Thursday, January 1, 2015

lighting



The lighting system is a project that I had been working on all summer. Today after working through snow and ice, I finally got the lighting in the pond to work.  The big test will be seeing if it still works after we fill the pond. That can wait until next summer.

The original installation of the lighting was quite odd. There was an assortment of timers, no two being alike, several timers in the garage (only one for outdoor lighting), two hidden under a furnishing, another hidden behind the fountain, and none labelled with what they were for, and none of the lights worked when we moved in 2 years ago.
 

I spent $300 in bulbs, and replaced the halogens with LED's. Which didn't work. I ended up hand excavating the lines to try to find a break in the line since the entire north side of the yard didn't work, or seemed not to.


Somehow, magic occurred today, and nearly all the lights came on. There might need to be a little adjusting, but right now, I'm just thrilled that I got them to work. 

2 comments:

  1. What a difference. I never had landscape lighting until 10 years ago, only designing it for others. What an impact when it all came on for everyone leaving after Thanksgiving dinner. Just beware of rats and mice - they love wire insulation. I never did get it going until I moved, and I helped the new homeowners with it...

    You'll have to tell more on the brand you have, and lights. My favorites were the small downlights in the trees, and only 2/3 lasted. Wind+gravity...

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure what brands they are...not labelled and rather strange. You'll have to stop by and take a look. The landscape lighting is primarily uplighting, which I am rather conflicted about since I do believe in the Dark Skies initiative. I'm doing my best to angle them so that they are not straight up, however, but at an angle toward a wall or other structure.

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