Light for side of house

katseye

This is probably a stupid question but i'm uncertain what type of light I should put up on the side of my house. It's a semi-d and the channel down the side to get to the gate and back of the house is quite long and narrow. I would like to have a light powerful enough to light the way for when i'm coming back at night - bring the bike around the back, but at the same time not be shining over into the neighbours garden.

I've seen some that have dawn/dusk triggers and are 'always on' but I really don't understand the new concept of lumens/wattage etc.

Any advice?

Calahonda52

lumens is a measure of the light output, wattage is the figure to use for doing power consumption/cost calculations.

how high is the party wall?
maybe fit some bulkhead type lights along the inside face of the wall, or on the house below party wall height.

Most neighbours value free light, unless you are blinding them with 1,000 W halos pointing at the bedroom windows

Doop

Would a motion sensor/PIR not be sufficient as opposed to 'dusk till dawn'?
Be sure to go LED anyway..

J.R.

How about something like this - PIR sensor, LED's and you can aim each light in a different direction to cover alleyway

https://www.lighting-direct.co.uk/led-pir-twin-floodlight-black.html

Lumen

You could mount a light low down at the boundary and shine it up against your wall.

Motion activated security lights are awful things. Mine are busted and I have no intention of fixing them.

listermint

You do not need alot of light, as in high lumens. You are just trying to illuminate the area so that its safe to walk down it.

What i would do is put in wall mounted lamps. 3 or 4 along the length of the house wall just at head height. And attach them to a PIR sensor or 2. one at each end.


This is more than enough for the task at hand and isnt going to blast your neighbours with light. Its soft wall facing lighting.

something like this, value for money

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biard-Double-Indoor-Outdoor-Anthracite/dp/B075FMT3T9/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1529569199&sr=8-10&keywords=outdoor+wall+lamp

Calahonda52

listermint wrote: »

You do not need alot of light, as in high lumens. You are just trying to illuminate the area so that its safe to walk down it.

What i would do is put in wall mounted lamps. 3 or 4 along the length of the house wall just at head height. And attach them to a PIR sensor or 2. one at each end.


This is more than enough for the task at hand and isnt going to blast your neighbours with light. Its soft wall facing lighting.

something like this, value for money

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biard-Double-Indoor-Outdoor-Anthracite/dp/B075FMT3T9/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1529569199&sr=8-10&keywords=outdoor+wall+lamp

Good idea: the example you link to contributes to night sky light pollution, so I would stick with a downlight only, unless the OP will be cycling, as opposed to climbing the walls

May Contain Small Parts

I've got a load of these along my fence (ie. facing the house). Same as you, I wanted something to see along the side of the house without being a nuisance to the neighbours. Not the brightest but plenty to stop you tripping over anything on the way in.

listermint

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Good idea: the example you link to contributes to night sky light pollution, so I would stick with a downlight only, unless the OP will be cycling, as opposed to climbing the walls

was looking for down only version but got bored after about 20 seconds

katseye

thanks for all the tips folks, i'm gonna look into all those links now.

- the reason i was thinking dusk/dawn was more that the sensor lights (in my experience) get activated very easily... that's all.

i like the look of those aldi solar things too, can see another place for one or two of them!

Deep Thought

like most commented, bough a couple of these

https://www.jmldirect.com/at-home/garden-accessories/ever-brite-solar-powered-garden-and-security-light/

they are solar powered and motion detector

they stay on at low light permanently and when you approach, they increase light and then decrease

Good for the money

DT

spray____

katseye wrote: »

thanks for all the tips folks, i'm gonna look into all those links now.

- the reason i was thinking dusk/dawn was more that the sensor lights (in my experience) get activated very easily... that's all.

i like the look of those aldi solar things too, can see another place for one or two of them!

Decent quality PIRs will have three adjustments:

• How sensitive the sensor is
• How dark the environment has to be for the light to come on
• How long the light stays on once activated

They can be a pain to get right (especially if you have to go up and down the ladder every time), but after a week or two you should be able to dial it in.