Not the atmospheric fairy lights, actual notgoingtotripdownthestepsandbreakmynecktotakevegpeelingstothecompost floodlight type lighting.
We have a fairly long garden, and the shed has an outdoor socket on the side wall, next to a convenient horse chestnut tree. Rough plan is the get a light with sensor on the tree, plugged into the shed to light the way down the obstacle course/ steps, leaves, balls etc to the shed/ compost bin etc.
What do you recommend STW? The internet throws up loads of options, not many seem to have a 3 pin plug, but could I just wire one on?
[url=https://flic.kr/p/pWyUPo]12v 10W LED flood lights[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr
12v PSU in a box plugged into external socket..
[url=https://flic.kr/p/pjYpzA]12v PSU in IP65 box[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr
Wired 10 x 10W flood lights in parallel down the fence:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/pjYqU9]12v 10W LED Flood light[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr
I went for 12v as I didn’t want mains cables running along the fence under shrubs / climbers as they’ll get damaged pruning at some stage. That photo was 7 years ago, all the lights and cables are now completely overgrown by Clematises and I have to keep cutting them back so the light can be seen….
If they don’t have to stay on long and are just to light your way, then a job-lot of solar powered security lights. That’s what I did and they work well.
I used orange cable to minimise the chance of cutting it by accident when pruning etc….
The nice thing about using 12V is it doesn’t really matter if it’s not perfectly connected / watertight / gets damaged – it’s super safe. The only problem I’ve had in 7 years is one of the LED flood lights died.
I just have the mains plug on a timer, so it comes on in the evening and goes off at midnight.
Also interested in the solar option – looked at the idea before but not sure how reliable they would be given that we need them most in the winter with less sun/more darkness, and also a couple would have to go in shady corners anyway.
I’ve got a number of solar powered garden lights. They’re useless in winter.
I’ve just put some 12V lights up the side of the steps from street level up to the house. There are three of them at the moment but I have another two on order. £18 per lamp, plus the price of cables, a couple of three-way splitters, a dusk-dawn sensor and a 60W transformer (installed in the shed to keep it dry). Total price < £200.
12v definitely the way to go, safe and doesn’t blow up when it gets wet. Personally prefer old school incandescent bulbs, LEDs are fine as long as they stay dry, water kills LEDs.
Posted 3 years ago
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