Completed DIY Cree security/eave lighting project

asimba2

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The goal was to light the perimeter of my house for security, convenience and to some extent, architectural interest. Security-wise, I wanted light in the driveway, on both sides of the two side gates (this is a corner lot), in the entryway and above the rear sliding glass door. The lighting is controlled by a timer and stays on during the dark hours (which is about 13 hours right now) and is driven by a Meanwell driver. LEDs are Cree XR-Es in my own special redneck housings. There is an optic in the photo but I ended up using bare emitters.

Here are the housings:
housings.jpg


and here is some early experimenting I did with warm vs cool white:
LED1.jpg


I prefer the warm white for a less industrial feel.

Here is the front of the house with two light rigs over the garage door and one in the entryway.
DSC_0820r.jpg

I like having some light on the vehicles at night, particularly since my 4Runner is popular among catalytic converter thieves. The corner of the house is lit and the entire pathway to the rear of the home is illuminated. The gate in this pic is wide open, but there is a light overhead on both sides of the gate for security. (The light you see directly to the left of the garage door is the house number.)

Here is a view on the same side of house; view looking from the rear of the house to the front:
DSC_0815r.jpg


This view is from the other sideyard, looking toward the front:
DSC_0817r.jpg

There is a light placed right above the access gate, illuminated both sides.

And here is the front view:
DSC_0829r.jpg

The regular porch light is mounted on the right side of the entryway, so previously there was no light outside of the entryway column, no light on the 90-degree sidewalk approach, and no light in the driveway. With one Cree directly overhead in the entryway, light fills the area in front of window and extends far enough to illuminate the 90-degree sidewalk, aided of course by the lights over the garage. To the left of the home you can see the sidegate is illuminated as well.

I am really happy with the result. For one, there is light where the entire perimeter of my home was completely dark before. Now I can walk around the house at night without having to carry a flashlight. The light is dim enough to not produce excessive light pollution yet bright enough that hopefully thieves will be dissuaded. Total draw is under 14 watts and the one in the entryway is bright enough that I no longer use the regular porch light. I was planning on adding another light on the peak over the entryway but decided against it for fear of it looking too busy. Appearance-wise, I like the look but others may not. Just thought I'd share since this forum has perpetuated my LED hobbies. :thumbsup: The next step is to add some LED pathway lighting to illuminate the rock steps in the foreground that you cannot see in the photo.
 
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Ken_McE

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housings.jpg


What is that can? Does it have a clear lid?


Total draw is under 14 watts

So you lit your entire house with less power than I would use for a string of christmas lights? You're hard core, asimba2, hardcore.
:thumbsup:
 

fmzip

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Very impressive!

I'd like to do the same thing in the back of my house. Ideally, I would rather recess them into the eaves for a cleaner look.

Could you post a pic of them surface mounted please? What are the dimensions of that canister? Anyone have any links to similar canisters?
 

fmzip

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If I were to attempt to do the same thing but have them recessed into the eaves, would it be possible to use a 4 inch recessed can for a housing and attach a beefy heatsink to it? How do you determine what is enough heatsink for these CREE's?

I also found this:
http://www.ledsupply.com/alk-1up-eh-kit.php
Is this as simple to mount a box in the eave and screw these in? i assume it's already heatsinked appropriately? Would I have to worry abuot this torching my vinyl sided soffit?
 
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asimba2

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The containers were small spice jars with clear tops. I'm not sure what the clear material is made from, possibly some kind of clear acrylic. Without some sort of enclosure, spiders like to nest right on the emitters. The aluminum channel inside is 2-1/8" long, so the approximate diameter of the tins is somewhere under 3".

I was unable to recess these as the spice jars are the same depth as the plywood on which they are surface mounted. There is no attic space above the soffit--it's a sheet of plywood with roofing paper over that, then the concrete tile roof. I like things to be clean and neat too, but a light mounted in the eaves is not noticeable at all and recessing them was not an option for me.

There are ways to calculate the appropriate heatsinking, but at 350mA, you can barely perceive heat from the emitter or the aluminum on which the stars are mounted. These should last a long time.

And yes, the <14W part is amazing. LEDs still seem too good to be true. Nearly my entire house is lit inside and out with LED and as long as you use good quality diodes like Cree in a warm color temperature, most people can't tell they aren't incandescent.

idleprocess--I remember your post from a while back and I enjoyed the write up and pics.

I will take a daytime pic of the mounted fixtures over the weekend and post it here.
 
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ryguy24000

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I was unable to recess these as the spice jars are the same depth as the plywood on which they are surface mounted. I like things to be clean and neat too, but a light mounted in the eaves is not noticeable at all.

Nicely done! Use a hole saw to cut the plywood and a small wood screw through the side of the "can" into the plywood. this should work.
 

idleprocess

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The containers were small spice jars with clear tops. I'm not sure what the clear material is made from, possibly some kind of clear acrylic. Without some sort of enclosure, spiders like to nest right on the emitters. The aluminum channel inside is 2-1/8" long, so the approximate diameter of the tins is somewhere under 3".

Ah, a spice jar ... that sure opens things up. Here's something that looks similar. Not sure I'd want 72 of them @ ~$42/case, however.

Similar item In smaller quantities.
 

richpalm

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Oh, please... more info! How did you wire them? Series or parallel, where did you get the driver and optics, and what kind of optics?

Where did you get the aluminum channels?

Links please....

I could do these under our counters also on the cheap.

Rich
 
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asimba2

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Oh, please... more info! How did you wire them? Series or parallel, where did you get the driver and optics, and what kind of optics?

Where did you get the aluminum channels?

Links please....

I could do these under our counters also on the cheap.

Rich

They are wired in series. Power goes from the driver into the + of the first led, out the - to the + of the next, and so on in one big chain. The driver is a Meanwell LPC series at 350mA, you can google those for the best price. The aluminum C-channel I bought local and the tins I bought online from an unknown retailer. I've seen similar ones at Cost Plus World Market. After testing I decided to use bare emitters. I tried a variety of optics from ellipticals to ripples and like bare best.

Here is the module over the entryway. Three holes in the stucco, one for the wires, and the two others have sheetrock-style anchors that secure the tins to the stucco:
DSC_0832%20copy.jpg


and zoomed in:
DSC_0835.JPG


and the ones in the eaves: (note: wiring only temporarily exposed)
DSC_0837.JPG

I am using 1" wide painted wood to cover up the wiring you see between the plywood of the eave and the inside of the gutter.

I hope this sheds a little more light on how they were constructed. Pun intended.
I had to stand directly under the eave to even see the light, they simply aren't noticeable until nighttime, then it's too bright to stare at their construction.
 

idleprocess

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Idleprocess, I like the cans you used prior. What exactly was the issue with them?
Not very presentable, too small/thin-walled (difficult to work with), and I'm not sure that the lids won't come off some day in spite of the partial caulk bead I ran around the back. They're out of sight, so the lack of a polished design isn't really a problem.


I saw this youtube video today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itqZOMvDPK0&feature=related . I am new to this so what are the pros and cons with going with something off the shelf like this versus the Cree XRE's for example?

Probably a wee bit expensive, likely runs off of mains voltage, and likely also only available in warm color temperatures (not an issue for most, but is an issue for me). Otherwise, the installation will be a bit easier and it's going to be more polished than a homebrew solution.
 

idleprocess

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I had to stand directly under the eave to even see the light, they simply aren't noticeable until nighttime, then it's too bright to stare at their construction.

I was a bit concerned about some idiot walking up and staring into mine and going blind (actually, just complaining about it), so I hastily scuffed the glass lids with some 80-grit sandpaper. In retrospect, I either shouldn't have bothered or I should have just inserted some other material to diffuse the point-sources.
 

Mike M

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I could do these under our counters also on the cheap.

Rich

In the spirit of poaching:nana: I used the same LED's and method of powering them for my under cabinet lighting. I have dealings with the OP and as a result I have LED's strung all over my house as well. If I get time to post my eave lighting I will but thought I'd add to this thread with some under the cabinet lighting.

Notched some wood to hide the wiring.
DSC08187.JPG



Lay out on the driveway. Finished product has the wood flipped over.
DSC08189.JPG



Close up before sticking an emitter on the heatsink.
DSC08191.JPG



Nailed/taped up. Still had to connect to power and finish small details.
DSC08242.JPG



They work!
DSC08256.JPG



The counter is never this clean in real life.
DSC08260.JPG



Perfect amount of spill down the hallway. Timer turns them on in the morning while I'm in the shower.
DSC08261.JPG




Not to poach too bad but I've had these installed since February 2011 and have zero issues. The heat sinks are more than adequate (same as OP) and the driver (same as OP) handles powering like a champ. The emitters are Cree ~3300K and are just right for that warmish look.

Now back to the thread you clicked on.
 

richpalm

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Super! So you had to cut the aluminum appropriately to fit? Seems that's the hardest part of the job! <g>

Thanks very much! I'm getting hotter to do this.

Rich
 

Mike M

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The OP and I bought a long piece of the aluminum channel. I believe it was 7 feet or so and each of us got half. It's standard stuff and we got it from a metal supply place locally. I cut mine with a hacksaw and miter box.

My under cabinet project was no more than $75. That included LED's from cutter in a bin we chose, paint, nails, driver, etc.
 

asimba2

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Super! So you had to cut the aluminum appropriately to fit? Seems that's the hardest part of the job! <g>

Yes. I used a jig saw with a metal cutting blade. It will cut through channelized aluminum in about 10 seconds. It cuts quickly through the middle but takes a bit to get through the 'c' part.

Thanks for the complements. It's funny, now that the lights are installed, I can't imagine not having them.
 

fmzip

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Can you use plexiglass for a lens or is glass necessary because of the heat?
 
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