DIY Cree Eave Lighting

Mike M

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To follow with the current trend in the fixed Lighting section I lit up my eaves with Cree LED's. My house is going on 28 years old and there is a porch style light at the front door and the back door (only doors going outside). I do have a motion light above the garage and it remains. The "stock" lights did fine for lighting up the front door and back patio but they were ugly 13w CFL's. One dead give away that we were out of town or too lazy to flip a switch was that the CFL's were on all day.

The perimeter of my house is very dark with the CFL lights off. The motion light, lights up the entire driveway but the doorways were very dark. I felt this was a safety and security issue. In talking with a buddy we spec'd out a driver and Cree's. My power source and driver are in the attic. The circuit is one giant loop. I tried to keep the wire inside the attic as much as possible in an effort to make everything look as clean as a DIY can.

This is the walk way to my front door. You can see the porch light. When it's on at night it pretty much only lights up the door, most of the walk is dim.
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Here is a portion of the back. Again you see the porch light. It lights the heck out of the door but it's not ideal. That light back near the red bird feeder is a fake. There used to be a door into the garage but it's gone as is power to that light. It was like that when I moved in and this is one of my ways of dealing with it.
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LED's from Cutter.au I ran 11 emitters around my house.
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An example of the heat sink. I only used optics on 2 of the lights. The other 9 were bare like this.
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For the most part 7 of the lights are mounted like this. It's out of the way and 8-9 feet off the ground. The wire was later covered once I knew the circuit worked.
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Once I knew everything worked I covered the wiring. This picture was taken before I was able to paint the strips.
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I installed 4 lights in the walk way to the front door. For this application I used emitters without stars. The biggest reason is that I goofed when ordering and this is what showed up. It was good though because I mounted these different than the rest.
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This is a side view of one of the 4. PVC bushing from Home Depot and copper as a heat sink.
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Mike M

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On one of the backsides of my house is a peak. I mounted 2 lights about 16 feet high (peak is probably 19 feet high). That part of the house leads to a shed that isn't used at night but it was another dark spot I wanted lit up, again for safety and security. On this application I used a ripple optic from LED Supply. They make an optic holder than fits right over the cree star that holds the ripple part. The reason for the ripple was that it focused the light. Being so high created more spill than I wanted. I'd rather the path be lit than the fence, plus I believe the glare would spill into the neighbors backyard. There are no "stock" lights back here so it used to be very dark.


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After running around my attic and for more than enough overhead soldering I had a working system. It's just as I imagined and I love it. On a plus side my wife loves it as well. The perimeter is lit and you no longer need a flashlight to get around. Another plus is that I can look out most windows at night and see what's going on. A timer controls the light and they are on from about sundown to sun up. Cost for running is about what I'd use for the CFL I always had on at the front door.


Now for some light.

Here's a night time version of the back door. The point and shoot doesn't do the best. The light color is actually not as warm and the concrete path is lit with more than enough light to read a book with.
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I also added one over the BBQ. No longer do I have to BBQ with a headlamp. If it's dark the light is on so I'm good to go.
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Another with the BBQ and of the peak.
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Again the point and shoot hides what this looks like in person. The light is actually cooler and the path is lit up nicely. You can tell from the light on the house that there are optics in these lights. Without them the spill won't light up the path as much as I wanted.
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Front door approach is much better. This pic was taken with a real camera so the color is accurate, it's just a little bright.
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Side view of approach.
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Overall I'm very happy with the lights. They've been up since early spring and are going strong. The heat sinks get slightly warm (think spoon handle after holding one for a minute or two) but that tells me they are working. Cheapo timer keeps accurate time and makes sure they are on when it gets dark. Of all the neighbors I have that make it outside all of them like the lights and want me to make them some. For now I'm done with attics and will just enjoy my lights.
 
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Mike S

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Apr 29, 2011
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Great project, I love it. It's very discrete. The tint really complements the color of the house.
 

fmzip

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Nov 23, 2011
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Really nice work!

Could you provide more details on how you fabricated the PVC tubes/heatsink/bezel?

Also, when you order these Cree LED's, how do you specify color temp?
 

Mike M

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The PVC tubes are kind of hard to explain.

The PVC piece is a reducer from Home Depot. Inside of the reducer is a copper tube with a copper cap on the end. The tube is longer than it needs to be but I wanted to make sure I had enough heat sink that is exposed to the air. These LED's barely get warm so it's more than enough. I notched the cap so the + and - wires can be fed through the tube. For those 4 lights I used emitters without a star because of the size limitation (fitting inside of the reducer). The emitter is glued onto the notched cap, wires are fed from the bottom and carefully soldered on. The o-ring was put on to hold the emitter at a certain depth. Once I figured out the depth I filled the reducer with hot glue. This held the emitter position, sealed the fixture and kept the wires protected and kind of acts like a strain relief.

I drilled a 1" hole in the top of my walk way and stuck the fixture in and taped it in place. Then I climbed into the attic with a 1" PVC coupler and stuck it on the back side of the PVC reducer/fixture. Then I had my wife push up on the fixture flush with the ceiling while I pushed the coupler on. I ran a bead of caulk around the fixture to clean it up but everything is easy to take apart if I ever need to get into the light.

A few days after installation I decided the lights needed a little something more. I bought a couple 2" PVC couplers and cut them up making 4 rings. I glued these around each light so instead of a bright little LED the lights fill the rings and now appear as glowing rings. I thought I'd get around to gluing a plastic lens to the ring but it's not needed.
 

Mike M

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Also, when you order these Cree LED's, how do you specify color temp?

We ordered the LED's from cutter.au. At check out you can pick your tint, star (yes/no and size), and bin. They have a cree data sheet on their site so you get an idea of what color each bin gave. I have no idea that bin or color code these are. I do know they are a tad cooler than 3000k. Probably 3200k.
 

fmzip

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The PVC tubes are kind of hard to explain.

The PVC piece is a reducer from Home Depot. Inside of the reducer is a copper tube with a copper cap on the end. The tube is longer than it needs to be but I wanted to make sure I had enough heat sink that is exposed to the air. These LED's barely get warm so it's more than enough. I notched the cap so the + and - wires can be fed through the tube. For those 4 lights I used emitters without a star because of the size limitation (fitting inside of the reducer). The emitter is glued onto the notched cap, wires are fed from the bottom and carefully soldered on. The o-ring was put on to hold the emitter at a certain depth. Once I figured out the depth I filled the reducer with hot glue. This held the emitter position, sealed the fixture and kept the wires protected and kind of acts like a strain relief.

I drilled a 1" hole in the top of my walk way and stuck the fixture in and taped it in place. Then I climbed into the attic with a 1" PVC coupler and stuck it on the back side of the PVC reducer/fixture. Then I had my wife push up on the fixture flush with the ceiling while I pushed the coupler on. I ran a bead of caulk around the fixture to clean it up but everything is easy to take apart if I ever need to get into the light.

A few days after installation I decided the lights needed a little something more. I bought a couple 2" PVC couplers and cut them up making 4 rings. I glued these around each light so instead of a bright little LED the lights fill the rings and now appear as glowing rings. I thought I'd get around to gluing a plastic lens to the ring but it's not needed.


Great work!

I love the concept. The only thing I would like to alter is a way of installing them without having to get in the attic.
 

fmzip

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I went to Home Depot today to brainstorm a little further on your concept .I am thinking this little 3 inch fixture from for $11 may be a good starting point for modification.

All I would need is to cut some aluminum into round discs and mount some Cree Stars to them to replace the GU10's. Installation should be a snap. What do you think?



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asimba2

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Are you thinking of using those fixtures as eave lights? At $11 each for just the fixture before the LED conversion, the price is going to add up pretty quickly. Aside from that, you can make just about anything work.
 
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Mike M

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Great work!

I love the concept. The only thing I would like to alter is a way of installing them without having to get in the attic.

Main reason for getting in the attic is to hide as much wiring as possible. There was no place to hide wires on the 4 lights up to the front door. Drilling and crawling wasn't too bad. Hardest part was fitting me and my tools while not falling through the ceiling.
 

kaichu dento

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Thanks for doing this instructional and I really appreciate what it did for the front of the house where the lights are fairly low - row of Mules above the walkway.
I went to Home Depot today to brainstorm a little further on your concept .I am thinking this little 3 inch fixture from for $11 may be a good starting point for modification.
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This approach with the reflector should be great for areas where light is being wasted and you want some throw, like out where the car is parked possibly and taking the reflectors out could allow a proper light fixture for places where it's visible, while still allowing the gentle and artifact free beam that Mules are famous for.
 

fmzip

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Are you thinking of using those fixtures as eave lights? At $11 each for just the fixture before the LED conversion, the price is going to add up pretty quickly. Aside from that, you can make just about anything work.

Fortunately, I can get 12 XRE's as samples since I am in the electronics market. I can also get a Meanwell driver as a sample too. The only thing I will need to buy is the Star PCB's which I found stateside here for .91 each

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=sGAEpiMZZMu7R3+RdHFEcfl0CBSU9Dk18XQgofJFUWw=

So my out of pocket expense will be $12 a fixture. I am thinking of using 10-12 fixtures so $150 max to illuminate the house with a nice clean install seems reasonable to me.
 
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fmzip

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Main reason for getting in the attic is to hide as much wiring as possible. There was no place to hide wires on the 4 lights up to the front door. Drilling and crawling wasn't too bad. Hardest part was fitting me and my tools while not falling through the ceiling.

Running the wires in the attic is okay for me. Getting to the edge of the eaves is a pita as the pitch of my roof is not very steep. That is why popping in a recessed can from outside and wiring there will be much easier for me.

I have a tech at the office that can help me with the technical aspects as well. Just curious, how did you wire these in series or parallel and which driver did you use?
 
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kaichu dento

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I am thinking of using 10-12 fixtures so $150 max to illuminate the house with a nice clean install seems reasonable to me.

Running the wires in the attic is okay for me. Getting to the edge of the eaves is a pita as the pitch of my roof is not very steep. That is why popping in a recessed can from outside and wiring there will be much easier for me.
I like the OP's install, but if I were to do the same I'd go the route you're planning on and you can buy a fish tape, or better yet, your friend who does wiring will have one and a case of Alaskan Amber should get him over to your house long enough to run the wires clean and out of sight.

Hope you'll post pics too so that the rest of us can think more on how we're going to approach our projects. I'm actually hoping your eaves are the same as mine!
 

ssvqwnp

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Very nice outside lighting, Mike! I do have a question, though -- am I to assume the bare emitters will not be adversely affected by moisture, etc. outside? I have read something like 80% humidity for storage in the Cree data sheets, and I was wondering if they might not like rainy days and nights.
 

mds82

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Very nice outside lighting, Mike! I do have a question, though -- am I to assume the bare emitters will not be adversely affected by moisture, etc. outside? I have read something like 80% humidity for storage in the Cree data sheets, and I was wondering if they might not like rainy days and nights.

There is a product out there called LED Seal, LEDSupply.com has it. its a spray on silicone sealant designed for LED's
 

Mike M

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Just curious, how did you wire these in series or parallel and which driver did you use?

I used a Meanwell LPC-20-350 and am running 11, 1 watt emitters.


Very nice outside lighting, Mike! I do have a question, though -- am I to assume the bare emitters will not be adversely affected by moisture, etc. outside? I have read something like 80% humidity for storage in the Cree data sheets, and I was wondering if they might not like rainy days and nights.

The emitters are bare. There is no cover and I haven't used any seal spray. I've seen the spray but I've been having great luck with these. They have already been through the wet spring season and right now we have very thick fog. I run the same emitters as rock lights on my 4Runner. They hang low and are exposed (although have some epoxy on them) and have even been submerged. They are going strong after more than 3 years. I might get in there to seal something but I'm not worried about it right now.
 
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