Outdoor wall lights have a variety of uses other than brightening a space. They improve the visual appeal of your exterior design, add security (especially if you're living in a less populated town), enhance the ambience of your outdoors, and keep your barbeque party going after dusk! Aside from that, they come in various finishes, shapes, sizes, and colour temperatures, giving you more options to suit your design scheme.
These outdoor lights are typically installed on the front porch, decks, backyard & garden. Although it says outdoor wall lights, you can still install them indoors if you think they’ll make a good fit in that space.
How many lumens for an outdoor wall light?
The number of lumens you need to light your outdoor space will depend on how spacious it is and if any structures will block off the light's trajectory. Usually, you'll be needing around 12-1300 lumens, depending on where you'll place your lights.
- Step and path lights – about 100 lumens
- Motion sensor and floodlights – about 700 lumens
- Underwater lights (ponds or fountains) – about 200 – 400 lumens
- Outdoor wall lights – about 50 – 185 lumens
- General landscaping lights – about 50 – 300 lumens
With this guide, you should get an overall idea of what lights to combine and how many lumens each would need. Just make sure that you don't go overboard with the fixture because you don't want your backyard to look like a lighting shop display section!
How to install wall lights?
Before proceeding, make sure that you have the basic knowledge of splicing, stripping, and connecting wires. Also, you should have an idea of how to install electrical boxes and how to run cables through the ceiling and walls. If you don't, call for an electrician, but if you do, then follow this guide:
- Switch off all the power to the circuit and mark the area you plan to place your wall lights. Cut the hole using a drywall saw and run a cable starting from the power source to the switch, then the lights.
- Clamp the cable to the wall box and make sure that it's tight. Then, to install the box, push it into the hole you made earlier (enlarge the hole if needed), and tighten the screws until the box is secure.
- Wire the wall light to the wall box connecting similar coloured wires to each other.
- Attach the wall lights over the centre stud and tighten the nut.
- Add the recommended light bulb and wire the switch.
- Test if the lights are working and you are done!
How to stick LED lights on the wall?
LED lights come in various forms and types. There are wall lights, under-cabinet lights, strip lights, downlights, ceiling spotlights, plinth lights and more. Depending on the fixture that you'll get, sticking them to the wall can be done in a matter of minutes to more extended hours. Also, some, like downlights, plinth lights, and deck lights, require a cut-out hole to be installed, while others are just surface mounted like some under cabinet lights, wall lights, and strip lights.
So, for mounting wall lights, you can follow our instructions above. For other types of LED lighting, we have included instructions on how to wire them in their respective category pages so go check those out!
Where can you place your outdoor wall lights?
Ideally, you want to place your outdoor wall lights in areas that will best illuminate the key areas of your home. For instance, placing your outdoor wall lights on the wall overlooking your garden or in front of your garage are just some examples of having efficient lighting for the key areas of your home.
