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Downlights and Wall Spotlights

Typically, if a garden light is called a downlight it will be for fixed downlighting, i.e. without lateral adjustment, for fixing on a wall, beam or pillar or hanging from a pergola. Some units are combination up & downlights with two lamps lighting in opposite directions, usually a creative way of lighting house walls. Spotlights are usually taken to be adjustable units so you can focus the light at an angle toward an object or area.

12v MR16 lamps are available in a wide choice of wattages from 10 to 50 watts and beam angles from 12 to 60 degrees, which gives a wide choice in accurately and precisely lighting subjects without spill or glare. 12 volt spotlights are usually used in garden structures, where 20w 38 or 60 degree lamps are often sufficient for mounting heights up to 2.5m lamps. 240v GU10 lamps offer a smaller range of wattage/beam angle choices and are less efficient than 12v halogen lamps, but they can be directly wired to mains cabling on house walls and new versions of the Elipta Compact wall lights can now take the latest compact fluorescent spotlamps offering a combination of wide beam spread, long life and low energy operation. Refer to separate sections for details of hanging downlights and tree spotlights.

Elipta’s Compact range of exterior wall lights come in both 12v and 240v models, both with low energy lighting options. They come in 4 variants;

• adjustable wall spotlights are used for downlighting patio areas, typically with 240v versions from the house or 12v versions from a pergola or arbour. They are also used for spotlighting features.
• wall downlights, also available in both12v and 240v provide fixed downlighting on a wall, gate pillar or pergola post and are especially useful for producing the grazing effect on stone and brick surfaces.
• up & downlights are 240v and provide fixed up and downlighting on a wall for a decorative effect, often to frame a doorway or to light a façade by positioning lights between windows and doors for architectural effect.
• twin wall spotlights are also 240v and used for providing wider area coverage from one wiring position: using compact fluorescent lamps provides the widest coverage – 7w above French windows for threshold lighting and 9-11w lamps for downlighting the patio from higher up the house wall

These are now complemented by Elipta’s Microspot Wall and Microspot Down – 12 volt miniature adjustable wall spots and wall downlights which use the MR11 20w halogen lamp or a high output 1w led module to provide the most discrete presence on pergola columns and beams. Compact and Microspot ranges are available in a variety of finishes including copper, stainless steel and black for all models, plus rustic brown and white powder coat and fine-textured sandblasted brass for selected models. All spotlights now have high output, long life l.e.d. (light emitting diode) modules as alternative low energy options for spotlighting features.

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