How much electricity does patio lighting use in Ottawa?

Patio lighting is one of the most energy-efficient outdoor features you can add to an Ottawa home, especially with modern LED technology. The actual electricity cost is low enough that it shouldn't be a deciding factor in your lighting plan, but understanding the numbers helps you make informed choices about fixture count, brightness levels, and run times.

A typical Ottawa patio lighting setup might include 10-15 LED fixtures: a mix of path lights, step lights, accent spotlights, and perhaps a string of overhead lights on a pergola. Individual LED landscape fixtures use between 2 and 8 watts each, with most falling in the 3-5 watt range. A 15-fixture system averaging 4 watts per fixture draws 60 watts total, which is less than a single old incandescent light bulb. Running that system for 6 hours per evening, which covers a typical summer night from dusk until bedtime, consumes 0.36 kilowatt-hours per night.

At Ottawa's current Hydro Ottawa rates, which run approximately 10-13 cents per kWh depending on time-of-use pricing and your rate class, that 15-fixture system costs roughly 4-5 cents per evening to operate. Over the six-month active patio season from May through October, that's approximately $7-9 total. Even running the lights year-round for pathway safety or aesthetic purposes, you're looking at $14-18 annually. The transformer itself consumes a small additional amount of power, typically 3-5 watts, but that adds only about $2-3 per year.

String lights use slightly more energy per run because they have more individual light points. A 15-metre commercial LED string light set uses about 15-25 watts depending on bulb count and brightness. Two strings across a pergola at 20 watts each adds 40 watts, bringing a full lighting system total to around 100 watts. That still costs less than $30 per year if operated every evening year-round.

For context, a single 1,500-watt patio heater running for 3 hours uses more electricity than your entire lighting system would use in a month. An outdoor hot tub uses 50-75 kWh per month in winter. Patio lighting is negligible by comparison.

Ottawa's time-of-use electricity pricing actually works in your favour for patio lighting. Lights run during off-peak hours, evenings and weekends, when rates are lowest. If you're on Hydro Ottawa's ultra-low overnight rate, the cost drops even further. This isn't something you need to plan around; it just happens naturally since you're using patio lights when rates are cheapest.

Where energy use can creep up is with older halogen landscape lighting systems. A halogen fixture uses 20-50 watts compared to an LED's 3-5 watts for equivalent brightness. If you have an existing halogen system from a previous homeowner, replacing the bulbs with LED equivalents can cut energy use by 80% or more. Most 12-volt halogen fixtures accept LED replacement bulbs without changing the housing or wiring.

The bottom line for Ottawa homeowners is that LED patio lighting costs so little to run that the monthly impact on your Hydro Ottawa bill will be essentially invisible. Your design decisions should focus on light quality, placement, and durability rather than energy consumption. If you're working with a patio contractor on a new outdoor space, lighting adds negligible operating cost to what is otherwise a significant home investment.

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Looking for experienced contractors? The Ottawa Construction Network connects Ottawa homeowners with qualified professionals:

• 613Bins
• JC Carpentry
• Nic’s D.U.C.T Works Inc
• Prism Services
• Renovo Construction