Hello, could really use some help with lighting design for my house. We live in an area that has almost no lighting so it gets very dark at night. Would love to illuminate the outside, side and potentially the back of the house. I don't want to buy too many lights but at the same time too few clearly is not the goal. In addition to lights what size transformer? Any help would be appreciated.
Hey there John, Beautiful home! I attached some photos with some edits for basic recommendations. I used the photos with the most inclusive angles. Overall, I would agree with not wanting to overdue your classic style home. I would say the focus should be on strategically placing path light fixtures for illumination on your pathways and back patio. For the house and property, I'd say the goal should be to highlight a few key areas of the architecture and illuminate perhaps 2-3 of those larger trees that are in a prime position or stand out to you personally (if any of course). I made some edits in the photo for the house; essentially highlighting features such as that brick fireplace, and corners or noticeable spaces between the windows. With lights around the front door and above the garage, it would be redundant for me to suggest anything there based on the photos. For a spotlight for uplighting the house, I'd recommend a lamp-ready brass spotlight such as the All-Star or a more budget-friendly alternative like the Fat Boy. I usually prefer subtle outputs- 2-3W for bulbs on my home but, for those larger trees you'd definitely need more powerful bulbs or likely one of our integrated lights (if you were planning to illuminate a few of them). We have a number of path light styles; for your house I'd likely recommend one of the Classic Style Path Lights. But, if you maybe wanted to somewhat match the decorative styling of your current 120V outdoor lights on the house, we do also have decorative path lights. As far as sizing a transformer, this is typically the very last step of piecing together a system; after you've totaled up the LED wattage. It is a safer bet than guessing and potentially having to return/repurchase items.
