How to make track lighting in a country house

If the site is paved paths, it is worth immediately think of their lighting, so you can comfortably walk at night, especially if there are a lot of trees in the yard. Track lighting also has a decorative function, improving the view and creating a comfortable environment for walking or relaxing.

Lighting is an important element in the design of the homestead.

Requirements for lighting

Before planning and installing lights, you should understand the requirements for this type of work:

1. The light should not be too bright.. This creates discomfort, and also worsens the view of the garden or pond, as the calm atmosphere is disturbed. It is better to choose diffused lighting, so that the lamps do not hit the eyes.
2. The lighting should highlight the boundaries of the walkways. This is enough to walk comfortably even at night. Particular brightness is not necessary here.
3. Choose lighting fixtures with protection and dust-proof, designed for the street. It is important that they do not require maintenance and work for a long time without replacing bulbs.
4. Pay attention to power consumption. The lower the consumption, the lower the electricity bill will be. Energy-saving models are best. But you can also choose modern stand-alone solutions on solar panels.
5. Design should match the design of the garden plot. Lights are more visible during the day, so it is better to choose those that will complement the design and decorate the landscape even when they are not working.
6. Wiring If available, it should be laid according to established requirements and be safe. To exclude problems. Always put a circuit breaker or RCD in the system. In this case, in case of short circuits and other malfunctions, the supply of electricity will stop.
7. It is better to put lights wherever you have to move at night. Consider in advance their location, so that later it did not turn out that some corner was overlooked.
8. Beforehand, understand the peculiarities of switching on and off. The easiest way is to put an automaton, so that it supplies electricity on a timer and turns off the lights at a specified time (e.g. late at night when everyone has gone to bed). You can use photocells so that the lights themselves turn on after dusk. The simplest solution is a manual switch. It's good if you only need to turn the light on once in a while.

Light should be everywhere you need to move around in the dark.

When choosing lights and their brightness, you should consider facade lighting if available. All elements should be combined.

Variants of lighting

Usually there are two types - functional and decorative illumination. Each option has its own characteristics, which should be taken into account and remember that site lighting can perform several functions.

Functional lighting

Functional lighting is much brighter than decorative lighting, as it should provide good visibility.

It is a must-have option to increase the safety of movement around the site and create a comfortable environment for recreation. The main features are as follows:

1. Highlight recreational areas - gazebos, grounds, patios, etc. Accentuate them with brighter light.
2. For paths selected dim options, their main purpose - to highlight the area for walking.
3. Light steps, places near water bodies, bridges, curbs and other areas that can be dangerous in the dark.
4. When planning the location of lights along paths, arrange them evenly so that there are no poorly lit areas.
5. If possible, use diffuse light to provide a comfortable atmosphere on the site.

It is worth highlighting the front of the house and other structures to ensure good visibility as you move from the darkened area to them.

Decorative Lighting

Decorative lighting is often used for plants and artificial ponds.

This option primarily serves to decorate the site, although at the same time illuminating the area around it. The features are as follows:

1. First of all, all objects that one wants to admire at night are highlighted. These can be favorite resting places, trees, flowerbeds, alpine slides and much more.
2. You can accentuate the elements that decorate the site - sculptures, figurines, etc.
3. Decorative lighting of objects, which with backlighting look especially spectacular. These can be fountains, waterfalls and ponds.
4. You can plan the location of the lights to get a mysterious atmosphere on the site in the spirit of fairy tales from childhood.

When choosing the style of equipment is worth taking into account the design of the site. If it is pretentious, then select strict options, but if the site in a minimalist style, you can choose the most fanciful models.

Types of lighting devices

Lighting tracks in the country house or on the homestead plot can be divided into different types depending on the light source used and the design of the fixture.

According to the source of light

LED options with solar panels are charged during the day and burn at night.

There are several options on the market, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, which should be taken into account when choosing:

1. Incandescent bulbs. Are inexpensive, but do not last more than 2,000 hours and do not tolerate temperature fluctuations. During operation, they are strongly heated, consume a lot of electricity, for garden lights it is better not to use this type.
2. Halogen lamps also operate at the expense of the filament, but unlike the first option, the bulb is filled with halogen gas, due to which it provides a bright glow and increases the service life. But these lamps are strongly heated during operation and last much less than their analogues.
3. Fluorescent models consume little energy and provide high-quality light, the resource is many times greater than the first two options. But the lamps do not tolerate temperature and humidity fluctuations, for them you need to buy sealed lamps. From adverse conditions often fail much earlier than they should.
4. LED lamps and lights last up to 50,000 hours and consume minimal electricity. They are the best option today for site lighting. There can be both replacement bulbs and fixed lights with built-in diodes.

For backlighting, you can also use waterproof LED strip in silicone sheathing.

By design

Directional lighting provides excellent visibility when walking on the path.

In stores you can find variants of different shapes and designs. It is worth highlighting the most common and popular models:

1. Torchlight-type designs are columns of different heights with a diffuser or a frosted plastic plafond in the upper part. Universal solution, which is suitable for lighting paths, highlighting passageways, creating a comfortable atmosphere near benches and gazebos.
2. Bollard type marker lights give a dimmed light. They can be used to mark the boundaries of parking lots or illuminate paths that are rarely used.
3. Paving stone elements with integrated LEDs. When laying paths, you can place luminous tiles in some places, which will illuminate the surface and provide easy movement in the dark.
4. Lights in various statues or improvised houses, etc. Most often, LEDs are built into such designs, which allows them to serve as decoration during the day and lighting at night.
5. LED lights for the garden on solar panels. Completely self-contained models that can be stuck in the ground in any suitable location, allowing you to design track lighting in a few minutes. If necessary, they can be repositioned at any time.
6. Luminaires of directional light, in which the light flux is distributed over the surface of the path, creating an original effect. It is best to arrange in staggered order.

LED solar-powered lights for the winter is worth to remove to a warm room, this will prolong their life.

How to make track lighting with your own hands

Pathway lighting in the country house or plot of land near the house can be made by yourself, if you understand all the nuances and follow the instructions step by step. If you break down the process into small steps, it is much easier to cope with the installation.

Choosing a place to install fixtures

Fixtures should not be placed too close to each other.

Before you start work, you need to know the layout of the site and the location of paths, recreational areas and other objects. There are a few tips:

1. First of all, think about the location of the lights along the paths, the entrance to the site, as well as the area where the car will be parked.
2. Determine where the rest areas, benches, grounds, swings and other objects will be located that need to be illuminated brighter.
3. If using decorative lighting, determine the locations that will be illuminated and select the appropriate fixtures for each. There can be several solutions based on the situation.
4. Determine the height of the fixtures. For paths, low poles are fine, for benches and pergolas you can use variants of medium or large height.
5. Consider whether the light from neighboring decorative areas will not overlap. It is important to provide a comfortable environment without an abundance of light.
6. Choose fixtures with approximately the same light temperature. The shade can vary, but you should not combine warm and cold light in one place. Yellow light is better for the area, as it promotes relaxation and does not strain the eyesight.

At the initial stage, you can determine only approximate places of installation, it is not necessary to choose specific models.

Designing and preparing materials

In order not to miss important points, it is worthwhile to plan everything and make a list of what is needed. Then you will not have to urgently buy the missing light fixture or a few meters of cable. Remember the following:

1. First of all, make a project with all the fixtures and other elements marked. It does not need to be neat, the main thing - to make a scheme in a comparable scale on which to mark everything that will be used.
2. Calculate the amount of equipment, this is not difficult if you have a plan beforehand. It is best to make a list to put the number for each item and see clearly what will be needed.
3. Calculate how much cable and other accessories will be needed. Take into account distances, method of wiring, and always make a reserve of at least 15%.
4. Buy everything in advance. Prepare the area for the work, remove anything that can get in the way.

If lawns are already made, you will have to disturb them when carrying out the work.

It is better to carry out the work before the improvement of the yard, as you will have to dig trenches and all the lawns and flower beds will be spoiled.

Methods of laying cable

There are two options for laying cable, each method has features and is suitable for a particular situation. You can use one of them or a combination, if possible. The first method is laying through the air:

1. The simplest solution, which requires minimal preparation. It can be used when the area has already been landscaped and you do not want to spoil the lawn and remove the paving.
2. Suitable for high lights, can also be used for medium heights. Rarely used for most types of garden lighting.
3. The output of the cable is carried out through the roof adjacency or any other element located at a high height. For laying, supports are installed, which must be strong. The height is chosen so as to avoid accidental catching the cable as you move around the site.

Example variant of laying the cable in the ground.

The second method is laying in the ground. It is more complicated and more expensive, but safer, because the cable is securely hidden and is not dangerous for children or animals. This option has many features:

1. It is better to use a cable with copper conductors, the cross section should be chosen depending on the power consumption of the lights. Always take with a reserve, so that when adding new sources of light, the line is not overloaded.
2. For laying it is necessary to dig a trench about 90 cm deep. At the bottom is poured a cushion of crushed stone or gravel thickness of 20 cm.
3. The cable should be laid in a corrugated tube and HDPE pipe. This will ensure service life of dozens of years and protect the cable from any influences. Leave a reserve of at least one meter at the ends for connections.
4. Solder all connections for security and put them in heat shrink tubing.
5. After laying the pipe with cable lay a layer of 20 cm. Put signal tape on top of it. If excavation work is carried out afterwards, it will be clear when the tape is found that the cable is laid below.
6. Backfill the trench and compact the soil. Then you can proceed to the next step.

When laying the cable in the ground it is necessary to enter its location in the design documents.

Installing the equipment

After installation, you can immediately use the lighting of the site.

If the cable is connected, you can put the lights. Here it all depends on the type of equipment and its size. If it is necessary to pre-pour platforms or bases, to do this in advance. When installing take into account these tips:

1. Securely fasten the fixtures to prevent them from toppling or damage. Use fasteners as appropriate.
2. It is best to make the connection with sealed pads that exclude the ingress of moisture. Or solder every connection and cover it with shrink tubing to keep out water.
3. After connecting to check the work, so that then you do not have to redo the connections.

Read also

Making a solar-powered garden light

 

If you use LED lights with a solar panel, then no need to run a cable. You just need to choose a place and just stick the elements in the ground or fix it through the mounting pad.

Video: Making illumination of the garden path with the lighting fixtures from AlieXpress

Make lighting in the country house is not difficult, if you understand the features of the systems and choose equipment for the site with suitable characteristics. The main thing is to lay the cable in the ground with compliance and protect the connection points well.