Let there be light
While taking a little break at a recent job site, the homeowners began describing their desire for more exterior lighting along the side of their house, where the driveway shifts […]
A homeowner expressed a desire for additional exterior lighting near their house, noting that the lack of illumination near the driveway and walkway to the entry gate made them feel uncomfortable. The homeowner's concern was that the darkness between their home and the neighbor's property could potentially invite unwanted activity.
The reporter, overhearing the conversation, was able to propose a solution to address the homeowner's worries. The reporter then proceeded to implement the recommended lighting upgrade during the course of the larger project.
The existing full-length stairs leading down to the front door entrance were illuminated by a ceiling light fixture installed within the deep soffit. However, this fixture did not sufficiently light the walkway leading to the backyard. The reporter determined that both the hot and neutral wires were connected to the switch box, leaving the interrupt wire to control the light fixture.
To improve the lighting situation, the reporter suggested mounting a series of LED slim lights along the soffit near the walkway. These lights would be controlled by a timer switch programmed for dusk-to-dawn operation, allowing the lights to turn on automatically at sunset and turn off at sunrise. Four three-inch LED slims were chosen for equidistant placement along the side soffit, and were installed by carefully cutting holes and daisy-chaining the wiring.
Additional LED slims were installed on the front porch, centered on either side of the front window. These six-inch lights replaced the existing light fixture and were connected to the same timer switch. The tricky part of the installation was around the corner of the house, where space was limited for wiring. The reporter used six-foot threaded metal dowels to navigate around the corner and successfully connect the final LED slim to the six-inch light box.
The final step was replacing the existing toggle switch with a programmable timer switch. Although the timer could handle up to 50 presets, the homeowners opted to use the "dusk-to-dawn" setting, allowing the lights to turn on automatically at dusk and off at dawn. The reporter installed the new timer switch, and the homeowner's concerns were successfully addressed with the newly installed LED lighting.
Written by urgent.news from Winnipeg Free Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
