Dennis McDonaugh
04-04-2014, 10:32 AM
I want to add some landscape lighting to illuminate the front of the house. I'm going to start with some type of flood lights and have been trying to find a good design guide, but the one's I've found are short on really useful information.
What I'm looking for is something to help me decide what wattage bulbs I need and how far the floods need to be from the house for a given degree of spread and wattage. We're not looking for stark, bright lighting, but soft, subdued lighting. I think its called "wall wash".
This is a picture of the house--it's fairly small and has a lot of windows in the front. I'm thinking of putting one light in front of each section. That would be one light in front of the window to the left of the door and another in front of the window to the right of the door and then one at each corner of the house. Eventually there is going to be a planting bed in front of the window to the left of the front door and I'd like the lights to end up in the beds, not out in the grass so I don't have to worry about mowing around them. There is only about 6 feet from the sidewalk to the window on the right side of the door so I need a pretty wide spread of light. You can't tell from the picture, but the front of the house to the right of the post lamp also has a large window in it.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsabfce6e0.jpg
This is a diagram of where I'm thinking of putting the lights.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/biglighting_zpsb72fc246.jpg
I'm looking at two different flood lights for the larger areas. I looked at the local options and am not satisfied with the quality or durability of their products.
The first takes a PAR 36 bulb that comes in three wattages, 20, 35, and 50. T
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/BigPar36_zps95f4127d.jpg
The second takes something called a bi pin and comes in 10, 20, 35, and 50 watts.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/BigSplash_zps86b7b23c.jpg
I'm thinking of ordering this one for the small section at the far left side of the house. I can buy 10, 20, 35, and 50 watt bulbs in 12, 38, and 60 degrees.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/BigSpot_zpsd2eeacf6.jpg
Any insight you can provide is appreciated.
What I'm looking for is something to help me decide what wattage bulbs I need and how far the floods need to be from the house for a given degree of spread and wattage. We're not looking for stark, bright lighting, but soft, subdued lighting. I think its called "wall wash".
This is a picture of the house--it's fairly small and has a lot of windows in the front. I'm thinking of putting one light in front of each section. That would be one light in front of the window to the left of the door and another in front of the window to the right of the door and then one at each corner of the house. Eventually there is going to be a planting bed in front of the window to the left of the front door and I'd like the lights to end up in the beds, not out in the grass so I don't have to worry about mowing around them. There is only about 6 feet from the sidewalk to the window on the right side of the door so I need a pretty wide spread of light. You can't tell from the picture, but the front of the house to the right of the post lamp also has a large window in it.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsabfce6e0.jpg
This is a diagram of where I'm thinking of putting the lights.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/biglighting_zpsb72fc246.jpg
I'm looking at two different flood lights for the larger areas. I looked at the local options and am not satisfied with the quality or durability of their products.
The first takes a PAR 36 bulb that comes in three wattages, 20, 35, and 50. T
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/BigPar36_zps95f4127d.jpg
The second takes something called a bi pin and comes in 10, 20, 35, and 50 watts.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/BigSplash_zps86b7b23c.jpg
I'm thinking of ordering this one for the small section at the far left side of the house. I can buy 10, 20, 35, and 50 watt bulbs in 12, 38, and 60 degrees.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q320/bmcdonau/BigSpot_zpsd2eeacf6.jpg
Any insight you can provide is appreciated.