Which Outdoor Lights Suit Your Home’s Gate, Wall and Garden?

Outdoor lights for home: the short answer

For most homes, outdoor lighting comes down to a small flood light at the gate or entrance, a light along the compound wall or driveway, and a fitting under the porch or balcony roof, each in a modest wattage, aimed down, on its own switch, and rated for the rain and dust it will face.

The common mistake is buying one large flood light and pointing it outward. It lights the neighbour’s window and the street, glares into the eyes of anyone approaching, and still leaves the steps in shadow. Several small, well-placed fittings work better and cost less to run.

We make outdoor LED fittings at our works in Marol, Andheri East, Mumbai: flood lights from 10W to 200W, street lights from 15W to 100W, and wall mounting brackets, alongside surface lights and LED lamps for covered areas. This guide matches them to the places around a home.

Prices for every flood and street light wattage are in our separate price list guide, so here we name only the fittings that suit a home. Outdoor wiring is a job for a licensed electrician.

Which light is best for a home gate?

A small LED flood light of around 10W to 15W, fixed on the gate pillar or the wall above and aimed down at the gate and the path, is a common choice for a home gate, because it lights the visitor’s face and the latch without throwing glare into the street or the neighbour’s house.

VIYONA LED 1080 is a 10W Ultra Prime flood light with an MRP of ₹490, and 1081 is the 15W at ₹550. These are the smallest, lowest-priced flood lights we make and a sensible starting point for a single gate.

Mount it above head height and tilt it down, not out. A gate light that points at the road blinds drivers and passers-by. If the gate opens onto a lane, one light on each pillar evens out the shadows.

Our LED flood light page has photographs of the range. How to mount and aim one is in our guide on how to install an LED flood light.

Which light is best for a compound wall or driveway?

For a compound wall or driveway, a flood light on the wall aimed along the ground, or a street light on a short pole or arm over the drive, are the common choices, with a modest wattage spaced along the length rather than one bright light at one end, and the electrician choosing height and spacing for the site.

Typical starting points in our range: a 15W Ultra Prime flood light (1081, ₹550) on a compound wall; a 15W street light (1078, ₹550) or 18W street light (1071, ₹850) on an arm over a drive or society parking. Our LED street light page lists the full range.

A street light gives a wide, low spread along a path; a flood light gives a directed beam. For a long drive, two small fittings spaced out beat one big one.

We do not make poles. A pole or arm comes from the site contractor. The full price list for every wattage is in our LED flood light and street light price guide.

What is the best flood light for home use?

The best flood light for home use is usually the smallest wattage that lights the spot you need, in a fitting rated for the weather where it is mounted, with a bracket that lets you aim it down; for most gates, terraces and entrances that means 10W to 30W rather than the 50W to 200W fittings built for yards and grounds.

Our home-sized flood lights: 10W ₹490 (1080), 15W ₹550 (1081) and 30W ₹1,100 (1086) at MRP. The 50W, 100W and 200W fittings, including the lens versions, are for large compounds, warehouses and sports areas, and are overkill on a home wall.

A 50W or 100W light on a home can light up neighbours and cause complaints, and it costs five or ten times as much to run as a 10W one. For how lumens rather than watts set brightness, see our guide to lumens vs watts.

Which lights suit a porch, balcony or covered entrance?

A porch, balcony or covered entrance is commonly lit with a surface LED light fixed to the ceiling or a wall, or a lamp in a batten or angle holder, because the roof keeps most rain off, but a balcony open to driving rain still needs a fitting rated for it, and every fitting should be fixed where water cannot run into it.

Our surface LED lights suit a covered porch ceiling: the 1006 concealed surface 6W at ₹160 and the big surface 1003 10W at ₹360 MRP. A batten holder with an LED bulb is the low-cost option: our VIYONA batten holder 202 is ₹26 and the 9W LED bulb 1065 is ₹70.

Our catalogue does not state an IP rating for these indoor fittings, so use them only where they stay dry. In Mumbai and the coast, monsoon rain blows sideways onto balconies that look sheltered the rest of the year; judge the spot in the rains, not in October.

What is a bullet light, and is it for outdoors?

“Bullet light” is a trade name used for more than one kind of fitting, from compact cylindrical LED lamps to small directional outdoor lights, so the name alone does not tell you whether a product is made for outdoor use; check its description and the IP rating on the box before mounting it in the open.

Our catalogue lists bullet LEDs alongside our tube fittings: 1054 9W white at ₹320, 1055 12W natural white at ₹360, 1056 15W white at ₹510 and 1057 22W natural white at ₹560 MRP. It does not describe their cap or mounting, and it does not state an IP rating for them.

So we do not present our bullet LEDs as outdoor fittings. Ask your dealer which holder or mounting a code needs and whether it suits the spot. For an exposed gate or wall, a flood light on a bracket is the surer choice.

Are outdoor lights waterproof? What IP rating to look for

Outdoor lights are described by an IP (ingress protection) rating rather than the loose word “waterproof”: IP followed by two digits, the first for protection against dust and solids and the second against water, and as general practice a fitting exposed to rain should carry a rating suited to that, which its maker states on the box.

Read it digit by digit: the first digit runs up to 6 for dust-tight, and the second digit rises with the water it resists, from drips to jets to immersion. Our guide to IP65 vs IP66 explains each step.

Our printed catalogue does not state an IP rating for our flood lights or street lights, so we do not claim one here. Ask us or your dealer for the rating of the exact code before fitting it somewhere fully exposed.

What you can check on site: the fitting is mounted the right way up as its box shows, the cable entry is sealed, and the joint sits in a weatherproof junction, not taped in the open.

What wattage outdoor light do you need?

As general practice, 10W to 15W is a common starting point for a single gate, entrance or small terrace wall, 15W to 30W for a longer compound wall, driveway or parking for a few cars, and 50W and above for large plots, yards and grounds, with the final wattage set by the lumens on the carton and the spot.

Above 50W, a home light usually means glare and complaints. Our flood and street light price list covers the larger wattages for sites that need them.

How high should outdoor lights be mounted?

As general practice, outdoor lights at a home are mounted above head height so nobody looks straight into them and they cannot be knocked or tampered with, and they are aimed down at the ground they light, with the exact height and angle set by the electrician to suit the wall, the gate and the neighbours.

A flood light is held by a bracket that sets its angle. Our wall mounting brackets are listed separately: the 1082 at ₹90 and the 1083 big bracket at ₹180 MRP. Ask the dealer which suits the fitting you are buying.

Three rules from common practice: aim down, not out; keep it off the neighbour’s windows; and light the steps, where people trip, not just the gate.

What does it cost to run outdoor lights all night?

Running an outdoor light all night costs little at LED wattages: units per month equal watts × hours × days ÷ 1,000, so a 10W light on for 12 hours a night uses about 3.6 units a month, a 15W light about 5.4 units, and a 50W flood light about 18 units, which is why smaller fittings make sense for lights left on till dawn.

Multiply by your tariff per unit for the rupee cost. Our appliance power consumption chart shows the same sum for every appliance in the house.

How should outdoor lights be switched and wired?

Outdoor lights should be on their own circuit or a clearly marked switch inside the house, protected by an MCB, with an RCCB on the circuit as your electrician advises because outdoor points are exposed to water, and with every cable joint in a weatherproof junction box rather than taped in the open.

An indicator next to the switch shows from indoors that the outside light is still on. Our VIYONA nano indicator lamp 108 is ₹30 MRP. Our guide to a switch with indicator explains the options.

Protection: an MCB sized for the circuit, from our 10 kA MCB range, and an RCCB for earth leakage. We do not make RCCBs; buy one from a brand that lists them. Our catalogue does not list timers, photocells or motion sensors either.

Use cable sized for the run, from our house wire range, and keep it in conduit outdoors.