ontario. Its a time-honoured tradition to start decorating homes and businesses after Remembrance Day in Canada. And if youre looking for fun and festive things to do in Ontario then theres a light display, Christmas Market, or light festival near you!
Solar Lights Landscape Lighting
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The Uses Of Outdoor Solar Lights
Outdoor solar lights offer a wide range of uses.
1. Security
Many people use these lights for security purposes. You can position them around entrances to your home, like a garage door, to deter intruders. You may also place them in areas around your backyard that get very dark to help eliminate possible hiding places.
2. Decoration
A lot of people simply like the way outdoor solar lights look and use them for decorative purposes. They can help make your backyard, deck, or garden more enjoyable to look at in the evenings, too.
3. Events
Outdoor solar lights are awesome to use during events. They can work well for weddings, BBQs, parties, and neighborhood get-togethers, helping light up the outdoor area so that everyone can see clearly and enjoy the fun late into the night.
4. Practical
Outdoor solar lights can also serve the practical purpose of making your yard more usable after dark. Maybe youd like to get outside more in the evenings, but dont want to just sit in the dark. These lights give you an energy-efficient way to get outside more and for longer.
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What Are The Brightest Outdoor Solar Lights
One considerable drawback with solar landscape lights is that theyre not as bright as electric fixtures. We recommend that you choose a solar light fixture that has a built-in battery to provide up to eight hours of illumination, and a built-in sensor that will turn on automatically at dusk, and turn off at dawn.
Niagara Falls Winter Festival Of Lights
The award for the most popular Ontario light displays goes to the Ontario Power Generation Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls! Its the largest outdoor light festival in Canada and makes for the perfect excuse to plan a winter getaway to Niagara Falls! How can you resist one of the best waterfalls in the world, a fun-filled downtown, and a wonderland of lights? 2022 marks the 39th anniversary of the OPG Winter Festival of Lights and its now almost doubled in length! Plus, theres so much more to do and see!
The wondrous OPG Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls takes place from the end of November through to February. The festival is spread out with light displays across Niagara Falls, including the Dufferin Islands and along the Niagara Parkway. There are over 75 displays and three million lights! And the best part is its free! You can wander along the streets and pathways to take it all in or opt for the warmth of your car, as many of the light displays can be seen from the road. The total distance of the OPG Winter Festival of Lights route is eight kilometres. You can find downloadable maps for the route here.
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Christmas Lights In Ottawa
The Capital of Canada is home to a ton of fun things to do, one of the best winter festivals, and a bunch of great places to see Christmas lights in Ontario! Across Ottawa and in neighbouring towns youll find holiday drive-throughs and awesome light displays. A few of the most popular places for light displays in Ottawa include Christmas Lights Across Canada, Magic of Lights, and Country Christmas Nighttime Drive-Through.
Christmas Lights Across Canada
One of the best light displays in Ontario is Christmas Lights Across Canada. Every year from December through the beginning of January, downtown Ottawa and Parliament Hill put on a light show like no other. Christmas Lights Across Canada began illuminating the dark winter nights of Ontario more than 30 years ago.
The main attraction of Christmas Lights Across Canada is the light and sound show that is displayed across Parliament Hill. The presentation colourfully lights up the buildings and is paired with an entrancing soundtrack thats on a 15-minute loop every evening during the event. In celebration of the Winter Solstice, it will also be broadcast on television as IllumiNATION.
Magic of Lights
Country Christmas Nighttime Drive-Through
How We Tested The Outdoor Solar Lights
We researched popular outdoor solar lights of various styles and selected 27 to test in our Lab in Des Moines, Iowa, evaluating each on a wide and thorough array of attributes that included ease of assembly and installation, feature set, brightness, durability, and value.
After putting them together, we let all the lights charge in full sunlight for the time specified in their instructions. We then took each to a dark room to run through all of their features, including any motion sensors and lighting modes and noted how easy it was to cycle through those. For lights with motion sensors, we had testers exit the room, wait 2 minutes, then re-enter and note whether the lights turned on without any prompting. Then, we evaluated each light’s brightness by attempting to read a book under it.
Next, we wanted to see how each product withstood the elements, including rain, hail, and winter’s subfreezing temperatures. To simulate rain, we sprinkled water on them from a watering can “hail” took the form of a golf ball, dropped from 6 feet above the fixture and 4 feet above the solar panel. Then, we froze each light for an hour. After each test, we noted any changes and checked to see that all the features were still working.
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Things To Consider Before Getting Solar Lights For Garden
The thing that you need to consider is what do you want your solar lights for? Do you want to illuminate your home, light up a pathway, or perhaps you just want to make your garden look pretty? Whatever you want, you need a product that will match that. After that, you also want to think about specifications, such as height and runtime. There is no doubt that design is also important as you want your lights to look good. Weâll go through all the key features in more detail here.
Burlington Lakeside Festival Of Lights
Another fabulous free light display in Ontario can be found along the lakeshore in Burlington. This is a perfect place to go if youre looking for Christmas light displays near Toronto! For over 25 years the Burlington Festival of Lights has been shining a little light of whimsy into the hearts of locals and visitors alike and is an outdoor light festival not to be missed.
Set along Lake Ontario in Spencer Smith Park, the Burlington Festival of Lights is the perfect event to add to your holiday traditions. Throughout the park, youll wander past tens of thousands of themed light displays. You can even see many of the lights from this lakeside festival by driving along Lakeshore Road. Burlingtons Festival of Lights runs from November 26, 2021, to January 8, 2022.
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Uxbridge Optimist Fantasy Of Lights
Uxbridge is known as the Trail Capital of Canada as well as the setting for the fictional town in the television show Schitts Creek. This small town is full of fabulous things to do, especially during the holidays! During the festive season, theres a Christmas Market, North Pole Light Up Express Train, and one of the best free drive-thru light displays in Ontario!
For over 10 years Elgin Park in Uxbridge gets reimagined into a festive holiday playland! In previous years the Uxbridge Optimist Fantasy of Lights was a walk-through event. But in 2020 they pivoted to a drive-through event with incredible success!
The Fantasy of Lights is home to over 75 light displays created and developed by local businesses, schools, churches, and community groups. The drive-thru takes approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Light displays range from classic holiday characters like the Nutcracker and the Abominable Snow Monster to giant pieces like light-covered gingerbread homes. And the grand finale is a large light tunnel!
Lights On Stratford Winter Festival Of Lights
New in 2020, the Lights On Stratford Winter Festival of Lights brought light and hope during a trying time. Now its touted as one of the best Ontario winter light festivals! While theres a wealth of incredible things to do in Stratford throughout the year, dont forget to visit this fabulous city during the winter! With Christmas markets, a fun Christmas Trail, and so much more, youll find Christmas in Stratford a must addition to your list of winter getaways!
If youre looking for awesome free light displays in Ontario to check out this year then head to Stratford. The Winter Festival of Lights brings a host of amazing art installations and light displays throughout Stratford. The 2021 theme is Journey and explores the idea of travelling from one place to another. All the more reason to travel to Stratford this winter! The biggest draw in 2021 is the massive Sky Castle that covers 400 square metres and will be located in Market Square. The Sky Castle has 20 huge inflatable arches that play music and change colour.
There are a bunch of different light displays in Stratford for the Lights On Stratford Winter Festival of Lights. In the Shakespearean Gardens, youll find a thousand lights. On Tom Patterson Island youll find more dazzling lights, as well as on many of the businesses and other buildings throughout town. Be sure to check out their website here for a handy map of all the locations.
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Add Beauty And Function To Your Outdoor Space With Solar Lighting
Youve worked hard to make your yard a great place for family and friends to gather, but it isnt getting used as much as you would like. Adding solar lights to outdoor spaces can extend the hours your family has to enjoy the landscape. eBay has solar lights that can add decorative touches that encourage you and your guests to come together and also let you move about safely after the sun goes down.
Understanding how solar light fixtures work
Solar lights for sale use small solar panels to generate power. These may be on the individual fixtures or on a base that powers multiple lights. The more sun your solar panels are exposed to, the longer they will last. Many of the solar garden lights on eBay use LED bulbs.
How much sun do solar lights need?
This can depend on your individual solar panel, but most lights will require five or more hours of daylight to work well. Try to place your LED solar lights in outdoor locations that receive afternoon sun throughout the year.
Why should I add lights to my yard?
You can find light fixtures that are functional as well as decorative. LED solar lights are a cost-effective means of adding beauty and security to your yard. These are some more common reasons people give for adding lighting to their landscape:
Types of solar LED outdoor lights
There are many different types of solar lights for sale. These are some of the most common ones you will find:
Use Solar Lighting To Illuminate Borders And Greenery
If you have trained climbing plants up a fence or on the walls of your house, then consider integrating solar garden lighting ideas into the design to illuminate the foliage and blooms. The perfect partner for living wall ideas, they will bring an added dimension of character to your scheme and will extend the wall’s interest into the evening.
There are plenty of trellis ideas that would provide the perfect framework to the best climbing plants that would look great alongside solar garden lighting ideas.
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Use Solar Lighting Ideas For Low
If you dont have a power point for mains electricity outdoors, solar-powered lights can be used instead. They look pretty and are a versatile option that will fit with most schemes, as youre not dependent on a cable to the mains power supply. However, they dont throw much real light and only last as long as the sunlight charge. Therefore, if you live in an area with low-levels of sunlight, solar lights are best reserved for decorative lighting rather than essential illumination.
Fairy lights are brilliant for covering fences, screens or shrubs and creating a pretty backdrop to your space, while hanging solar lanterns paired with pretty candles provide the perfect atmospheric illumination for an al fresco evening.
Christmas Lights Near Me
Did you know you dont have to go far if youre looking for Christmas lights near you? Most small towns, cities, and municipalities put out holiday lights. For instance, the city of Barrie has a massive Christmas tree and a host of decorations throughout the downtown core. Plus, theres the Festival of Trees with a variety of fun and festive light displays along the waterfront trail in Heritage Park. So, be sure to check out your community event page for things going on near you.
Another tradition my family has is taking a drive on Christmas Eve throughout the neighbourhood to see all the homes and businesses decorated with blow-ups, Christmas lights, and other holiday decorations. And this has now become a fabulous trend with many counties and municipalities creating Google maps of all the places to go near you to see Christmas Lights. Last year I did the one in Barrie, Orillia, and Simcoe County. Some of these homes are like seeing the Griswolds Christmas movie come to life! With outstanding lights that cover the house, garage, and exterior, many are also synchronize the lights to music.
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Consider The Surrounding Wildlife
Artificial light can affect wildlife, disturbing garden birds, disorientating moths that use natural light to navigate, and affecting the breeding cycles of certain animals.
The key to minimizing disruption to any wildlife in your garden is two-fold. Firstly, stick to solar lights or warm, soft bulbs rather than bright, dazzling lights or floodlights. And secondly, think carefully about positioning: direct light down and choose step lights with hoods to reduce the glare.
Add Decorative Solar Stakes To Your Border
Solar garden lighting ideas are a great way to illuminate dark borders and add interest to your plot come nightfall. Drawing the eye down the length of the garden they provide a pretty backdrop, whether viewed while relaxing from the patio or from the window of your home.
Consider solar garden lights with interesting architectural structure to add height and character. These pretty Wild Fennel solar stakes are a natural fit amongst the tulips and will look pretty in the day time too.
Solar stakes are one of the easiest solar garden lighting ideas to install. Simply stake the lights in the location you want and then stake their adjoining solar panel out of sight, just make sure that it’s still in receipt of sunlight. Come nightfall your garden will be a blaze with pretty twinkling lights.
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How To Choose Outdoor Solar Lights
Once you have determined the purpose of the outdoor lighting, you need to consider the brightness, battery, and bulb type.
Brightness
The brightness of solar light is measured in terms of lumens which can range from 10 to 1500. Use the below as a guideline when purchasing your lights.
- Step Lights 10 to 100 lumens
- Wall Lights 50 to 185 lumens
- Walkway Lights 100 to 200 lumens
- Pool Solar Lights 200 to 400 lumens
- Motion Sensor Lights 300 to 900 lumens
- Flood Lights 700 to 1300 lumens
Create A Focal Point With A Selection Of Solar Pendants
Pendant lights aren’t just for dining room lighting ideas they can also make a beautiful statement as part of your patio lighting ideas. If you’re looking to add a few pendant lights above an outdoor dining table or an outdoor sitting area, then solar is the best option.
Unlike electric designs, solar garden lighting ideas require very few wires. While some designs have a wired panel that can be staked into the ground, some designs, like these pendants, have their solar panel attached to the shade and so have an almost magical appearance of illuminating without being plugged in.
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Questions To Ask Potential Solar Panel Companies:
- How long have you been in the business?
- Can you provide me with references?
- How do you charge, and what does that include?
- What do your services include?
- When can this job get done?
- What happens when the cost exceeds the budget? What about changes to materials or labor pricing?
- What will I need to provide?
- Are there any important considerations or concerns you foresee with this project?
- Do you have state certification?
- Will you come to my home for a free onsite consultation?
- Are you able to repair an older system?
- Can you provide me with a layout to see where the panels will go and what they will look like?
- Can you give me any information on Ontario solar rebate programs?
Find solar energy contractors and solar panel installation companies in Richmond Hill, ON on Houzz.Software for Solar Energy Dealers
