I would like to add some pathlights to my new front landscape (work is still in process). Attached is a plan view of the new path from the driveway, and new 8 foot wide granite entry steps. There will also be a granite lamp post as shown, with some flowers/plants below. I want to add pathlights to light up both the pathway and garden beds to the left and right of the stairs. If possible, would like to keep the path lights in the beds to keep people from tripping over them. In front of the beds (which are edged with large cobblestones) there will just be sod. Thinking 6 path lights strategically placed might be enough. Also, what do you think about riser height? I live in New England, so thinking 18" riser would be good to keep these out of the snow. Thanks for any help.
Hi, dinom. I think you'll get more meaningful recommendations and other feedback if you post a photo or two of the layout of your yard. Without knowing what you want to accomplish (is this safety lighting or primarily for beautification, for instance?), what type of surface the path is, things like your ambient light level, what other features of your landscape you'll be lighting, etc it's hard get a clear idea of what would work best for your situation. You don't mention the type of path light you're considering and there are several different designs. Depending on what you want to accomplish, some will be more appropriate than others. You'll want to give careful thought to riser height or whether you want to use them at all. Meantime, I highly recommend that you check out the path light section to see the different path light models and also get some general guidelines for path light placement. If you search the forum, you'll find that path light questions come up fairly regularly and you may find the answers to some of your questions and concerns addressed in previous threads. Hope this helps. https://www.voltlighting.com/shop/landscape-lighting/path-lights
Thanks for the reply. I’m looking at this light: https://www.voltlighting.com/conehead-brass-path-light When I mentioned a riser, I meant the height of the post section, I didn’t mean I wanted to add an additional riser section. This conehead light has a nice tall post so I would use it as-is. I will attach a few photos in a bit, but like I said the front yard is a construction zone since the stairs and new path will be installed soon. The path will be a paver path and the steps are solid granite. There isn’t much ambient light except for porch lights and the new lamp post light. But I want to light up the path for safety and also some elements of the planting beds for beautification.
Now I get it. If safety is your primary goal, then you'll want to place your fixtures close enough so that you light your path continuously rather than spaced further apart (which will give you distinct pools of light). Your choice is fine but Max spread pathllights will give you more bang for your buck by allowing you to use fewer fixtures. The stem is the same length (or height) on the Max Spread but the flatter hat gives you a wider spread. https://www.voltlighting.com/max-spread-brass-path-light
So our front yard makeover is finally finished, and I'm ready to install those path lights, and now wanting to add uplights too to light up the facade of the house. Here are some pictures of the house. Could someone recommend locations for these uplights? I'm looking for some subtle lighting effects, I don't need/want to use too many lights if possible. I realize the new plantings are very young/small, so I'm hoping some path lights will help illuminate those. I plan to place three path lights on each side of the steps, in the planting beds. The ones on the right side will also light up the pathway for safety. Thanks, Dino
Hi, dinom. I'd uplight the three eaves with gutter mounted spotlights. And I'd uplight all the sections of the facade of the house except for the area between your windows. Since you want a subtle effect, I recommend going with 2W lamps and fairly narrow beams. As there aren't narrow beam lamp options (which I think you'll want, at least for ground level fixtures) for 2W or below, you may want to talk to customer service about how to best configure your lights to achieve your desired effect. Alternatively, you could go with 3W (I would not go higher than that) and use frosted lenses which would slightly reduce the light output. Btw, glad to see you've left some room to play around with your fixture positions. For the lower level fixtures, I recommend that you place fixtures at least as far away from the foundation as the gutter mount lights will be from your windows. That will help to minimize the banding effect that occurs when fixtures are placed close enough to graze the facade. HTH
Thanks for the feedback Mesodude2. For the gutter mounts, would I simply mount the spot lights centered on the window, and point them at the peak of the dormer? Also, do you think one light would be enough for the large dormer above the garage, or would you suggest two on each side? And what do you think about the garage door itself? I'm thinking some sort of down lights mounted above on the trim? Thanks again.
I’d go with a single spotlight for each dormer. For the garage dormer you’ll just be using a slightly broader beam spread. The more I think about it, I believe the best strategy may be going with the new 20/40/60 option 3W lamps and toning them down with a frosted lens (which you’ll want to use on all your other spotlights for consistency). You could use a puck light (I’d go with the brighter of the two 2700K models) centered beneath the top of the garage door frame.
Hi again. I have those new coach lights on either side of my front door. Those are on a dimmer, so I can control the amount of light output. Would you still recommend uplighting those areas? Seems like those uplights would be overlapping the light output from my existing sconces. Thanks
You don’t have to put lights there but doing so will give you multiple lighting scene options. I have a similar setup except I have a wall lantern instead of a post light. I have low lumens bulbs in my wall sconces and wall lantern that I turn on for additional lighting. They work with the landscape lighting.
