Hi, I’m looking for placement ideas to light up pathway, trees, landscape and front of house. I have many (around 35) all star spots and 8 classic pathway lights to place. For simplicity’s I would ideally like to not mount on trees. Thanks a bunch.
Hi, Duke. Phenomenal home and landscaping. Unfortunately I don't have a clear sense of the overall layout of the property so I'll just offer some general recommendations. I've diagrammed several of your photos to suggest one approach to lighting the facade and I've also chosen some landscaping features that just jumped out at me. I've indicated some individual shrubs that I might illuminate and I've also indicated some groups of shrubs and trees I would light. I've also indicated some places where you might place path lights. Where you have curves or intersections along your path are obvious places to install path lights. You might want to place path lights so that they lead visitors to your property to specific areas. Ultimately, it'll be up to you to decide which parts of the property you want to show off so that you and your visitors can enjoy them at night. Because a lot of your shrubs hug the foundation of your house and because you have those nice deep soffits (where you could easily conceal fixtures and wiring), I'd recommend down lights rather than ground mounted spotlights for the facade. Puck lights or hardscape lights would work very well.
Thank you so much. Can I use the All star lights as down lights. And, how do I hide wire when it has to come down from soffits? I will post some better house pictures later today. Thanks again! Brian
The photo where the sidewalk forms a semi-circle would be a great place for a ShadowMaster (with a 12-18 inch extension?). Just a thought. Bob
I’ve installed pavers since the first photos with the driveway to be done later. I like the idea of mounting lights in the soffets. The shadow master does look pretty cool. Hopefully these photos give a better idea of the layout. The transformer (300w) is in the garage and hole was drilled so wires will come out in front of the house on the right . Conduits have been strategically placed under pavers to run wire mulch to mulch. Thanks in advance for any planning ideas.
Thanks for the clearer photos. I'm not often stumped when it comes to suggesting a thoughtful lighting plan but I'm finding your lovely home to be something of a challenge. So I'm going to punt this one to Evan (the site administrator) and others here. What I can say is that based on the vantage point of your photos, I think lighting both the front and garage side (including that window above the garage would work very well.
The All-Star lights are designed to be used only as up lights. The longer shroud/glare guards you'll find on most down lights do a better job of hiding the light source than what you'll find on up lights anyway. If you've never installed lights before, it might be a good idea to have someone like your roofer, electrician, or landscape lighting company do the soffit lighting (if you opt for that approach). OTOH, if you're handy, there's some great how to videos at the link below. I'd also recommend you search the forum for threads on downlights and moonlighting for guidance. You might also check out youtube for some tutorial videos.
Here are some photos. I only used up lighting for convenience and cost. 8 pathlights and 25 All star spots. 12/2 wire. 3 runs all in series with some T connections. 300 watt transformer. All connections done with copper crimps and DBR 600 gel filled tubes. I want to thank Volt for being an awesome company with awesome products and perfect customer support. Cheers, Brian
