Hi - I am doing some upgrades to my pool equipment and adding lighting is a big part of this effort. I am seeking some design advice if possible - looking to put this together in the coming week or two once I finalize what I need. I also have a deck/pond/stream around house so my next project is to add lighting there as well. The pool area is fairly dark aside from a) a color LED pool light; and b) a post light. Objectives 1) Increase lighting to offer a more safe environment when night swimming 2) Add some lighting interest to the area - it is well landscaped and I would love to highlight those areas 3) The areas to add lighting would include around the pool area - both inside and outside the fence (e.g. lighting on trees visible from outside pool as well. 4) Would like to highlight the wall of arborvitaes, pine trees, plum, and weeping spruce. I have attached some pics - one is without the perennials grown in. And the other is before perennials begin growing. Not the higher aerial view is from a few years ago - the others are from last year. Trees/etc have grown. Pool1-2 is recent from deck - so you can see the size of trees. Once I am done here - my goal is to add lighting around deck, pond and front of house. So I will probably end up with quite a few fixtures across 3-4 transformers. Thanks much for your help. Jason
Morning - any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have some ideas on using floods and paths; but would be interested in hearing some other ideas as I would like to purchase this week. Added some ideas I was thinking - but wonder if this is too many fixtures...
Hi folks - any advice would be much appreciated. I laid out some ideas but really want to do this right. Thanks in advance - Jason
Sorry I lost sight of your post. That happens sometimes when there's lots of activity all at once. I like your plan in general. I'd only add a handful of suggestion for improving things. You don't mention that post fixture inside the pool area so my recommendations are based on the assumption that's going to be off. First, I think floodlights are a great idea for illuminating the dense foliage of the evergreens and other foliage. Depending on the fixture model you choose (I'd go for one or more of the different Splash models), I think it's likely that you may need fewer to light those evergreens than you think. Same is true for the Max Spread path lights. They offer wide coverage and for the path near that back fence, I think you could probably get away with just one of those (or two lower profile path fixtures with smaller spreads). Near the entrance to the pool area, you have three of those where I think a pair would probably suffice. I do think it would be a good idea to illuminate that row of boulders immediately to the left as you enter the pool area. One reason is that they're a cool feature. A better reason is that being right there on the border, they could present something of a trip hazard. Perhaps moving one of those three Max Spread lights directly behind that largest boulder (so that it highlights that whole area) would do the trick. Well lights: Unless you've chosen well lights to illuminate that tree for a particular reason, I'd go with a pair of spots. If there's no foot traffic in that area, you can save yourself some sweat. Spots are just way easier to move and aim and my feeling is, why do lots of digging if you don't have to? The Elevator lights might accomplish your goal of making the area around the pool safer, but I included links to some other lights that I think are also worth considering (below). I have a few concerns about the Elevator light. First, because these are considered floodlights as well as path lights, I think you probably could get away with half the number you have in your plan. Having recently installed a number of lights on my own property, I can tell you that even some of the least powerful fixtures put out a lot of light. I think once you've seen how much reflected light is created, you'll have a better idea of what I mean. What I'm wondering though, is: 1) if things like tables and other pool furniture could block a lot of the lights, preventing you from lighting some areas on the perimeter of the pool and 2) if the Elevator lights will be shining in the eyes of people using the pool. The fixture models I've suggested as an alternative would, I think, accomplish your goal while also offering better glare protection. So those are my recommendations in a nutshell. You probably won't need as many fixtures as you have in your plan and there are a few alternatives to the Elevator light that might be more appropriate for your needs. Hope this helps. https://www.voltlighting.com/outdoor-landscape-lighting-12v-path-lighting-mini-all-star-innovator-copper/p/BVN-VPL-3025-CCP https://www.voltlighting.com/12v-mini-all-star-twinnovator-path-light/p/VPL-3026-4-BBZ https://www.voltlighting.com/outdoo...v-path-area-lighting-traditions/p/VPL-390-BBZ
@Mesodude2 - thank you so much for the guidance. The post light I would probably leave on as it cases a wide area - but I could turn it off on demand as well.
You’re welcome. Unless you absolutely need the post light (for security lighting, for example), you could also just dial back the bulb wattage and use it as more of a fill light.
@Mesodude2 - updated. With a few selections - I am probably going to buy one of each type to see how they work before buying the rest. 1) Concrete Decking Around Pool ** The Twinovator - I like the idea; but can I rotate so each light is projecting onto the walkway? Unsure what they mean when they refer to the 360 rotation. ** Would the Max Spreads work here instead? 2) Arborvitae Wall - Wide Splash should hopefully allow me to use two or so. The light would be on the inside of pool fence as they touch the fence. 3) Weeping Spruce (upper left corner) - favorite tree on property; can I use wide splash here as well or spots? It is a wide canopy - probably 12-15' across and was thinking up lighting from both inside and outside pool. 4) Plumb (bottom left) - spot lights make sense (I may actually look at All Star Mini here as well if I go with those for decking) 5) Spruce trees (bottom right) - spots or floods? 6) Transformer sizing - any recommendations? I will probably go with the 12-22V due to some of the distances; but maybe that is over kill. Also if I use max spread on top of boulders - would that expose the flood/splash light under the weeping spruce? Maybe go with same lighting style as around decking? Would be great to minimize number of light styles but I get the selection lets you tune for the application. I am hoping to order today - thanks again...it will let me get started and then hone in on how many I need and where. Jason
Much better. If you're looking at the Twinnovator head on (oriented such that it resembles the letter T) each lamp holder can be rotated 180 (to point up or down). With the fixture in that same orientation, you can also independent rotate the lamp holders 360° (enabling you to point the lamp holders in opposite directions). The beauty of this fixture is that not only can it be an up, down, or path light but the glare guards slide up and down and rotate 360°. The Max Spread could work there if you don't think pool furniture will block the light. That's the reason I recommended the Twinnovator as a possible alternative. If you ramp up your light lumens, you can site the light some distance away from a place where it's more likely to be blocked and aim it where you need it. I'm not sure you need the wide splash for those spruce. To add further interest to your overall plan, you could also sidelight these (flank each tree with a spotlight or small flood). I don't think you can hide every single fixture perfectly but if you want to be creative, you could hide the flood you mentioned behind a new shrub or bolder or favorite yard ornament. I've recommended the transformer below for you. There's a more compact 300W transformer that's a bit less expensive but the one below accepts more sophisticated timer/photocell options. I've got a 300W transformer and currently using a little bit less than a third of it's capacity. I have lights on the front and sides of my house and I wanted to have the option to add lights to the back yard at some point. A 150W transformer could be just perfect for your needs but if you think you'll be adding on later to the number of lights in your existing plan and you think you'll have lots of long runs, it might be worth the extra expense. I'd budgeted for my lighting for some time so I was able to do a fair amount of experimenting to see which types of lights worked best where. Hope you can have some fun with this! https://www.voltlighting.com/low-vo...or-lighting-clamp-connect-300/p/VTR-300-NG-SS
Perfect - and thank you. Yes I will be adding more lights and was looking at 300W as well. I am ordering a few varieties to see how I like them. I can see myself sticking with the All-Star Mini for both spot and path. Looks like I can get 60 deg angle - just smaller fixture than the regular All-Star? Thanks again for your help! Oh and we do have pool furniture on both sides; is there much which can be done about that? Not sure if lighting alternatives would help. Attached the stuff I will order - once I figure out what I like; then I will order remaining.
I think you're in a better position to know whether the furniture would obscure the spread of different types of lighting. It's just something to keep in mind when you're deciding between a path light that's stationary vs lighting that's adjustable. So the All Star mini is a good fixture when you really want something more discreet. It's still quite powerful but I usually recommend this for lighting small features like statues and dwarf japanese maples. I also think they're preferable to their full size version when you want to mount them on a gutter to light gables. Btw, the Twinnovator is essentially two All Star minis sharing a stem.
