Need advice re: outdoor lighting

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

I want to improve the outdoor lighting at my house. I have some questions -- may cross post in lighting forum but I thought I'd post here first. (I will post pics below.)

1) I want to replace my existing two, very small cheapo builder grade wall fixtures. Can I get them any size, as long as they are bigger? (the part that attaches to the wall is about 3-4 inches)

2) I'd very much like to have my outdoor lights on an automatic "dusk to dawn" timer. How do I do this? Specifically, what kind of hardware would I need to buy?

3) Style is a problem, since most of the ones I'm seeing are nautical, craftsman, or otherwise too traditional to fit my contemporary southwestern style house. Suggestions?

4) Function seems to be a problem, too. I don't need "dark sky" and frosted or amber glass doesn't seem like it would emit enough light for safety or proper illumination. Argh!

5) Can I actually add another fixture without tearing up the exterior stucco? For some reason, builders did not illuminate my house numbers. What would I need for this?

ETA: Sorry, GW is not letting me upload a photo for some reason. You can see pics of the house in this thread: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3528394/opinions-on-extending-concrete-pad?n=5

Featured Answer

homepro01

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

2. Do you have a light switch for your fixtures already? If so, I would just replace the switch with a Leviton timer. I have several of these for over 10years and they work perfectly. I reset the time] twice a year with daylight savings and never touch them apart from that. It looks like there is a newer one that uses longitude and latitude so you don't have to change the time manually.

3. For the fixtures, look at Hinkley for some styles that may fit.

5. Since the numbering is next to the garage, I don't think it would be hard to get an outlet installed on top of the numbering. I would use a downlight sconce over the numbers that match the lighting you selected for rest of the exterior lighting.

Definitely consider LEDs for exterior lighting, they are brighter and save a ton of money when on for over 12hours a day.

Good luck!

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Comments (11)

Oaktown
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
2) Do you want an actual timer, or would a photocell fixture (on when dark) work for you?

5) If you do not want to wire through the stucco, you could use a solar downlight to illuminate your house numbers. Or a solar/low voltage/line voltage up light located in your landscaping and aimed at your numbers (are the ones already in your yard working well for you?).

Good luck!
violetwest
Original Author
10 years ago
2) no clue! what are my options

5) good thought . . . might be tricky as I don't want to blind people exiting my front door. The ones in my yard work pretty well, but they're just illuminating my boulders at close range
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Oaktown
10 years ago
2) If you get photocell fixtures you will not need any extra hardware. Here are some. Or you can wire regular fixtures to a timer or a separate photocell.

5) Hmm. Is there room for a planter right under the house numbers? That doesn't address the wiring issue, though.
violetwest
Original Author
10 years ago
so, the photocell fixtures just have the sensor built in? Hmm.

A solar downlight might work for the house numbers. Haven't talked to my electrician yet -- we'll see

Thank you, Oaktown
Oaktown
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I won't tell you how much time I spent researching house number illumination in 2014 :-) It is a fire district requirement here for new construction -- we ended up using wired fixtures on a photocell because it was not clear that the fire district would accept solar lights.
violetwest
Original Author
10 years ago
huh. we'll mine are not illuminated at all. Most of my neighbors' have the exterior light above the numbers - not mine. Bad.
clt3
10 years ago
Photocells go bad. We disconnected all of ours and used the timer which works flawlessly!
violetwest thanked clt3
Oaktown
10 years ago
Clt3, how long did your photocells last? (Now a bit worried)
clt3
10 years ago
Hmm, we bought the house when it was about 4 years old and one of 4 outdoor lights wouldn't work. The previous owners had covered the photocell with duct tape in an effort to get it to work. I did a lot of searching to try to find a replacement photocell, but none of them were the right size. So we just decided to disconnect them all and use a timer which works amazingly well. You input you location and when you want the lights to go on and off in terms of when it gets dark, and we never have to touch it.
Oaktown
10 years ago
Thanks for the info clt3. I had been under the impression that photocells would be fine since our super cheapo landscape solar lights have been working well for 5 years. If/when our house number lighting goes out I definitely will look at timers again!