Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Pathway Lighting

[David Mandel (dlmandel]

>Ours were put in as original equipment and everyone seems to think they're
>about right. There are about 15-20 (I'll go out and count if you really
>want me to) free-standing lights placed at strategic places around the
>pathways on our 1.3 acres. They're about the size and shape of R2D2, use
>sodium bulbs with a yellow-orange-ish glow, use reflectors to illuminate
>mostly to the side. Two have burned out in nearly four years. They are
>manufactured by Ruud Lighting of Racine, Wisc. I can try to look up the
>cost if you want, but I don't feel like trekking to the common house files
>right now. There are additional outdoor lights around the common house, in
>the carports and on the front and back porches of individuals' homes.
>
>The proposal sound a bit excessive to me, but I can understand that steps
>would require more lighting.
>
>David Mandel, Sacramento
>
>>What have you used for lighting on your pathways?  We recently received a
>>bid from the electrical contractor for the outdoor lighting.  It came to
>>$32,000!  The plan shows pathway lights (34", malibu style) every 8-10
>>feet along the flat pathways and then one for every single step, on both
>>sides of the steps.    Our site is slightly sloped, so there are areas
>>where there are 2-3 steps.  The plan seems obsessive to some of us, who
>>prefer to see the stars at night, and in fact we want to get rid of
>>pathway lights altogether, except in the areas where there are steps.
>>And to others in the group (a small minority) the plan is perfect.  These
>>folks feel they need all that candle power to walk safely at night.
>>
>>As a compromise, we are getting bids from another source, the renewables
>>division at Real Goods, here in
>>California.  Several of us Tierra Nuevans are Hard Corp members and like
>>the idea of using alternative energy.  The engineer there who helped me
>>on the phone seemed to think that hard-wiring the pathway lights would be
>>the best way to go, since solar path lights often get shadowed by the
>>canapy of landscape trees and shrubs.  So while we wait for them to
>>receive the lighting/site plan, in order to give us a second bid, what
>>have the rest of you done for pathway lighting?  Have any of you started
>>out with no outdoor lighting, then retrofitted as needed for the extra
>>dark places, if any?  Have any of you experienced having an outdoor
>>lighting plan (parking lots/pathways) that felt too "lit" after move-in,
>>and then had to turn off some of the lights?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Patty Mara
>>Tierra Nueva CoHousing
>>San Luis Obispo County, CA