Dusk to Dawn Lights in Your Barn...Feedback?

[fergusnc]

Having one installed in a little over a week. Doing some shopping. Electrician suggested LED to save money. So in my research and reading reviews I see positive comments of "lights up the place like daylight!" which to me is too much. Says it lights up 5k or 8k square feet...I forget. I am putting on the end of the shed row barn, on the side that is in between the horse barn and the storage barn (hay, feed, tack right now). My need is for a light to guide me from house down to the barn where I can switch on barn lights, and also to shine a little light into the storage barn in case I need to grab hay in the dark. But I don't want it to be so bright it disturbs the horses' rest.

I saw LED and vapor and fluorescent and other words I forget. Different watts and square footage coverage. What do you guys have and like, have and not like, and for what reasons? Thanks as always?

[Chisamba]

LED lights cone in different wattage so you should be able to choose a lower light one.

[Tuffytown]

LED lights cone in different wattage so you should be able to choose a lower light one.

Exactly. LED will be best for the energy use. Pay attention to the wattage (operating power) certainly but what you should be using for comparison is the lumen ( amount of light) output. An LED puts out an equal amount of lumens for a much lower wattage than the others.

Here is a chart that compares the most common stuff.

http://www.designrecycleinc.com/led%20comp%20chart.html

Halide and vapor lights are lower consumption as well as were the norm for street lights and outdoor lighting that covers large areas. They are mid 20th century technology and are being replaced by LED. They are good for low energy but have really poor color rendering so throw a very yellow light (which probably won't affect your use). They tend to come in commercial sizes and configuration.

They make lots of outdoor led lights now in lower lumen output that come with photocell timers and motion sensors.

[Canyon]

In addition to minimizing the wattage used, consider getting a fixture that is fully shielded and points downward. Dark-Sky Org has lots of info on light pollution. Those of us who enjoy gazing at the stars will thank you!

[Sue B]

I second the downward shielding. My neighbor's yard light is at least 1/4 mile away but I see it through my bedroom window. Now that the lilacs are tall and thick enough, it isn't as annoying as it used to be. Nearby, there's a dairy with super bright yard lights so they can milk 3 times a day (which entails milking long before the sun comes up.), and one of the lights shines directly into on-coming traffic. It can be quite blinding on a dark winter night. At any rate, you guys will be much happier if the light isn't shining into your windows all night.

[fergusnc]

Thanks guys.
This seemed like a pretty standard one on quick review of Lowe's site earlier. Thoughts?
http://www.lowes.com/pd/All-Pro-Area-an ... t/50278199

Didn't know if this was low enough wattage? Or if there is a way to shield it a bit? One of my concerns is the neighbors when there are no leaves on the trees....I wouldn't call us close at all, but don't want to upset anyone's sleep. No road danger...barn is nowhere near our road. And I don't want to upset the view of stars...or the bats...we have the pond behind the barn and I see several bats at dusk every night, flying across and over the barn yard and pond.

[WheresMyWhite]

Light pollution is a good reason to get the dowward shielding as well as motion sensor. Motion sensor might also give you a heads up if something is moving in that area you aren't aware of

[fergusnc]

With the layout of our place and what I need the light to do, motion sensors will not work.

I looked for a shield on the Lowe's site but didn't see any, nor any lights that were built having one...LED anyway.

[texsuze]

We have no exterior lights on after we go to bed. I can see the Milky Way and a billion stars and planets on a clear night---priceless. And since the barn and the house are located towards the center of our property, we'd rather not draw attention to our location after dark by lighting it up like a Walmart parking lot. Check out these examples of night-sky friendly lighting. There is really no reason to contribute to glaring light pollution and light trespass on to your neighbors' property with all these options now available.

http://darksky.org/lighting/lighting-basics

[texsuze]

Er-r-r-r, just re-reading my post. Not intended to sound preachy! Just a topic I'm somewhat passionate about, so no offense intended, only hoping to share some info.....

[fergusnc]

Doesn't sound preachy. Good things to think about. So, how many people have dusk to dawn lights at their barns or biarding barns? Pretty much every boarding barn I have been at had one, as far as I can remember, thus why I was thinking about one when figuring out my lighting plan. Again, with my lay out, needs, and work schedule (which affects feeding times), I am still arriving at more reasons to need one than not need one. The plan is for it to be on its own breaker, so thinking I can keep the breaker turned off except in the darkest, most winter months and can always turn it on to use as a flood light as needed in unexpected situations. And I can try to find one with a shield...still not much luck, and need the light by a week from Monday. That dark sky link sort of had resources listed but didn't really give me much...may have to do more googling.

[Chisamba]

Motion sensor lights and remote turn on high lights for emergencies.

My old barn had a dawn to dusk, it was not bright enough to bother me but offered a fairly diffuse but illuminating low light.

[Tuffytown]

Motion sensor lights with photocells on both barns. My arena has (or had, now broken) a light on a photocell with timer so it came on at dusk and went off at 8 pm.

[fergusnc]

My head was exploding last night after a couple hours of searching sites and digesting everyone's ideas..,had to go to bed! Nothing fits exactly what I want without giving me side effects I don't want. Starting to absorb the motion detector concept, but my head was too full to start looking at them. That will probably happen today. Crazy how a "Simple" idea can take so much time to figure out!

[Tarlo Farm]

Using roof flashing, it's pretty easy to construct your own shield on just about any light you install. Count me in with those who can't tolerate spillover from lights.

[Canyon]

Something else to add to your head explosion (sorry) - During our house remodel, I was told that breakers should not be used routinely as switches, because they have only so many "flips" before they wear out and will no longer be reliable for their designed purpose.

Can anyone comment?

[Moutaineer]

My barnyard flood lights are mostly switched from the house, and are actually on the house pointing out towards the barn rather than on the barn. I turn them on when I go out to feed, turn them off when I come back in.

I have one very bright LED out there by the barn that is locally switched, for times when I need "daylight" at night out there--very convenient but I survived without it for 16 years...

[Quelah]

Hate them won't have them. It's light pollution. Yes I have a soapbox dedicated to this topic.

My DH is an electrical contractor so what I can have lights wise is unlimited. I could have my property lit up like a surgical suite if I wanted to. No dusk to dawn lights here.

To answer your question LED will be most efficient, and not all LED lights are like football stadium lights. We've got lots of smaller ones around the property. Will ask DH about the breaker/switch thing. It is important to turn your breakers on and off periodically to "cycle" them though.

[Quelah]

Something else to add to your head explosion (sorry) - During our house remodel, I was told that breakers should not be used routinely as switches, because they have only so many "flips" before they wear out and will no longer be reliable for their designed purpose.

Can anyone comment?

DH said it's done in commercial applications sometimes but commercial breakers are heavier duty. Short answer, in residential applications it's not ideal. Which means don't do it

[Chisamba]

Er-r-r-r, just re-reading my post. Not intended to sound preachy! Just a topic I'm somewhat passionate about, so no offense intended, only hoping to share some info.....

also duplicating info already given

[fergusnc]

Thanks for the info regarding breaker use...will ask my electrican about it. Thankfully those switches would be easy to find a safe place for (unlike the head scratching needed for stall lights) due to lay out of barn.

[Tarlo Farm]

Please understand the idea about switching yard lights off and on from either your house or barn. I used to own a campground and all outside yard lights were "switched", and went off by 11pm. Protect our night skies.

[Suzon]

I'm a fan of dark. When I had my barn at home, I had a light I could switch on from the house so I could go feed horses in the dark or whatever. Other than that, it was lights out.

[Canyon]

I just listened to this piece about LED streetlights. I don’t think it should really impact your choice,
fergusnc, since your yard light will be on so little. But I thought it had interesting information to add to this discussion in a general sense.

“Across the country, more than 10 percent of outdoor lighting is powered by LEDs. Because the energy savings can be as much as 50 percent, many cities want to make the change. But there are also health implications to consider; LED lights that appear too blue can suppress melatonin production, which can lead to increased diabetes and depression.

“The newer LED lights cost the same, provide the same cost savings and last as long as older versions, so ‘there’s absolutely no reason to put in bad lighting,’ said Dr. Mario Motta, who serves on the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health. ‘You can put in good lighting.’

“In June, the AMA issued three core guidelines for cities. It suggested using lights that are 3000 degrees Kelvin or below, referring to the color temperature of lights, where lower numbers appear warmer. Most older versions of LED streetlights installed before 2016 were 4000 Kelvin or above.

“The AMA also advised cities to properly shield LEDs to reduce glare, and to make lights dimmable.”

AMA Guidance for Street Lighting

[fergusnc]

Canyon, I saw something similar. Got me thinking nothing invented by man is 100% good for our health...seems like if you give it enough time, everything has a down side. Scary. My brain is mush about this at this point, but I am pretty sure I remember the light I bought was 3,000 kelvins and the blue aspect was mentioned. I went with a motion detector floodlight, and it happens to have a dusk to dawn feature to use if you want to. I still worry it may be really bright, but I just got to the point that I had to choose SOMETHING!!

I had to go down to the barn around 9:30 pm yesterday, and it was a full moon. I thought of you guys, and this discussion, and enjoyed how much I could see by the moon and stars u til I could get across the pasture, past both barns, around back and to the light switch for the stalls.