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Sprinklites Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting & Micro-Sprinklers Review

The Sprinklites Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting & Irrigation System is most definitely a unique product. They are a combination of outdoor decor, garden lighting, water feature/fountain, and micro-sprinkler; all in one unit. The Sprinklites consist of a set of highly detailed acrylic sculptures, shaped like butterflies, hummingbirds and dragonflies. Each garden light sculpture is about 7 inches across, so they are large enough to be seen easily, but not so large that they become a distraction in the landscape. Each sculpture contains a set of very bright LED lights that slowly change colors from red, to violet, then blue, aqua, green, yellow/orange, and back to red. They can also be set to display a single non-changing color. A light sensor turns them on at dusk and off at sunrise. The outdoor lighting can also be set to run continuously all day and night, they are bright enough to be visible in subdued daylight such as a shaded area. In addition to the decorative shape and light features, each unit has a small micro-sprinkler or stream nozzle that attaches to it, allowing it to serve as a decorative watering device or fountain. The micro-sprinkler feature is completely independent of the landscape lighting, the garden lights will turn on at dusk even if the sprinklers are off. The sprinklers may be run at any time of the day or night and only need to run when you need to water. The Sprinklites may also be used as a decorative fountain. If you don't want to waste water when using them as a fountain you will need to purchase a small fountain pump and a bowl of some type to catch the water and recycle it. When used as a fountain the Sprinklites may be controlled like any other fountain: they may run continuously, be controlled by a timer, or controlled by a motion sensor so they only run when someone is nearby.

To be very honest, I was not very excited when I first was asked to review the Sprinklites. When it comes to irrigation they are definitely a specialty nitch product! I was more than a little skeptical about them, but I must say that they won me over in a hurry once I got a set and started playing with them. I installed them next to my spa and it is mesmerizing to watch the outdoor lights change colors at night while sitting in the spa! Since the area around my spa already has irrigation, I have them set up so they squirt tiny streams of water into my spa. So far everyone who has seen them loves them. Normally when I test a new product I offer to send it back after I am done with the review. That is not going to happen with the Sprinklites. I love them and I'm not sending them back!!!

 

Sprinklites as an Outdoor Garden Decor:

Strictly as a simple garden decor or yard ornament the Sprinklites look great. The 7" clear acrylic bodies on stainless steel rods catch the sunlight during the day and are attractive. They are not "in your face" noticeable to the extend that they might detract from an attractive landscape planting. But the real show comes as the greens of the landscape fade in the twilight and the garden lights built into the Sprinklites come on. These are not cheap low-output LED units. They put out a bright light that is noticeable from a considerable distance. They definitely will become the focal point of the landscape after dark. When left in the default color-changing mode they slowly shift from one color to another and are fascinating to watch. At first you don't really notice the shift in colors as it is slow and the colors morph into one another rather than abruptly changing. Once you notice it is hard to stop watching them. My 5-year-old grandson is a typical young boy with an attention span of about 15 seconds. He didn't even notice that they changed colors until I pointed it out. Then he sat and watched them for about 5 minutes, calling out the name of each color as they shifted. What more can I say to describe the hypnotic effect they have? I think that is the longest I've ever seen him sit still!

Sprinklites for Irrigation:

Sprinklites, from an irrigation perspective, are an adaptation of the micro-sprinkler. Micro-sprinklers are small sprinklers designed to water a very small area, typically a single plant per each sprinkler. Micro-sprinklers are not very efficient for watering entire planters, they perform best when used as supplemental watering for specific plants. For example; let's look at a front yard that is planted primarily in low water use plants, but in a small, high-visibility area of the yard there is a focal point planted with tropical accent plants. A typical irrigation system for this type of yard would have a single valve drip system that is used to irrigate the low water using plants. But the tropical accent plants need more water than the others, and would prefer a nice spray to cool and wash down the leaves as opposed to a drip system that waters only the root areas. Micro-sprinklers are ideal for this situation, the installation of a micro-sprinkler spraying on each of the high water use plants will allow them to grow lush and thrive. Another common use for micro-sprinklers is to water potted plants, especially ones where the pot may be periodically moved and you don't want a tube attached to it, or where it would be difficult to hide an ugly water tube snaking up the side of the pot. In this situation a micro-sprinkler can be installed next to the pot so that it sprays water into the pot. Since an accent planting is the focal point of the landscape, the Sprinklites fit in perfectly at this location. By only providing extra water to the water loving plants that need it they reduce water waste.

The big disadvantage of most micro-sprinklers is that they tend to be high maintenance. They need to be mounted above the ground level, so this means they are typically mounted on long upright plastic tubes, which are pretty ugly. Even worse, the tubes are fragile and tend to get bent, knocked over, and/or accidentally broken so they must be attached to a stake, and then you have an ugly stake to look at. For this reason most landscape architects and irrigation experts, myself included, won't even consider using micro-sprinklers. The Sprinklites solve this problem by attaching the micro-sprinkler to a permanent and durable support structure- a decorative yard ornament mounted on a stainless steel rod. Now the micro-sprinklers are no longer ugly!

Sprinklites as a Water Feature or Garden Fountain:

This is how I use the Sprinklites in my own yard. There are a number of ways you can use them as a water feature if you have some creative talents. As mentioned I hooked them up to my spa so that they act like a fountain spraying a stream of water into the spa. You could also set up a bowl for them to spray into, then use a small pump to recirculate the water. They could be used to spray an arc of water over a walkway, using a motion sensor to activate them (this is often seen at amusement parks and at shopping malls.) Some gardeners with a sense of humor actually spray people with small streams of water as a gag, Sprinklites would work perfect for that- if that's your idea of fun! (Fountains that spray people are actually a very old joke, examples of them in Europe date back at least to the Roman era.)

Field Test of Sprinklites:

Gary Hartz is the retired engineer who invented Sprinklites. When I received an email from him asking me to review them I was not very excited about it. To be honest I really didn't see the point of them. They sounded to me like a solution in search of a problem. But I try to keep an open mind about new products, and upon thinking about it I could see that they might be useful as a supplemental irrigation source as described earlier in this review. So I agreed to take a look if he would send me a set.

My first impression of the Sprinklites came when the box containing them was delivered on my porch and I reached down to pick it up. The box was HEAVY! My first thought was that it must be a package of brick samples. (I'm a landscape architect, I actually do get samples of things like paving bricks.) I opened it up and found out why it was so heavy, the Sprinklites parts are very substantial, plus there are 6 heavy steel stakes used to hold the Sprinklites in place. I have to admit I was expecting a set of cheap Christmas light-type yard ornaments similar to those I had seen at a local big-box discount store. So I was immediately struck by the quality of the Sprinklites.

The acrylic ornaments themselves are detailed, almost sculpture quality work, and made of very heavy, thick acrylic. They look very much like clear glass crystal. There are 6 Sprinkle ornament/sprinklers in the set: 2 hummingbirds, 2 dragonflies, and 2 butterflies. Each acrylic ornament has a set of 3 LED lights imbedded into the middle of the ornament. When the lights are turned on the light "flows" through the acrylic ornament so that the entire ornament glows. The ornaments are mounted on the end of a 18" long stainless steel rod that can be easily bent to position the ornament at just about any angle desired. At the base of the stainless steel rod is a small plastic control box with a push button that allows you to select a specific color for the ornament light, or you can set it to slowly morph between colors. Each of the 6 ornaments are staked in place with one of the previously mentioned heavy steel stakes. An optional threaded steel extension rod is included in case you wish to raise the ornament higher up. The total height of the ornament with the extension is a little over 36 inches above ground. The ornaments and stainless rod assemblies may also be attached to a fence, pole, trellis or any thing else you wish to use as a support.

The lights are low voltage LEDs and a UL listed plug-in type transformer is included in the kit. Just plug it into a ground-fault protected outdoor electrical socket. The low voltage wiring for the lights is all designed similar to extension cords with plugs, you just plug them in to each other and then a water resistant screw style casing secures them so they don't get wet or pull apart. It is all very well designed, simple to install, and high quality. A photocell unit is included that turns the lights on at dusk and off at dawn. The photocell unit is located near the lights, not at the transformer. This way the lights turn on and off based on the light level at the lights, not the light level at the transformer. A timer can be used, but is not included as it isn't particularly needed. The LED lights are so energy efficient that they use less power than a timer would use, so it is cheaper to just leave them on all night than it would be to use a timer to turn them off.

The micro-sprinklers fit into the "mouth" of each ornament and a vinyl tube is snaked back to the water source. In addition to the micro-sprinklers the set also comes with tiny stream nozzles. These stream nozzles shoot a single tiny stream of water rather than spraying the water like a sprinkler. When using the stream nozzle the water shoots a considerable distance (over 10 feet) unless you throttle the flow. The stream nozzles are ideal for fountains or for shooting water into flower pots. You can throttle the flow to control how far they shoot by partially closing your water supply valve. Another option for throttling the flow is to crimp the vinyl tubing slightly using a piece of bent wire. For a more accurate and elegant solution you can buy very small valves that fit on the 1/4" tubing, they are often sold at stores that handle drip irrigation supplies. All the other necessary parts to install the Sprinklites are included in the kit and installation is very easy. I did a "dry run" set-up of the lights (but not the micro-sprinklers!) in my family room just to familiarize myself with all the parts and test them. I then took it apart and installed the entire system in my yard in a couple of hours. I think I could have done it in less than an hour, but the existing planting in the area where I put it is very dense and I had some trouble getting the wires and water tubes through the dense foliage (see photos.) Here's a tip; I found that if I taped the tubes and wires to a long pole I could use the pole to shove them under the plants which was much easier than trying to push them through with my hands. I already had a water faucet outlet and electrical power outlet in the area where I installed the Sprinklites, if you need to install either a water valve or power outlet that will take considerably more time and skill. If you decide to do something fancier like hooking them up as a fountain to a recirculating pump that will of course take a lot more time and planning.

Results:

My Sprinklites have been operating nightly for several months and I haven't had any problems. Shortly after I installed the Sprinklites I noticed that one of the lights was stuck on a single color rather than changing colors. I simply reset it by pushing the button on the light control unit, the problem has not recurred. It's possible I accidentally caused the problem myself while playing around with it. The micro-sprinkler spray pattern is not very uniform, but this is typical of most micro-sprinklers. I wouldn't try watering more than a single plant with each micro-sprinkler. The wires and 1/4" water tubing are also susceptible to damage from gardening activities. Care needs to be taken to not cut or break them. One solution would be to run the wires and tubes between the Sprinklites inside a piece of 1" polyethylene tube, so that the polyethylene tube serves as a protective sleeve. Then bury the tube leaving only the ends sticking up out of the ground. If you want to seal the ends of the sleeves to keep out dirt and critters, try latex caulk. Secure the sleeves or tubes in place with wire staples, a piece of a wire coat hanger works good as a staple or you can buy metal staples at drip irrigation supply stores. I recommend that you don't use plastic stakes, they pull out of the ground too easily. If you have a lot of minerals in your water you may notice some build up on the acrylic figures and the micro-sprinkler nozzles. You may need to periodically wipe clean the figures. Mineral buildup on micro-sprinklers is a normal occurrence, they are hard to clean so the normal procedure is to replace them periodically. If you do want to try cleaning them try using a calcium deposit remover solution and soft toothbrush. Mineral buildup is not a problem unique to the Sprinklites, it is common for all types of sprinklers and drip emitters in areas where the water has a high mineral content.

Conclusion:

Overall I am very pleased with the Sprinklites, they work acceptably well as micro-sprinklers and are excellent as a decorative light feature and landscape ornament. They will definitely attract attention!

 

 

 

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