Outdoor Lantern Lights

The three parts of outdoor lantern lights

The frame sets the style. A pointed roof with a finial and turned corner posts is the traditional reading and suits brick, stone and older houses. A flat cap with straight uprights is transitional. A slim square body with no roof at all is the modern version and belongs on concrete, render and dark cladding.

The glass sets the night effect. Clear shows the source, ribbed and seeded break it into lines and points, frosted hides it and turns the body into an even block of light. At eye level, frosted is easier to live with.

The base sets the use. The same body appears as a table piece, a floor piece with taller proportions, a pillar cap and a portable version with a handle. Deciding where it stands narrows the range faster than deciding how it looks.

Sizing outdoor lantern lights for a terrace

On a table, stay under about 14 inches tall so the body does not block a face across the table. On the floor beside seating, 16 to 24 inches works, and a group at two different heights reads better than a matched pair. On a step or a low wall, small and low is right, because the job is to mark the edge.

A group of three in one family, at three heights, is the arrangement most often photographed and it holds up in a real garden. Two identical pieces flanking a door is the other one that works. What rarely works is a single medium body alone in the middle of a wide terrace.

Which outdoor lantern for which spot

Lantern type	Best in	What it does	Price here
Post top and pillar	A deck rail, a gate pier, a fence line	A marker on top of a post rather than beside it	$149 to $649
Lamp post lanterns	A driveway, a front path	Height at the roadside with a classic outline	$149 to $699
Floor lanterns	A terrace corner, a balcony	A standing column on a surface with no fixing	$229 to $969
Portable and tabletop	An outdoor table, a step, a path edge	Light you carry out and bring back in	$149 to $429
Glass panel lanterns	A doorway, a courtyard, a patio	A framed glow with the source hidden inside	$229 to $899
Hanging and cages	A pergola, a branch, a hook	A lantern hung rather than stood on the ground	$359 to $439

What the specifications mean

IP65: A body sealed against dust and against water jets. Every lantern on this page carries it, which is the baseline for anything left outside through a season rather than brought in after each evening.
Solar powered: A panel on the body charges a cell by day and the lantern runs at night. Most of this page works this way, and several models offer a wired version of the same body. Output depends on direct sun on the panel.
Integrated LED, not replaceable: The diodes sit inside a sealed body with no socket. Nearly every lantern here is built that way, since sealing is easier without a removable lamp. The color temperature on the page is fixed for its life.
Post top mounting: Part of this range fixes to the flat top of a pillar, a pier or a fence post rather than to a wall. Measure the post before ordering, because the base has to sit on it fully to shed water correctly.
Placed on a flat surface: The portable lanterns here simply stand where you put them, with no fixing at all. They move with the furniture and come in for the winter, which is why most of them charge rather than connect to a circuit.

Questions about lantern style lighting

Which bulb suits clear glass?

A warm filament bulb around 2700K looks deliberate through clear glass and gives the glow the shape suggests. Keep the output low, since every side of the body shows the source.

Wired, plug in, battery or solar?

All four appear in this range and the product page states which applies to each model. A fixed position on a pillar usually points to wired or solar. A piece that moves around the terrace points to battery or solar with a handle.

Can a lantern stand in an open garden?

Many are built for open exposure. Read the rating line on the product page. A covered porch and an unprotected lawn are different conditions and the specification tells you which one each body is made for.

You may also want Solar Outdoor Lanterns, Outdoor Post Lights and Solar Patio Lights. For wall mounted fixtures, see Outdoor Wall Lanterns. The whole exterior range sits under Outdoor Lighting. For plain geometric bodies without a roof, see Modern Outdoor Lights.