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  1. #1
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    Default LED floodlights

    Currently doing some work on my house. As a part of this work I intend to replace my old, inefficient and tired-looking outdoor lights with LED floodlights. I already have the front of my house lit up from dusk to dawn with a day/night switch but for the back of the house I'm thinking motion detection.

    Great, so that's the basic idea. Devil is in the detail though, some questions I need information on from fellow Gunsiters are the following:
    • Where is the best place to buy? Most places seem to stock generic Chinese units of unknown reliability. I've had bad experiences (and lost the slips...) with the Ellies stuff Builder's Warehouse stocks. Lighting Warehouse has units but they are very flat with a resulting poor light distribution and the PIR sensor on these look fragile to say the least. There's a website of a company called CCTV Direct which on the photographs at least appear to be pretty much what I'm looking after but they'e not doing too well in customer reviews such as on Hellopeter.
    • Related to above, are there any brands I should pay specific attention to? Internet wasn't extremely helpful on this count so far.
    • How good are those units into which you can screw any light bulb, including LED types? This might be a path worth moving down to alleviate reliability of the lights but I'm not sure wattage and lumens can reach high enough. Also seem more expensive all told.
    • Is there a general rule of thumb of wattage/lumens per square meter? I have two 30W units lighting up the front and they cover the large area quite nicely but I'm not sure how it scales to other areas around my house.
    • Anything else someone has learned the hard way? Or maybe just know because they're in the trade?


    I'm Pretoria-based if that matters at all.

  2. #2

    Default Re: LED floodlights

    I bought ours up to 200w from Chinese shops.
    In front of house we mainly have down lighters.
    The down lighters are on motion sensor.
    Sensor I got from hardware store.

    Any case. The chinese once work great.

    At work they forked out more money and bought Osram 200w.
    Which you would think is better quality.

    Not so. And this is the negative side but also tip.
    Replace the bolts on them from start with stainless steel.
    The bolts on the bracket that you attach to wall.

    Even on the Osram. Within month they start to rust.
    So just buy some stainless once from start.

    Otherwise the Chines once according to me.
    Using them now for over a year are 100%

  3. #3
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    Default Re: LED floodlights

    If you have "layers" of lights I found a far back (against the house, final barrier) motion sensor attached to a strobe light works for me at the back. It only picks up a meter or so frrom the house where the floodlights pick up right at the boundary wall.
    It's hard to put in writing, let's say when the lights at the back go on we look. When the strobe starts freaking out the neighbours I know it's more likely a person at the Windows windows and my neighbours call yhe cops to complain about the bright light

  4. #4
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    Default Re: LED floodlights

    I believe in constant light, rather than switched, so mine just works all the time. All of them are the Ellies stuff, and I had 2 fail, until I got advice that the run-off-the-mill day/night switches somehow causes a failure on the LED driving circuits. Removed the offending switch, and have since not had a failure. The two longest-working ones have been on constantly for at least 2 years, and have only been off when there's a power failure. I did the energy sums and the cost of running drawing 10W constantly is far outweighed by an early failure caused by the day/night sensor.

    The latest ones I bought are smaller, less expensive and brighter than the two I refer to above. Apart from one area that still needs a light, my perimeter is now fully lit, 24h a day. I'm quite happy with 10W units, previously pitch-dark areas are now bright enough to identify to quite fine detail up to the edge of my property, in some cases ~15m away.

  5. #5

    Default Re: LED floodlights

    Good Morning Tetelestai.
    We 'upgraded' to LEDs about three years ago and used lights made by Polaroid.
    I'm pretty certain that they were 'made in China' [isn't everything nowadays] but they are still working 100%.
    The other thing that we did was to install a pair of solar powered sensor LEDs.
    One to the front of the property and one to the back [also made in China].as 'a back up'.
    Not as bright as the 'mains supply' but they do give us a light when the mains go down....which happens a lot in Ekurhuleni !
    Regards.
    Keith.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: LED floodlights

    Try Ac/Dc. Their stuff is quite good

  7. #7
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    Default Re: LED floodlights

    Quote Originally Posted by mikecollinge View Post
    Try Ac/Dc. Their stuff is quite good
    This^^

    Bought a few from them and the 20w with motion detection is rather bright I also bough 2 50w LED's but after installing the 20w units the 50w seemed a bit much. Motion sensors are very sensitive and picks up movement at my boundary wall 15m away between shrubs and stuff. they have been going for a year.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: LED floodlights

    Also, i prefer warm white to cool white. The cool white makes everything look washed out.

    Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

  9. #9
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    Default Re: LED floodlights

    Thanks 'siters, keep it coming.

    Very interesting about the day/night switches Pirate. The Electric Engineer in me wants the technical nitty gritty on this so if you have a source somewhere...

  10. #10
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tetelestai View Post
    Thanks 'siters, keep it coming.

    Very interesting about the day/night switches Pirate. The Electric Engineer in me wants the technical nitty gritty on this so if you have a source somewhere...
    No source, just observation and verbal advice. The mechanical engineer in me strong considered fixing the problem with a hammer...

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