Watched a neighbor's floodlight setup and redid my whole backyard lighting

I was over at my neighbor Dave's house last Saturday helping him move a couch, and I noticed his backyard was lit up way better than mine. He had these simple path lights along his walkway and a couple of floodlights on the back fence that made the whole space feel bigger. I asked him about it and he said it cost him around $150 total from a local hardware store. I came home and looked at my setup with one single bulb on the porch and felt like an idiot. So I spent Sunday running some low voltage wire and burying it along my fence line. Now I can actually see my garden beds after dark and the kids can play out there until 8pm. Has anyone else had that moment where you see how someone else does a project and realize you've been doing it wrong the whole time?

3 comments

3 Comments

tarabell1mo ago

@jana309 nailed it with the dying firefly comparison, that's exactly what my old setup felt like.

jana3091mo ago

Ugh YES that part about "realize you've been doing it wrong the whole time." I had the SAME thing happen with my neighbor's garden lights. His made my yard look like a cheap motel parking lot in comparison. I was using those ugly solar stakes that barely glow for an hour. After seeing his setup I went out and bought proper low voltage path lights that actually cast a warm beam instead of a dying firefly. Now my kids can actually see where they're going past 7pm. It's amazing how one decent light upgrade changes EVERYTHING.

phoenixw111mo ago

dying firefly" lmao that's the perfect way to put it. I switched to low voltage too after my neighbor's setup made mine look like a yard sale. Game changer for sure, especially when you got kids running around after dark.