This forum is exactly what I need! Please help with what features of my home to illuminate!

Hello. Happy to have found this forum. I attached a picture of the front of my house. I'd appreciate the expertise of the forum to help with what features should be illuminated and what type of Volt lighting is recommended. 2nd picture is a better view of the left-most side of the house with the 3 windows as one. Lastly, I attached a picture that I drew on to diagram where I'd put the transformer. Plan is to have all wires travel together under the porch to the preposed location of the transformer. This location doesn't get much sun so I think it's a good spot. Please recommend size of Volt transformer as well!

 

Hi, Beantown. Please see my diagram of one of your photos for one lighting plan approach. Houses where with features like offset gables or detached dormers can be tricky to light because it's frequently difficult to light them from the ground. Basically I'm recommending that you uplight the upper level wall sections and gable with low profile spotlights. I think you may want to go with fairly narrow beam spreads (to avoid aiming too much light into those upper level windows). But I highly recommend that you light that upper level because it will make your house look much larger than if you left it dark. Would definitely light the three porch columns, the bay window and both areas flanking that window. If you are not in love with those porch and garage wall sconces, I'd recommend switching to up/down lights for the garage fixtures and down lights for the porch. The idea would be to match light color temperature and intensity to work with your low voltage landscape lighting fixtures. Finally, if I understand your plan, you're having an electric outlet installed next to that electric meter? If not, that'll likely be needed. They aren't insanely expensive to install, it'll add value to your home and it's the only way to safely power the transformer. The last thing you want are any kind of homeowner's insurance issues or product warranty issues. Good luck and hope this gets you pointed in the right direction.

 

Thank you very much for your insight!

1). That small white box below the porch window are 2 electrical outlets. Do you think that's a better spot for the transformer? There's minimal sun exposure there because it's covered. Any transformer size recommendations?

2). How would I conceal any wires from lights placed on the upper level and garage to the transformer?

3). I want to make sure I'm reading your diagram correctly: the bottom of the "V" is where the light fixture should be placed and the top of the "V" is the spread of the light beam? These are uplights right? Because the fixtures are below the illuminated features, shining UP? So you are recommending all uplights?

4) how many inches or feet should I bury the electrical wire?

Wanted to thank you again for your expertise!!

 

1) I'd noticed the porch outlets. If that's your only exterior outlet, that's your only mounting choice. The transformer power cord is only a couple of feet long and using an extension cord would not be advisable and could potentially void your transformer's warranty. For that number of lights, a 150W should be more than enough with room for you to add several more fixtures (which you may decide to add for your landscaping).

2) Hiding the wiring could be a challenge (especially if you're new to this and planning to DIY). There's ways of routing it along your gutters but someone like a roofer or electrician might be a good person to do the install or guide you wrt safely concealing your wiring. I also encourage you to review some of the how-to articles on VOLT's site. The learning curve may seem steep at the very beginning but planning and logistics will begin to make sense very quickly.

3) You read the diagram correctly. You'll be staking the ground level fixtures and you'll be mounting the upper level fixtures along your gutters. These are all up lights. For your upper level fixtures, I'd recommend going with lower profile mini up lights (to keep the facade of your house from looking too cluttered).

4) I have my wiring buried about 6 inches. If it gets super cold where you are and the wiring could be lifted by heaving, it might be a good idea to bury them a bit deeper. Again, I think you'll find some of the how-to articles to be extremely useful in terms of familiarizing you with the overall process.

Glad to help. BTW, Evan (the site admin) is the expert. I and others here are just your fellow lighting enthusiasts. Keep us posted on how your project progresses and Happy New Year!

 

Thank you! You may not be an expert but you are very active on this forum and have great insight.

1). Electrical outlet: yes that is my only electrical outlet in front of my house. So I think that's where my transformer will go! Thank you got your sizing recommendation for the transformer.

2). Routing wires on upper level lights: because I'm a DIYer would you think my home would suffice for now if I just did the ground lights? If I route the wires from your proposed upper level lights in the gutter, won't they be exposed to water running along the gutter from time to time? In this instance, do water proof or weather resistant electrical wires exist? I love Volt's resources to help DIYers. I viewed their beginner's videos on YouTube and they made it very easy for me to get this started (with the ground lights, anyway).

3). Thanks for your low profile mini uplight recommendation. I'll look those up on Volt's website.

4). It gets pretty cold for sure here in the new England. 6 inch depth sounds good to me. But what is heaving?

Wanted to thank you again for spending time to help a beginner like me. It's a spring project for me so the time to learn and prepare is now. Happy New Year!

 

1) There’s countless creative ways of hiding the transformer. You’ll want to keep in mind not to block your transformer’s photocell (assuming you’ll be using one).

2) Your home will be transformed at night, even without upper level lights. There’s no hard and fast rule that requires you to light the upper level walls and gables or to do everything at once. I installed my lighting plan over a few months. That allowed me to consider what was and wasn’t working and prevented me from wasting money and time. You’ll find discussions/debates about gutter wiring in pretty much any LL forum (including this one). Fortunately, you have some time to research the pros and cons thoroughly before settling on a wiring approach. Ultimately you may even find a low profile method that avoids running wires through gutters. The wiring you’ll be using will be weather resistant but there are methods of adding further protection.

3) You’re welcome. Once you get to that highest gable, the fixture size choice becomes less crucial, IMO.

4) Heaving is what it sounds like. The frosted soil “upchucking” your wiring. It’s also what causes these things to happen every winter:

 

Heaving eh? I think I know what you're talking about. Last winter I saw a random bump in my backyard that was never there before. It ended up being a rock that came to the surface. Is that heaving?

So over time my low voltage electrical wires can slowly come closer and closer to the surface by way of freezing ground temperatures?

 

I’ve had it happen when installing lights at our previous home. Not a huge deal. It’s just that once the soil gets that hard, it can take a while before it’s thawed enough to re-bury it.