Outdoor Light

JOHNPT

Hi
I was wondering is there many different variations of the outdoor floodlights u can get to light up a house.
Its a two storey house and the light will be located in front garden around 20-25 metres away from front house. The SWA 1.5 cable is already there.
What kind would u recommend.

Thanks in advance

fishdog

I was wondering is there many different variations of the outdoor floodlights u can get to light up a house.

Millions! Well almost

Can you give a bit more information and perhaps some of us can make better recommendations?

1) What is the purpose of the light? Security, convenience, aesthetics, football etc.
2) If the light takes a long time to strike is that an issue?
3) Is colour rendering an important?
4) Do you want the light fitting to be visible, or just the light from it?
5) Is energy efficiency an important factor?
6) Are you looking for something pole mounted? Or could you put it in a tree, on a pillar etc.?
7) What sort of a place is it? Old, modern etc.

The SWA 1.5 cable is already there.

Good start!

JOHNPT

Thanks for reply fishdog.
Well the light is just to light up the house at night colour rendering isint important.
Strike time not important.
I was thinking SON or SOX type but not sure.
The light will be left on ground.
I would prefer the type u can usually see in front some houses which give an orange glow to house.
I would prefer an energy efficent bulb. Are they more expensive.

It dosent have to be top of the range just a good light thats fairly realable. Its roughly 20-25 metres from front house.

Thanks for advice in advance.

fishdog

Ok I have a suggestion:

Use a sox (low-pressure sodium lamps). They have a very high efficacy up to 173 lumens per watt. The result is that they are very cost effective to run.

The down side is that they are "monochromatic" which means that they give off light in just one colour, in this case a red/yellow colour. This means colour rendering is very poor. They will take about 10 - 15 minutes to reach full brightness.

The fittings themselves are not the most beautiful, but if it was on the ground up lighting a large tree or washing the front of a building they can look great.

I would prefer the type u can usually see in front some houses which give an orange glow to house.

This is the one.

Gewiss make a great one for reasonable money. They are all plastic, so they will not rust and shock risk is reduced. They are IP rated too (IP65 I think). They also have a solid mounting bracket. Lamps are expensive, but last a long time. A 250 watt lamp will have considerably more light output than a 500 watt halogen. Remember watts are a measurement of power consumed, not of light output!

JOHNPT

Thanks fishdog for informative as usual

Stoner

There is also a Thorn Area Flood a well priced light 70Watt or 150Watt most wholesalers will carry them and they will also offer a wire cage to protect them.

Final thing to note is that these lights are best switched on a timeclock with a photocell (you could get a fitting with a built in photocell too (Hilclare have a decent rage of these fittings)). These fittings are efficient but they dont like being switched, so they are not suitable for security lighting.

JOHNPT

Thanks for reply. Just to update the light will be 38 metres from front of the house. If i choose a Son light would a 250 watt be sufficent or would i need 400 watt.
Also the type stoner suggest seems to use alot less watts. Would that provide sufficent light to flodlight the house at night. Are they expensive?

The 250 watt Son is 90euro while the 400 watt is 130 euro.

I was just going to put it on a 24 hr timer which would be located next to the switch. Any suggestions of a good timer which is not too bulky for this?



Thanks for replies in advance

Stoner

well 70Watt might be too dim, sorry for suggesting it. Street lights are 70 to150 Watt Son T fittings (could be wrong ). A 400Watt fitting has a huge punch of light and might be too much. It also depends on the ambient light around the house, the darker it is around the house, the less wattage you'll need to make it stand out.

Most wholesalers supply standard timeclocks, you could just pop in and look at them I'm unsure what would be too bulky for you, there are some nice ones that fit directly in consumer units but you'd need to be qualified to work on a board.

The plastic body fishdog mentioned sounded good, this hilclare fitting can have a dusk to dawn option added, but its not plastic

http://www.hilclare.com/Details/Rio/

northdublin

the best thing to do is go in and have a chat with your local wholesaler. the fittings that hilclare supply also come with 2 types of reflector which determines how much of the light if focused forward, symetrical and assymetrical but ive no idea which is which. hillclare's aztec type fitting is ideal for what you need as the bracket sits close to the bottom of the fitting making it ideal for ground mounting, it comes in son and metal halide which i think would give better colour but would be more exspensive to run.