How to Choose Lighting for Your Fountain

The proper lighting can transform nearly any object from ordinary to beautiful. When combined with flowing water, lighting creates an eye-catching shimmering effect that casts watery reflections onto nearby surfaces for a dreamy, tranquil ambiance. Many fountains ' particularly wall fountains - come with built-in lighting designed to enhance the beauty of that particular fountain so you don't have to purchase lighting separately (like the Nojoqui Falls Tripe Slate Tech and Copper Fountain pictured). Most fountains, however, don't come with lighting included. So, how do you choose the right lighting for your fountain? Here are some simple tips.

The most popular choice in fountain lighting is submersible fountain lights. Submersible lighting is placed underwater and shines up through the water onto the fountain for a beautiful sparkling effect. Rather than just lighting up the main part of the fountain, it highlights and illuminates streams of water as they flow into the basin. Submersible fountain lighting often comes with interchangeable colored filters that allow you to change the look and feel of the room where you place the fountain. Go for yellow or amber colored filters for a subtle glow, blue or green for a peaceful stress-reducing effect or dramatic red for parties.

Some tabletop and wall fountains come equipped with clip-on easel-style lighting that highlights the fountain from above. This style of lighting works for some people, but others may find that it distracts from the beauty of the fountain design. In that case, you can remove the easel-style lighting and choose submersible lighting instead.

Submersible fountain lighting can be purchased in a variety of styles. The type you choose depends upon the size of the fountain basin. Most fountains, with the exception of very large outdoor fountains, use standard 5-watt or 10-watt fountain lights. Whether you choose 5 or 10 watts simply depends upon how bright you'd like the light to be. For large garden fountains and ponds, 20 watt or 50 watt halogen lights are recommended.

Floor fountains, garden fountains and pond fountains can also be illuminated with above-water lighting that acts as a spotlight on the decorative part of the water feature. This type of lighting is similar to the lighting used to illuminate the foliage of trees at night. The Pond, Water Fountain & Garden Light (pictured) is a great option since it can be used either in or out of the water, giving you a range of options to find the best lighting setup for your fountain. It is particularly well suited for fountains without basins such as pond and pool spitters and garden fountains with hidden basins buried underground and covered with river rocks. This light can also be purchased in an economical set of 3.

For a wide range of fountain lighting options, see the Fountain Lights category at KineticFountains.com.