Adding An Outdoor Light ?

[Robert11]

Hello:

Thinking of adding an outdoor flood light to illuminate my backyard. Have done a fair amount of house wiring, but never any outdoor wiring.

It will be very difficult for me to run wires from the "high-up" flood light thru the wall to where I can put a switch and tap into the AC.

Was wondering about how to run it vertically down the side of the wooden siding.

a. I guess one way is to use non-metallic emt which I guess they have available, and some outdoor water tight boxes for the light mounting, and for the right angle at the bottom that will bring the wires indoor.

b. Is it all code permissible to use some kind of outdoor rated NM wire tacked to the side of the house without the need for running the wire inside of conduit, as proposed above in (a) ? If so, what do I use in the way of boxes ? Can't quite visualize the type of connector or bushing that would bring the wire into the boxes. What would i use with this approach ?

Or, forget the boxes, and just bore a hole thru the siding, and RTV it up ? But, I guess, I would still want a box for the light to be mounted to. True ? What kind of bushings with this scheme ?

Thanks, Bob

[David Efflandt]

One thing I saw (at Menards) was a security light system (infrared sensor) with 2 lights and solar panel to self charge. Not sure of run time of the rechargable batteries, but maybe something to check out for a wireless installation.

[com.AOL]

A good quality battery backup flood light would be perfect during a flood. If your house floats away and the wires break that supply your house, you would still have your flood light working so you could see the flood. This could save your life.

[The Real Tom]

Good point. I do believe there is information about how many times the light will come on with fully charged battery(times and duration of each time). Plus information how to keep your battery fully charged with proper positioning of the panel. But..... I remember it being a security light, motiion sensing, so it only comes on when motion is detected and only for a 1 min or so.

So this might not be the solution he wants.

later,

tom @

[The Real Tom]

No offense bob, your question has you rambling. You should post your 'need' and let others help you find your solution. Shooting from the hip has you saying crazy things like stapling nm to the outside of your houses wall. Geez, that would be ugly. ;)

With wiring there are many ways to accomplish the same results, just some are more expensive, some more ugly, some better planned.

IMHO, if I was doing this project I would ask myself these questions:

- Do you know where you plan to have the light(area to be flooded and where to mount the light)?

- Is there an outlet on the inside of the wall adjacent to where you want the light for tapping power?

- How do I want to control the light. If with just a photocell, I would make no plans for switches, or I would just put a switch inside wall of where the light is(properly installed and height), since it doesn't have to be convient since it rarely will ever be operated. If I wanted the light switch operated, where do I want switch, and can I run a switch loop easily, if not, I would seek out one of the smart solutions, where the switch and light can take wirelessly. Read up on these, there are many options now, but some are expensive, and senstive to voltage spikes.

Once I figure out a simple solution, I would check if and how I can get it to meet codes. Meaning what boxes do I need, cables and mounting techniques. This can only be done by finding out your local codes. BTW, the fact that you don't have 'local electrical codes' (which is what I have where I live) means you need to check with the state (mine adopts the NEC).

Remember, your time and safety is worth something, if you don't think you can do this safely, and correctly, seek out qualified help. What I posted here was thinking out loud, not a how-to.

hth,

tom @

[fran]

As a neighbor of several people who have those lights, let me suggest you also consider your neighbors when setting the lights up:

Do not set the motion-detector so sensitive that it goes off when your neighbor steps out on thier back porch. It should only go off when someone crosses your yard.

Do not set the light so that it shines into your neighbors windows.

If on a timer, set the timer so that it turns off sooner that 5 minutes.

All of which has happened to me at one point or another and all of which have been very irritating, to say the least. Especially when you can't sleep at night because your neighbors nite-lite goes straight into your bedroom window! And then they keep it on all night 'cause they think it will scare off the crooks. Believe me, not even black-out curtains (yes, you can still get them) can keep out the light when it is shining straight into a window.