Hello, We moved into our new home last October and the original owner installed some low voltage lighting in the 90's(?). It was a mostly halogen system with also some bayonet style lamps for the deck lights . There are some pathway 'coach' lights out front and deck/hardscape lights in the back as well as pagoda lights for a water feature. There were originally some underwater lights for the pond and 'waterfall' but they looked like they died years ago. I had two old style Malibu transformers that have been replaced with a 300 W VOLT and a 600W Volt (The style with 2-300 W transformers inside) so I am ready to start converting to LED and adding tree/house lighting. I have included a few pictures of the front as this is where I would like to start replacing/adding pathway lights as well as tree lighting and house lighting. Any thoughts would be welcome. My plan is to control some of the up lighting on one of the timers and the pathway lights on another timer that would likely be on longer. I do want to move around to the back and maybe add an up/down light between the garage doors as a second phase. I have an exposed brick chimney in the 'back' (read: side yard as this is a corner house) that is about 35 feet high that might look nice with up lighting. Most of the trees in the front are lower than the yard so the lighting would be fairly well hidden from view. Any thoughts and ideas are appreciated. Randy
Hi, Randy. Just a handful of observations and suggestions for you while you're creating a lighting plan. The first thing I noticed about your house and landscaping was the way that shadows fall on the house, lawn, and driveway. You really have a terrific setup for moonlighting. If you're not familiar with this technique (also known as down lighting), see the example I've included here. I also encourage you to do an image search on moonlighting/ down lighting for more examples, so you can get a clear idea of how this technique could transform your property. I've installed some moonlighting for my driveway but unfortunately I haven't been able to photograph the result in a way that I think people would find useful. In any event, I highly recommend you down light one or more of the the trees I've indicated on your photos. On your house itself, consider putting up/down lights where I've indicated on the facade of your house. In places where ground staked lighting are impractical or impossible consider using puck lights installed in your soffits instead. If you have room in the frames of your garage doors, consider placing a puck light to highlight the doors and add a little light in your driveway. Depending on whether you go the moonlighting route and depending on how much light you want to introduce into that area, you might or might not want to do this. I've also noticed that you are fortunate enough to have lots of ways to carefully conceal your lighting fixtures and I encourage you to take advantage of places like the "moats" around your trees and the railroad tie retaining walls (which, imo, are well suited for hardscape lighting). I encourage you to consider taking advantage of as many different lighting techniques as your infrastructure will support. With so many different opportunities there, you will be able to create a compelling and complex lighting plan. HTH
Wow...thanks for all the thought you put into your suggestions! I appreciate your time and will start to put together the parts to get this moving along. I will update this thread as I get things installed. Kind regards,Randy
@Mesodude2 One question for you. Would you recommend the 1 watt (100 Lumen) pucks or the 3 watt (300 Lumen) pucks for the soffits? I was also thinking of using a couple under the 'bump out' in the bottom picture that is only about 18 inches off the round which would be 1 watt pucks. It would highlight that garden bed. I have a similar situation on my deck in the back where a couple 1 watt pucks would be perfect... Kind regards, Randy
Hi Randy. Aesthetically it's a good idea for all your lights on the house to be of similar brightness. So if you have a brightness in mind for your spot lights or a floodlight you were considering for that side wall, you'll probably want to choose a brightness that is comparable. If you're using 2W or 3W (which is the max I'd use on your house), I'd go with the brighter puck light. OTOH, if you were only using puck lights on the house, my personal preference would be to use the 100 lumens puck. When deciding, I think you should carefully consider the total amount of light you want to introduce to the facade of your house and go from there. If you've got fairly bright path lights or lights on your trees, you may want to go with slightly lower lumens on the house. Ultimately, it's a personal preference. HTH
