Garage door spotlights
Discussion
The LED strip is currently always on (just plugged in). I plan on powering that the same way the spotlights either side of the door are powered - with an astro timer. In the garage this will need a junction box and a power supply inside as well for the LED strip. Currently its running on a computer power supply which came with the LED strips - not the best.
Those lights look incredibly bright. You don't really have them on all night long surely? They look as though they'd blind anyone who came to the front door and the garage ones are pointless because they'd be obscured by the open door. If you want a light for the front door I'd have a warm welcoming one that comes on only when someone approaches the door.
I can understand architectural lighting for public buildings and also pubs to create a welcoming glow but over a private garage door I think best left natural.
I can understand architectural lighting for public buildings and also pubs to create a welcoming glow but over a private garage door I think best left natural.
Cyber LED's in the floor may be too bright, once your eyes adjust to the darkness and then a hugely bright set of LED strips come on it will be dazzling! Unless your paths are high up so you could fix the LED's to the side lighting up the gras - now that would be nice.
Royce - thats my idea exactly. I was going to go for a strip of PVC. Pretty cheap and avaiable in long lengths in white ready to glue in front of the strip.
Herewego - The photos are taken on my camera phone so the brightest objects will appear bright as it tries to resolve the surrounding dark objects. The Lights by the door are 250 lumens each 3W spot lights. Not the brightest and certainly not offensive on the eyes. Yes they are on all the time that it is dark as will the garage door lights be. At the moment the garage doors lights are on 24/7 as I havent put the timer on them yet.
Royce - thats my idea exactly. I was going to go for a strip of PVC. Pretty cheap and avaiable in long lengths in white ready to glue in front of the strip.
Herewego - The photos are taken on my camera phone so the brightest objects will appear bright as it tries to resolve the surrounding dark objects. The Lights by the door are 250 lumens each 3W spot lights. Not the brightest and certainly not offensive on the eyes. Yes they are on all the time that it is dark as will the garage door lights be. At the moment the garage doors lights are on 24/7 as I havent put the timer on them yet.
You seem quite concerned about energy consumption yet you want to leave them on all night when everyone is asleep. I can partly understand leaving the front door ones on early evening when expecting visitors and also you have created an attractive front door arrangement, but otherwise I don't get it. Sometimes artists create architectural effects using lighting and I get that, but an illuminated garage door is not an architectural effect and in any case it takes the focus away from the front door.
Well I'd say Im concerned to the point of minimzing unecesary cost. So I worked out the cost of the front door LED's (all 4 outside, plus the two in the porch on the same circuit) to be £10 a year. I went for all night automation as I'm sick of coming home at odd times and the house being pitch black. Lazyness for not switching a light on befor I go I know but for £10 a year I thought it was well worth it. Now I'm used to the porch being on all the time at night I like it. Kind of like a night light for a child I suppose.
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