Exterior Lighting Suggestions for shop

[encantotom]

hello all,

i am looking for ideas for exterior lighting on each side of 2 15' high garage doors. the doors are 14' wide and the exterior is stucco with a hip tile roof. the sidewall height is 20'.

it is hard to find carriage lights (we like downhanging) that are over 30" tall that are not many hundreds of dollars. so yea, if i wanted to spend over 500 each i could find ones but i dont....

mounting height will be in the 12 foot range.

any suggestions or ideas or pictures of what you have done? anything creative? something other than regular carriage lights?

also, any experience with LED floodlights? i am putting 9 floodlights around the shop on the 4 sides. the bright LED ones are uber more expensive than regular twin head 150w halogen.

thanks

tom

 

[Lippyp]

I put up a sensor LED security light on the front of the house when we had a rewire. It's OK but nowhere near as bright as halogen and it wasn't a cheap one either. The upside is it only uses a fraction of the power that a 300W halogen uses. At our last house we had four 500W security lights around the house as it was a rough area and it used to cost us a fortune in electricity as the damn cats set them off. I gradually downgraded them to 300W and then to 150W and got nearly as much light.

LED's are improving all the time though, if you have critters around that wil set them off then LED's will save you a wad of cash in power costs. Plus the halogen bulbs only seemed to last a year or so before they burnt out so I seemed forever to be replacing the damn things only to find the screw that holds the front closed corroded into the aluminium housing and so on. LED's are very much fit and forget.

 

[911mike]

I had a medium MH lamp and just replaced it with a dual lamp LED unit from HD. Cost was $95.00 and light output is as good or better. The MH lamp took several minutes to get to temp and full output. The LED is instant bright and white. It has a motion sensor too which is REALLY nice too.

 

[AngrySquirrel]

I picked up 2 of these from the depot. they were about $100 each and light up pretty well.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-Outdoor-Grey-Wall-or-Post-Mount-LED-Area-Security-Light-OLAL-40K-120-PE/204307277?N=5yc1vZc7qvZwvZ12l2Z1z115g2

the lights are better than the picture shows.


the shed is 50ft wide and the lights are about 20ft from the ground.

 

[kbs2244]

You may have conflicting wants here.
Is the “carriage style” important only in the daylight?
Or do you want “architectural” style lighting after dark as well.
Shading is an important part of “light designing,”
It is often in conflict with security desires.

There are plenty of bright flood light out there.
But style was low on their design parameters list.

You may end up with a “industrial look” light with a custom “carriage” cover.
In any case it will not be cheap unless you can DIY.

 

[vision8]

I bought solar powered LED lights from Costco , one for each corner of my building and a motion detector that records for security. I have not finished the shed yet but the operating costs are right for me.
Installed one at the front door so you can see the key pad ; works good but at 8 foot height and 8 feet away from the key pad.
Also will add a ADT zone from the house security for intruder alert while I am away.

 

[AngrySquirrel]

And still nice and bright.

 

[NTxAg]

what is the best way to mount lights to a metal sided building? I can't find a flat enough spot to make a good connection.

 

[jetnow1]

you may want to check with your building department for any restrictions/regulations
on exterior lighting, more and more municipalities are passing regs. that effect what you
can use.

 

[fourjeepin]

I bought one of the LED spotlights. Retail on it was crazy high, but the quality just is not there. I will buy LED bulbs for my existing fixtures when my current supply of bulbs dwindles.

Your garage sounds really nice. Let's see some pics!