How to Prevent Salt Corrosion from Destroying Outdoor Light Fixtures

If you live with in three miles of a brackish or salt water body of water than you know what happens to outdoor products of any kind.  Living in coastal Florida areas will teach you this valuable lesson.  Outdoor light fixtures take a beating when installed in these areas that is why it is important do find the right light fixtures for the right areas.   

What Outdoor Light Fixtures are Made of?

Outdoor light fixtures are made up of different materials and different qualities of those materials. 

Below are five examples of the main materials used in outdoor lighting fixtures.

• Spun Aluminum casts were the aluminum is made of recycled auto transmissions this cast usually has reminisces of lubricants in the cast.  These impurities in the aluminum cast make the fixture break down faster especially if in coastal areas.  Usually found in cheaper outdoor light fixtures.  Life expectancy is 4 months to 1 year.
• True Aluminum casts are made with raw aluminum with no supplemental materials in the cast.  This is still not the best product for costal areas but it will last longer than spun aluminum casts especially when there is an added textural powder coat finish added.  Life expectancy of non-textured is 1.5 years to 3 years.  Heavy-textured or marine coated is 3.5 years to 7 years.
• Solid Brass outdoor light fixtures stand up well to salt corrosive environments.  The raw solid brass material will patina with age but must be rinsed to control salt build up.  The solid brass outdoor fixtures can come in different finishes like bronze and brushed nickel made by creating a chemical reaction.  Life expectancy is 4 years to 7 years.
• Solid Copper outdoor fixtures are made of raw copper and will last in salt corrosive environments.  Solid copper light fixtures patina very well with age, better than any of the other affordable raw materials.  These outdoor fixtures should still be rinsed frequently.   Beware of the copper plated aluminum outdoor fixtures they will not last.  Life expectancy is 5 years to 10 years.
• Ceramic outdoor fixtures are truly the best outdoor light fixture available.  Ceramic light fixtures do not rust or patina even in salt corrosive environments.  The quality of the kiln fired glaze or painted finish will be dependant on the life of the exterior of the product.  Usually the rivets on the internal parts will disintegrate before the paint flakes.  Life expectancy is 8 years to 15 years. 

Outdoor Light Fixture Maintenance

All outdoor light fixtures need to be maintained and cleaned to preserve the life of the product.  Imaging if you never washed your car how it would look in two years especially if you lived beachside.  If you plan on installing outdoor light fixtures in a salt corrosive area then you want to make sure you can rinse the fixture with fresh water at least once a month.  Rinsing the light fixture will remove salt build up, if you can not rinse the fixture use a damp cloth to remove excess salt build up.

Another main concern with outdoor fixtures is bird droppings.  Bird droppings contain an acidic component that will break down the paint finish if not rinsed off with fresh water.

Aged Outdoor Light Fixtures in Eleuthera, Bahamas

True Aluminum outdoor light fixture with no texture added after 6 months on the ocean in the Bahamas  

True Aluminum outdoor light fixture with a textured finish after one and a half years on the saltwater intercoastal water way

Ceramic outdoor light fixture after one year on the ocean in the Bahamas

As you can see the winner is the ceramic and the textured aluminum outdoor light fixtures.  I wish I had some aged solid brass and solid copper fixtures to show but this will have to do for now.