I need some help on choosing a bulb to up light a birch tree. The tree is a single trunk and two stories tall From what I have read I need a color temp around 4000K. What I not sure about is the beam spread and lumens. Any help/suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Hi, Jack. Unless you're planning to do moonlighting (where you install down lights high up in the tree canopy), my recommendation would be to go with a warmer color (either 2000K or 3000K). For the large oak in our front yard, I have two 60 degree 2W spotlights flanking the trunk of the tree and four 60 degree 2W well lights evenly spaced around the perimeter of the drip line. Depending on how bright you want to go and how much of the tree you want to illuminate, you could go with higher lumens and wider beam spreads. I'm something of a minimalist and like the fact that I'm illuminating just enough of the tree to show off its structure without fully illuminating it. Since you're not sure what beam spread you'll want, I think you should give the new 3 in 1 MR16 bulbs a shot. You can switch from among beam spreads of 20/40/60 with these bulbs. AFAIK, they only come in 2700K currently but colored lenses are available for spotlights that allow you to create a cooler or warmer light output if desired. HTH https://www.voltlighting.com/adjustable-beam-angle-led-mr16-bulb
