Hello Everyone! I have spent quite some time racking my brain as to the best layout/design for lighting the front of my home and wanted some input. I have made a diagram of the fixtures and their placement. Firstly, was wondering if the wattages/fixtures I plan to use would be well suited for their placement? Additionally, I need ideas on how to run the wiring. My thought is to place conduit sleeves beneath the sidewalk and run the wiring that way. However, I would love to have a spotlight on the other side of my driveway and am having a bit of trouble figuring out how to do this on such a long run. Any ideas? The second light on the right is the one I'm having a hard time figuring out how to run the wire to. Additionally, I don't have much space between the edge of the flowerbed and the flower pot. Is there another fixture that would be more suited for this space; in order to light both the flowerpot and the edges of the brick? I felt the mini spot would add just enough light to draw attention to this pedastal and sundial. Thoughts? I'm hoping the in-ground well-light would serve well to light the flag overnight. I also wouldn't mind adding a downlight to the tree in my backyard off of this run; but I feel it is going to be too long as it is approximately 130 feet from the transformer. Let me know what you think of the layout; I welcome any criticism or suggestions. Thank you!
I'll caveat by stating that I'm not a professional... But, some thoughts: 1) A mini spotlight on the pedestal would look good, I think. 2w would probably be fine. 2) Wall wash lights would probably be fine, but maybe you don't even need them if you're already accentuating the pedestal and adding path lights? 3) Path lights: Maybe consider going with 3 not 4, unless you're going for continuous/overlapping light (vs. pools of light). I like 3w better than 2w as it illuminates the sidewalk better. 4) All Star for Japanese Maple: Since I don't see the tree, I'm not quite sure of the effect you're after, but will mention that I think 5w might be bright if it's a newly planted tree. As an example, I use 3w to uplight trees that are 8-12' tall, but admit that I'm going for "subtle" lighting. 5) Sidewalk: I've used metal conduit with success. I crimped one end (hammered it shut), then drove it under the sidewalk with a mallet. Then used a recip saw to cut the crimped end off. Key is to have a long enough trench, so that you can drive the conduit relatively level as it goes under the sidewalk. 6) Driveway: A couple of ideas would be to leverage the expansion joint between the garage door and driveway slab, or run through the downspouts/gutters. Or perhaps hide the wires behind the downspouts and run inside the soffits? If you're highlighting the pots (and what's going to be in them), I think I'd go with a mini spotlight vs. a splash. Or, an alternate idea would be to skip altogether and rely on your sconce lights to illuminate the pots from above. 7) Backyard tree: 130' isn't too far, but this will be dependent on the gauge of wire you use to avoid voltage drop issues. I do recommend upsizing your transformer (say, to 300w) to allow you to expand over time (I sense you're just getting started!).
