Outside wall lighting questions

[Bravo64]

Hey folks. So I'm at the point of installing outside lighting. I was planning on the same crafstman style the house has, which is still available online. Our house has one on each side of the 16ft garage door. I have a 30x40 building with a 12x12 door, 10x8 door, 3' man door and a 5x4 window on the wall facing the house. Since the doors are 2ft apart and window about 4ft from mandoor, how many exterior lights would I need? It wouldn't make sense to have one in between each door, but I was thinking of one the outside of the 12x12, then one between the 10x8 and man door. Thoughts?

 

[Bravo64]

Outside decorative lighting. I have a motion sensor floodlight at the peak of the garage which does most of the pad lighting. Probably put one over the 10x8 right under the soffit.

 

[cybrdyke]

I cant picture what you're saying. Maybe a picture or sketch would help.

 

[Bravo64]

Here is the front pictured.

 

[cybrdyke]

Somewhat decorative, yet they serve a purpose, right? One on the left of the 12x12 to mark the corner of the building. Definitely one to light up the man door, probably better next to the 10' door than the window. Depending on what happens at the right side of the building, maybe one to mark the other corner of the building. I think you have the right idea.
CD

 

[Zeke]

One light next to the passage door between that and the window. If you need flood lights for task lighting, install them over each big door. Or on the corners. Whatever you need.

 

[Highbeam]

I too dislike light pollution. Motion flood lights pointed down offer security as well as function for actually working outside but then shut off to save energy and to avoid ruining the night sky for the rest of us.

 

[chops101]

I would try to replicate what your house has. One on either side of your large door and one beside your man door; but very low wattage.

I have 3 lights on my house garage, they are big coach style lamps that I have on a photocell and then dimmer. I have them maybe 1/2 bright with 25w clear bulbs and yes they are for decoration mainly.

 

[Bravo64]

We live outside of town on a dead end road. The only close neighbor is behind the shop so these lights won't affect them any more than their outside garage lights. At night it's so dark out here lighting is essential. But I do understand light pollution. I've installed two yesterday, one on the left of the big door and one on the right if the smaller door. It looks off to me. I'm adding one between the big doors and one on the right corner of the building. I'm running low wattage cf bulbs. I'll upload a pic when the two are installed. Thanks all.

 

[boobag]

personally, i'm a big fan of recessed(or can) lighting outside, mounted in the overhang.
this lights up the area in front of the door and lights up the wall, and doesnt just shoot light straight out like a wall mounted light. and i think it looks nice at night also.

 

[Ray916MN]

I'd put one on each side of the large garage door at a level where they will line up with one over the man door. By lining up the lights you'll create a visual line which will offset some of the large to small opening line up visual impact that you get from the doors and windows being arranged from largest to smallest.

 

[Bravo64]

https://scontent-b-sea.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10891624_10205686360056999_2551112231639561024_n.jpg?oh=51f0395a53953e6de89914194c5babb9&oe=55400E04

 

[Bravo64]

Damn, I copied the image url from my facebook and it came in huge.

 

[RickP]

Those coach lights look good. I'd personally add one more light between the two overhead doors, but that's up to you.

Have you checked the max wattage bulbs allowed in those fixtures? My outdoor lights are very similar to yours and mine are limited to 100w bulbs. It's not a lot of light per fixture, so I installed 4 lights along a 40 foot wall. You could use LED bulbs or halogens to get more lumens per fixture, but then it starts to get uncomfortable when you look directly at the light. I'd try looking at it at night using extension cords and see what works for you.

 

[Bravo64]

I have the CFL HD bulbs in the two. I think they're the 60w ones. Looks fine from the road but not very bright. I just roughed in two more boxes. Waiting for the fixtures.

 

[PassnThru]

If the two new ones are 1)between the overhead doors and 2)on the right corner then I approve.
This is how I handle this sort of decision. Take a picture of the garage (this is critical because there is only so much daylight in each 24 hour period and you will need the photo when it gets dark). Stare at the garage or the photo. Spend days/weeks agonizing over the decision knowing you can't easily change it later. Finally make a decision not because you had an epiphany but simply because you know you have to move forward and no option is screaming it's superiority. Execute the design and then spend a few years glancing at it wondering if you made the right decision while your wife/friends/visitors think nothing of it. Grow accustomed to it finally and not be able to imagine it being any other way.

 

[Bravo64]

PassnThru, I like how you think. Actually I created a digital drawing of our shop and created a night scene. Then I added the lights on the top layer of the image so they were illuminated. Using this, I decided to put them where I did. Not going back now. Thanks all for your inputs.

 

[Bravo64]

https://scontent-a-sea.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10931354_10205831611608197_2153179371419034260_n.jpg?oh=61812dedf886a322241d65877cae2842&oe=55249289

Added two more lights