LIGHTING & IRRIGATION

Project Starting Point:  

Jim and Deb have a terrific home. They'd recently redone the back patio and surrounding landscape and created an awesome, covered outdoor living space where they could relax and just watch TV or entertain guests.  Although fantastic, it just wasn't as inviting as they wanted it to be, primarily in the after dark hours.  They wanted to add some lighting to create the inviting ambiance they desired.  It was a bigger project than they wanted to tackle on their own and Jim also knew the frustrations first hand of dealing with the lighting they already had in the front.  So they reached out to briteGREEN looking for some ideas for the newly redone back yard and for adding a little bit to the existing front system.  After evaluating the situation in both the front and back, and giving a nighttime demonstration of what we could do for them, the recommendation was made to start from zero.  The front system wasn't worth adding to.  It was old and outdated, it was a big box store, snap together system that previous owners had installed and it didn't work very well at all.  Bulbs were constantly going out, the timer was a pain to deal with, basically it was a big hassle for Jim.  To top it off, it wasn't even complete.  At night you couldn't tell that there was a second story to their house.  And since the back was going to be installed in LED, it made sense to gain those benefits in the front as well.  Those benefits not only included much lower power consumption and longer life expectancy.  Because of the much lower power consumption (up to 77% lower), we were able to control all lights, front and back from one controller.  With a halogen system, at least two controllers would have been required and 3-4 times as much wire buried in the ground.  
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The Goal:  

Enhance Jim and Deb's outdoor living space in the back and remove and replace the hassle that was the front lighting system.  We wanted simple and understated, a traditional lighting system look without the traditional problems.
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The Process:  

The first step was to remove the old system and make sure we avoided its drawbacks.  The three main issues were the controller, how the fixtures connected to the wire coming from the controller, and the lack of quality in the fixtures themselves.  Since we weren't using features like zoning, dimming or color, we used the LX controller from FX Luminaire.  It's a very easy to use, digital controller, with built in timer and photocell controls.  Programming is simple and flexible with the LX.  Next we chose the high quality FB fixture in a 3LED version due to the reflective nature of the light colored brick on the house.  We connected the fixtures to the main cable by stripping and spicing the wire and then using a silicone filled wire nut to seal the connection.  The original connections simply snapped or pinched onto the wire with prongs that would puncture the outer layer to make contact with the copper inside.  The problem here is that moisture is allowed inside the wire and begins destroying the wire from the inside out.  Over time these connections will cause unnecessary headaches.  
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So, we got the old system out of the front and replaced with new.  We added some lighting mounted at the gutter line above the front porch to give some illumination to the second story.  The controller was mounted on the side of the house where it would receive plenty of daylight input for the photocell to operate without interference from light fixtures.  The lighting in the back was a little easier as we were starting from zero there.  There were some plantings we wanted to highlight to capture the natural beauty of the surroundings but also some pathways we wanted to define from a functional and safety oriented perspective.  By mixing some functional applications with aesthetic ones, we created the desired effect.  We installed all of the fixtures according to plan and returned in the evening to make small but necessary adjustments.  Now Jim and Deb have a high quality lighting system that is easy to control from one location, highlights their home, and makes their beautiful outdoor living space inviting and useful after dark.
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Project Stats:          

33 Fixtures controlled by 1 power source/controller
​Product Brand:      

FX Luminaire
Controller Type:    

LX 300 in Matte finish
Fixtures Used:        

FB 3LED in Flat Black powder coat finish
NP 3LED in Flat Black powder coat finish
PM 3LED in Silver powder coat finish