Hey all, I recently installed puck beacon lights along my driveway to illuminate across it. They are the 2700K version, and I switched them to the diffused lenses and a 12V tap because they were much brighter than I expected. The issue I am running into is how the center LED in the puck shines outward. Right now they are surface mounted with the base on the ground. This sends a lot of light upward and outward. More importantly, the center LED creates a harsh, blinding glare when viewed from almost any angle, especially from a higher position like when driving past in a vehicle. That is actually the main situation they will be seen in. I tried adjusting the angle by leaning them about 45 degrees inward. While that throws more light across the driveway, it also points the bright central beam closer to eye level and makes the glare worse. Before I spend time fabricating some kind of mount, I am curious if anyone here has experience with these and might have suggestions. I like the low profile look of them sitting on the ground, but I am starting to think they may need to be mounted upside down on some kind of bracket or rig to eliminate the glare. Thanks
Hi there. Fellow lighting enthusiast here. With all due respect, it’s hard to make recommendations for alternative solutions and approaches without a photo of your driveway and your current install. For instance, we don’t know if your driveway is flat or graded and we don’t know what borders your driveway or what’s above it. In any event, based on what it sounds like you intended to do, I would have initially gone with either the beacon or turret RGBCW BuddyPro fixture. It’s roughly twice the brightness of the model you have but it’s dimmable to 35 lumens (roughly 1/3 as bright as your fixture). The price tag is a bit higher but in addition to being dimmable, you can also create different zones by grouping them with other color changing fixtures). HTH
Thanks for the input. I didn't even think of posting a pic! But I think you're still pretty spot on with you assessment. I have a curvy, flat driveway with tall woods on each side. I went with the Costco Next 6 pack buddy beacon kit with transformer. I love the idea of the RGBCW instead as I usually put up a lot of decorations and lights for holidays. Maybe I will upgrade and swap out some things going forward.
