Browse Forums Lighting + Lighting Design 1 Jun 23, 2008 10:06 pm Here in Melbourne... probably like the rest of the country - there is really a limited selection of light choices... what with only 2 major chains that I am aware of Lightup australia and Beacon Lighting...
Well I've checked both of them, and suprise suprise - they tend to have differing product lines, and from the scan - Beacon appears to be more up market in their products and prices ! So found the external lights I would like at Beacon - problem being they are $99 each and guess what I need 24 of them ! 24 ? Yep - its a corner house, 2 story, and believe a well lit house deters burgulars, Basically there is a light between each window on the ground floor - also used to light up the paths. Am I a bad person - says the environmentalists... well - I will have them on 6 different circuits / and doubt that more than 2 would ever be on at the same time - and yes I will use cfl in them... So back to the story - 24 * $99 = break the budget Particularly since they have almost the same design but a different facade for $19.99 ! (they are a square-ish design - with a concave face plate having around 6 slots set in them for the light to shine out... the cheap ones look like stainless steel - silver - and have screws showing, the expensive ones have a copper colored facade - and the screws are hidden) Yes I know the expensive ones look better, and are constructed better - but at that price it will break the bank. So before I go in haggling - what do you think the markup is these days for a retail shop like this - 40% / 30% ? My builder / sparky are not trade customers with beacon... So they cant help - and anyway trade price on these are probably not much better. - Thought I might just go and offer $50-$60 each to the manager for 24 of them, and if that did not work, add $5 and go to the next store - until I get a good bite. Any suggestions welcome in cutting a bargain deal helpful - yep I know you will want a picture when they are installed.... Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 2Jun 23, 2008 10:46 pm wow you are quite the haggler!
beacon has different "sale promotions" all the time you could get lucky and snag a buy two and get 2nd one 1/3 off or something if those ones come up when we were deciding on lights at beacon and took forever to decide they had about 6 different promotions during that time! Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 3Jun 23, 2008 10:51 pm Just wait until one of them closes down....'bout a week....and then they miraculously re-appear......
Although I like your plan.....bargain basement price and then add $5....if they have the stock. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 4Jun 23, 2008 11:11 pm Have a look here. Their prices are good compared to the shops.
http://www.onlinelighting.com.au/index.php?cPath=60_77 Judie Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 5Jun 24, 2008 6:50 am Any chance you could wait for the inevitible "2 for the price of one" sale?? Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 7Jun 24, 2008 10:26 am You're worried about burglars so you have a squillion lights outside. Why not get a few 500W halogen floods and mount them on poles to light up everything? Cheaper to buy and run.
Wouldn't you be better off putting the money towards a steel fence or a moat? Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 9Jun 24, 2008 6:28 pm A Moat... hmmm... I like that - only if I put underwater lights in it - a crocodile for protection, maybe a webcam on the head of the crocodile, so I can get a good picture of any action!!!
Well, they are all to be controlled by c-bus, so at christmas I 'could' put on a display, except..... I already have a 512 channel computer controlled christmas light controller for that! Last year was around 40 channels used, this year maybe a 100 channels. And I wonder why the family call me Griswald ? Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 10Jun 25, 2008 12:26 am Completely off-topic here, but do you have any photos of your Christmas lights? I'd love to do our house-to-be up like the Griswolds, but without their electrical problems.
Judie Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 11Jun 25, 2008 8:08 am Judie - I hang out in this forum, you can find photos of mine and many others - DIY Christams - http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/index.php
Good bunch of people (all year round preparing....) - I use the Grinch controller, a guy in Melbourne supplies the PCB boards to make your own controller and you can source the IC's from the manufacurer for nothing as a prototype testing - instructions in the forums.... All good fun - much cheaper than buying over priced controllers..... Last year I made a big tree - 3m high with over 1000 sequenced leds in the front yeard, with about 15 mini tree's (40cm high) dancing around... amongst other nick nacks.... This year will be the same - but I have a few other idea's too! Enjoy Re: External Lights - cutting down my costs 13Jun 26, 2008 8:29 am impact Judie - I hang out in this forum, you can find photos of mine and many others - DIY Christams - http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/index.php I had a look.....there is a forum for everything.... I like the spirit of their "coffee break" equivalent......A place to BS about life and anything else that is on your mind. cyclone for external flood lighting, maybe HID isthe way to go. expensive to buy, but cheap to run for example a 70w metal halide gives the same output as a 500w hal. I've got two of these on the corner of the garage and light up my front year.....about 16 m x 8 m. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Exterior lights 14Jul 06, 2008 9:31 am Hi there impact,
You may be interested in the following item. It seems very similar to the one you are enquiring about. In addition, it is energy saver globe ready, so after you put in your 24 lights, it won't cost you so much for the up keep. It is stainless steel, and does not have screws on the front - http://micaunited.cart.net.au/details/2203829.html Hope this helps! So I'm just reading up on this ecosystem of lights. I'm planning on putting deck lights along the outside edge of a large deck. Will need about 3 packs (18 lights) plus… 0 23023 How long is a "long period"? For a few weeks, it should be ok. It also depends on the area you live in...I would let your neighbours know that you will be away too and… 1 28574 Hi HomeOne, I'm in the midst of landscaping a cat run down the side of my house, and the recent rains have me wondering if I need to install some sort of drainage. I've… 0 12288 |