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You can’t do without lighting on the site near the house. Even in a country house far away, at least minimal lighting, but it should be. With him somehow calmer and more comfortable. And street lighting of a permanent residence is also a way to decorate the site, give it more personality and in the evening.
Functions and purpose
Illumination of the yard and adjacent territory performs several functions at once:
- Security. In the illuminated area, there are less chances to leave with impunity, because attackers try to bypass such areas. For protection, they put lamps near the gate, on the porch, near the outbuildings. They are located at a considerable height – to illuminate a larger area. A feature of this type of street lighting is that it burns all the time of the dark. There is an option to save money – to put motion sensors. With such a device, the light turns on only when there is at least some movement in the sensor’s coverage area.
Security lighting of the site is based on the lighting of the gate and fence - Ensuring the safety of movement. In order not to step on something left on the path in the dark, they are also usually illuminated. Need lighting on stairs, around ponds. Most often, special street lights with legs of medium height are used for this. They are installed at some distance from each other on one or both sides of the track. This lighting is turned on until the owners have gone to bed.
Highlight stairs and paths is very important - Decorative. To make the yard or garden look no less attractive in the evening than during the day, use decorative lighting. It is usually located on an open veranda, gazebo, near a pond or fountain, and other decorative elements on the site. With such illumination, wall-mounted street lamps, garlands, LED strips, etc. are used. This street lighting works at home only when necessary.
Decorative lighting gives the garden and yard a special charm - Festive. To create a festive atmosphere, decorate houses and yards. Festive illumination is optional, but such a pleasant type of lighting.
Festive street lighting at home
Usually, lighting on the site of a house – country or country – is complex. There is at least a lantern at the doors and gates, a couple of lanterns along the main paths. Searchlights controlled from the house can be installed, if necessary, illuminating the territory. This minimum, which provides a normal degree of security and convenience.
Choice of fixtures
On the street it is necessary to install special dust-moisture protected lamps. The degree of protection of the case is displayed by the security class. It is indicated by the Latin letters IP and two numbers that follow it. The first number reflects the degree of protection against dust ingress, the second – moisture. The lower the number, the lower the protection. For example, IP 44, has a lower protection class than IP 65. A specific interpretation of the meaning of each digit is shown in the photo below.
It is clear that it is better to do street lighting at home with IP 68 class luminaires, but they are quite expensive, and their range is not so large. But you will not have any problems with their work – neither during rain, nor during strong winds carrying dust.
Which lamps to use
If we talk about lamps for street lighting, it is best to use not incandescent lamps, but LED or economy lamps. The best option is LED. With low power consumption, they shine very brightly. For example, a lamp that consumes 7 W produces light like a 50 W incandescent lamp (or 650 lm). At the same time, they practically do not heat up, so that nearby plastic parts do not overheat. The scope of application is somewhat limited by the temperature regime of operation from -20 ° C to + 40 ° C.
If you want to further reduce the cost of street lighting, you can install solar-powered luminaires. By the way, these are also LED lamps (LED), in the case of which there is a rechargeable battery. During daylight hours, the battery accumulates energy, which is then spent on lighting. Such lamps are available in different formats – from small ones that are stuck along the path to solid spotlights that can be used to illuminate roads.
In general, solar-powered street lamps are different in design and installation method. The simplest options – garden ones – can simply be stuck into the ground (pictured on the left), there are also hanging options that can be hung on trees, a veranda. There are sealed models that can float in water. Launching such a lamp into a pond is a great solution (second image from the left).
Not so long ago, models appeared that can be built into a walkway or stairs (right). They cost quite a lot, but considering that the installation costs are minimal (no need to lay a cable), and there are no lighting costs at all, then such an investment is extremely profitable.
Automation on/off
Despite the fact that the presence of sensors requires additional costs and complicates installation, it is convenient and economical. There are time relays that can turn on and off the street lighting of the house at a given time. It makes sense to install such systems on security and functional lighting. You can also think about installing a relay for decorative lighting – also convenient.
In sparsely visited places where you only need to turn on the light when you are there, you can install motion sensors. They can also be part of security lighting – if there is movement, floodlights will turn on, which had not worked before. The surprise will not be pleasant. Another thing is that the sensor can work on a dog or other animal that has fallen into its field of vision. But the security functions will still be more effective.
Another opportunity to automate the street lighting of a private house is to install a photo relay. It reacts to a decrease in the amount of light, turning on the lamp power circuit. Also in automatic mode, the power is turned off – when the sun begins to rise.
Another video on the topic
Wiring and work order
First of all, it is necessary to draw up a detailed plan of the illuminated area, which indicates the placement of all lamps. Next, you need to develop a route that will connect those light sources that need power (except those that are solar-powered). A separate machine must be installed in the house shield for street lighting. In some cases, several separate power lines may be required (for example, one for lighting the fence and the area in front of the house, the second for the backyard).
Choose a cable
It is advisable to lay the cable for powering the fixtures underground. The minimum laying depth is 80 cm, it is desirable to use armored cable types. It is allowed to lay the VVG cable, but in a protective sheath (special corrugated hose or asbestos-cement pipes). Read more about underground cable laying here.
Air cable laying for lamps is also allowed, but, firstly, it spoils the overall impression, and secondly, it is necessary to find a cable whose sheath is not afraid of ultraviolet radiation. These are certain types of polyethylene, the shells of which significantly raise the cost of cable products. Most often, the VVG cable is also used here, but it requires protection from ultraviolet radiation. It must be laid in cable channels (if they lead along the wall of buildings) or in a corrugated sleeve. Without such protection, after a few years (3-4 years depending on the region), the shell will crack, which can lead to failure of the entire system.
The choice of cable section is described here, read about the methods of connecting wires here.
Where to put switches
A few words about choosing a location for installing switches for street lighting at home. The system can be quite complex – separately they pull power to the lanterns on the fence, separately – for lighting along the paths, another branch – for decorative lighting. But it is desirable to concentrate all the switches inside the house, and most conveniently – near the front door.
The inconvenience of this scheme is that it is necessary to turn off and turn on the lighting from home. To make such a scheme more convenient, you can use the remote control system. But this is expensive equipment. It will be cheaper to install walk-through switches. They make it possible to turn on / off the light from two / three points. You can put one inside the house, the second – on the fence, near the garage, etc.