Spike spotlights and uplights
We think of the term "spotlight" as meaning a garden light which is used to "spotlight" or "accent light" a feature. But the range of lamp beams which can now be fitted to these garden lights will range from "narrow spot" to "wide flood", so the notion of using a spotlight to "floodlight" a subject is not so far fetched, although typically we would reserve the word floodlight for a unit which has a wide beam reflector to cast an even wider beam than the 60 degree wide flood halogen reflector lamp, such as the impressive Megabay M2880 Quinto 12v 75w halogen floodlight.
The main garden lighting workhorse for focused spotlighting or uplighting is the halogen reflector lamp. The most popular types are those using the 12 volt MR16 halogen reflector lamp, as this type provides the widest selection of wattages and beam angles. MR16 lamps are available in a wide choice of wattages from 10 to 75 watts and beam angles from 12 to 60 degrees, which gives the designer much more choice in accurately and precisely lighting subjects without spill or glare, the result being garden lights which can be much smaller and yet produce more light, with greater versatility, than old-fashioned tungsten garden lights. The majority of directional garden lights supplied by Lighting for Gardens are 12v halogen spotlights and uplights which are connected to a remote transformer hidden behind a landscape feature or at the back of the border. Flexible rubber sheathed cables run between plants and under the mulch - they don't need protected buried cables like 240v lights and so 12v lights can be moved around to give much more flexibility as the garden grows or alters.
240v spotlights are sometimes an advantage for areas where a transformer for a odd spotlight or two can't be easily hidden or buried, or where they are replacing older Par38 240v spotlights of the open-lamp type, which fail with monotonous regularity as the hot lamp perishes the rubber seal between the lamp body and the plastic holder. Elipta's range of high quality 50w compact spike spotlights are available in 240v, as well as 12v, versions in 316 grade stainless steel, copper, black and dark green (which is especially unobtrusive amongst planting. Spotlights are usually thought of as adjustable garden lights whereas "uplights" tends to refer to a non-adjustable unit such as the M2600 Megabay Piccolo which achieves its miniature size by using a smaller MR11 lamp and omitting components needed for adjustability. Recessed uplights are a different category altogether and lack the flexibility of movable spike spotlights, which also don't get covered by garden litter or plant growth either.
Focus Industries' FDL20 is a good example of a 75w spotlight for uplighting smaller to medium size trees; it is available with or without a glare shield, finished in a textured brown finish which is eminently suited to woody areas, and complemented by three other sizes of spike spotlight - MR16 50w, MR11 35w and MR8 20w - plus a flexible stem spotlight and a range of tree mounting options to allow all garden lighting requirements to come from one matching family of rustic garden lights.
