Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#31
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote in message ...
Have you thought about those individual solar-powered units? Most garden centres and many DIY shops stock them. They give enough light to see the paths by, and any hedgehogs, cats or whatnot, waiting to trip you up. Light pollution isn't an issue with these.... I gather that light isnt much of an issue with them either. Regards, NT |
#32
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
"Neil Jones" wrote in message ...
I've cross posted this to uk.rec.gardening and uk.d-i-y because I believe it's on topic for both groups. I'm redesigning my back garden at the moment and my thoughts have turned to lighting. I would like to illuminate the terrace which is just to the rear of the house, but also I'm considering some path lighting and maybe some accent lighting to highlight specimen trees, planting groups etc. This would mainly be for use during the summer but occasionally we would switch the lights on at other times, for effect. I live in a rural village so I'm conscious of light pollution and don't really want to brighten the night sky which could affect other locals. I'll discuss my plans with my neighbours before I go ahead but I have a number of questions initially:- What is best practice regarding this kind of lighting? Mains voltage, low voltage or a mixture? Is this a daft idea and I should forget about it? Many thanks Neil Well, some good qs. Firstly light pollution: its a relevant but overused term. Sending light up into the sky is wasteful, but 'pollution' is really a misnomer. If vast amounts of light are sent upwards, it reduces visibility a bit for astronomers. Hardly what one would seriously call pollution, but waste. The prime way to do this is to put uplighters under tree canopies. With full canopies there will be almost no light escape upwards, with thin canopies there will be some, but frankly its all fairly trivial. Equally one can put small CFLs in among shrubs bushes etc to light them up nicely. Very low powers work well. Mains or LT? It basically comes down to total project cost, what you can do safely, and reliability. Mains lighting has fault modes that render it unusable, whereas with an LT system those fault modes just wouldnt be a problem. OTOH CFLs are normally found as mains voltage. 12v lights will normally be halogen or fluorescent. 12v CFLs do exist, but expect to pay much more for them, and have to search to find them. For see your way round lighting, several small low level lights are good. One big high up downlighter works but doesnt look good, and gobbles power. CFLs and fluorecsents are the most efficient, but perform poorly in the depths of winter unless you get tubes specifically intended for cold working. Outdoor lighting is much more fault prone than indoor, as it lives in a far harsher environment, so I would recommend putting the lights on several switches, so that a fault only takes out a percentage of them, not the lot. If you buy decorative garden lights, you can usually add some reflector pieces and cut the bulb power right back for the same amount of wanted lighting. They are often not well designed in that respect. Also never use steel screws in outdoor fittings: substitute plastic ones, as long as they dont heat up, or wire ties, etc. Regards, NT |
#33
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 09:28:30 -0000, "Neil Jones"
wrote: I live in a rural village so I'm conscious of light pollution and don't really want to brighten the night sky which could affect other locals. I'll discuss my plans with my neighbours before I go ahead but I have a number of questions initially:- What is best practice regarding this kind of lighting? In a rural area? - just don't do it. Just my 2p worth. Rod Weed my email address to reply http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html |
#34
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 20:07:04 -0000, in uk.d-i-y "Chris and Patsy"
strung together this: My favourite light for something like your terrace is a low energy floodlamp, made for commercial sign illumination, which I buy from Newey & Eyre. They use 2 x 9W (or 4 x 9W, also 4 x 9W with an integral photocell) lamps in a floodlight format, with very good cut-off characteristics, so you don't get light spill where you don't want it. Mounted below eye level, one of those washes the ground with light, which allows you to see to walk over quite a large area. Mounted high, you get can a good area illumination from one. Colin I'm also looking for some lighting like this, do you know the manufacturer ?, I can't find a Newey & Eyre website (that works) ? Have a look here, on page 27. Most wholesalers will do something similar. Most probably these exact ones actually. http://www.greenbrook.co.uk/lightcat.pdf Or the PW range on this page. http://tinyurl.com/2fshk -- SJW A.C.S. Ltd. |
#36
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
Neil Jones wrote:
I've cross posted this to uk.rec.gardening and uk.d-i-y because I believe it's on topic for both groups. I'm redesigning my back garden at the moment and my thoughts have turned to lighting. I would like to illuminate the terrace which is just to the rear of the house, but also I'm considering some path lighting and maybe some accent lighting to highlight specimen trees, planting groups etc. This would mainly be for use during the summer but occasionally we would switch the lights on at other times, for effect. I live in a rural village so I'm conscious of light pollution and don't really want to brighten the night sky which could affect other locals. I'll discuss my plans with my neighbours before I go ahead but I have a number of questions initially:- What is best practice regarding this kind of lighting? Somethiung that your neighbours can take out with a .22 air rifle. Some ******t has ruined a lisetd building rtound here by lettong an architect loose: His garden resembles tescos car park under floodlights, with weird modern scultures dotted around like giant turds. You can no longer see teh stars, all you can see is this gahsltly glow in the sky. Fortunately I have a friend with a rabbit rifle. One fine night...and the next door place burnt almost down a few years back... Mains voltage, low voltage or a mixture? Is this a daft idea and I should forget about it? Many thanks Neil |
#38
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 09:28:30 -0000, "Neil Jones"
wrote: I live in a rural village so I'm conscious of light pollution and don't really want to brighten the night sky which could affect other locals. I'll discuss my plans with my neighbours before I go ahead but I have a number of questions initially:- What is best practice regarding this kind of lighting? In a rural area? - just don't do it. Just my 2p worth. Rod Weed my email address to reply http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html |
#39
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
|
#40
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
The message
from (N. Thornton) contains these words: Well, some good qs. Firstly light pollution: its a relevant but overused term. Sending light up into the sky is wasteful, but 'pollution' is really a misnomer. If vast amounts of light are sent upwards, it reduces visibility a bit for astronomers. Hardly what one would seriously call pollution, but waste. I'd call it pollution. Waste as well, but the main objection is the local (and when a lot of people carelessly beam light upwards, general) masking of the sky at night. IMO a very selfish and inconsiderate way to act. It doesn't reduce visibility 'a bit', but has caused observatories to pack their bags and move. I had an eleven-year-old staying with me in rural Norfolk some years ago. He came from Greater London, and had NEVER seen the stars. His wonder at the firmament was magical. The prime way to do this is to put uplighters under tree canopies. With full canopies there will be almost no light escape upwards, with thin canopies there will be some, but frankly its all fairly trivial. It depends where your neighbours are, and whether they are inconvenienced by it when you make judgements on whether it's trivial or not. -- Rusty Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
#41
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
I'm wondering if you've considered fiberoptics for your garden? The nice thing is that there is little worry about weather damaging the source and the new tips for FO are extremely versitile and give off attractive light... very low energy cost, big-time control over effect and placement... http://www.luciferlighting.com/fiberoptics.htm gives you an idea of some of the stuff that's available... http://www.advancedlighting.com has some good product info... just to get you started. google search turns up a vast number of good sites to check out as well... |
#42
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
|
#43
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
|
#44
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
"Chris and Patsy .plus.com" News@oddys wrote in message ... .... My favourite light for something like your terrace is a low energy floodlamp, made for commercial sign illumination, which I buy from Newey & Eyre. They use 2 x 9W (or 4 x 9W, also 4 x 9W with an integral photocell) lamps in a floodlight format, with very good cut-off characteristics, so you don't get light spill where you don't want it. Mounted below eye level, one of those washes the ground with light, which allows you to see to walk over quite a large area. Mounted high, you get can a good area illumination from one. Colin I'm also looking for some lighting like this, do you know the manufacturer ?, I can't find a Newey & Eyre website (that works) ? The brand name is their own - Newlec. The part number for the 2 x 9W lamp with a knuckle joint mounting is NL3802. That mounting has an M20 female thread and is ideal if you can stick a bit of steel conduit through a wall, with the thread protruding to screw it onto. The cables then enter the fitting through the conduit. The part number for the 4 x 9W with photocell and wall mounting bracket is NL3806. That type has a bit of flex coming out of the body. I would expect most electrical wholesalers to do something similar. I don't have the boxes for any other versions to hand. I gave up trying to use the Newey & Eyre website long ago. Even as a registered user, I can't often get it to work. Colin Bignell |
#45
|
|||
|
|||
Garden lighting (cross posted)
"Chris and Patsy .plus.com" News@oddys wrote in message ... .... My favourite light for something like your terrace is a low energy floodlamp, made for commercial sign illumination, which I buy from Newey & Eyre. They use 2 x 9W (or 4 x 9W, also 4 x 9W with an integral photocell) lamps in a floodlight format, with very good cut-off characteristics, so you don't get light spill where you don't want it. Mounted below eye level, one of those washes the ground with light, which allows you to see to walk over quite a large area. Mounted high, you get can a good area illumination from one. Colin I'm also looking for some lighting like this, do you know the manufacturer ?, I can't find a Newey & Eyre website (that works) ? The brand name is their own - Newlec. The part number for the 2 x 9W lamp with a knuckle joint mounting is NL3802. That mounting has an M20 female thread and is ideal if you can stick a bit of steel conduit through a wall, with the thread protruding to screw it onto. The cables then enter the fitting through the conduit. The part number for the 4 x 9W with photocell and wall mounting bracket is NL3806. That type has a bit of flex coming out of the body. I would expect most electrical wholesalers to do something similar. I don't have the boxes for any other versions to hand. I gave up trying to use the Newey & Eyre website long ago. Even as a registered user, I can't often get it to work. Colin Bignell |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Wych Cross Garden Centre, | United Kingdom | |||
Question for the group (cross-posted to forums) | Orchids | |||
Container garden plant support rack images are posted | Ponds | |||
OT how to stop cross posted messages | United Kingdom | |||
Lighting Question -length and interrupted lighting | Freshwater Aquaria Plants |