Outdoor lights for Irish homes and businesses, from an independent Irish electrical supplier. LED floodlights, PIR sensor lights, garden spike spotlights, up and down wall lights, deck lights and the Fumagalli lantern range. Everything here is IP rated for Irish weather. Free delivery applies to every order from the first euro, with no minimum spend.
If you already know what you are after, the sub ranges are outdoor sensor lights, outdoor wall lights, floodlights, festoon lights, Fumagalli outdoor lights and, in season, outdoor Christmas lights.
What outdoor lights do I actually need?
Most Irish homes need three things: a security light at the entrance or driveway, a decorative light at the front door, and something low level along a path or in the garden.
They are different jobs and one fitting rarely does two of them well. A floodlight is for seeing and being seen, so it belongs where the car and the bins are. A lantern beside the door is about arrival, and it lights the step and the lock. Garden spikes and deck lights are about shape after dark, picking out a tree, a wall or the edge of a path rather than flooding the whole space. Start with the security light, because it is the one that gets used every day between October and March.
What IP rating do outdoor lights need in Ireland?
IP65 for anything exposed, such as a driveway, a gable or a garden wall. IP44 is enough under a porch or a canopy. IP67 for anything set into the ground.
The second digit is the one that matters outdoors. IP44 resists splashing from any direction, which covers rain where there is some shelter overhead. IP65 is fully sealed against dust and low pressure jets, which is what survives an exposed Irish winter. Coastal sites are the hardest test of all, because salt attacks the fitting itself and not just the electrics, which is where resin bodied fittings pull well ahead of metal ones.
Should I choose mains or solar outdoor lighting?
Mains for anything you rely on, solar for anywhere a cable is impractical. The limiting factor in Ireland is winter daylight, not cold.
A solar fitting that runs all night in June may give a fraction of that in December, because there simply is not the charging light. That makes solar a good answer for a shed, a side passage, a boundary or a gate where running a cable would mean digging, and a poor answer for the one light you need working reliably on the main entrance in January. Where solar does suit, position the panel for the best southerly exposure you can get, even if that means separating it from the light.
What is the best way to light a driveway?
A PIR floodlight as the working light, aimed across the drive rather than down it, plus something decorative at the door. Aim so people cross the beam sideways.
PIR sensors read movement across their field of view far better than movement straight towards them, which is why a floodlight pointed at the gate triggers late and one aimed across the entrance triggers early. Keep it off the road and off the neighbour's windows. For a standard Irish driveway a 20W to 50W LED floodlight is ample; the very high wattages are for yards and commercial frontage.
How do I light a garden without over lighting it?
Use several low output fittings rather than one bright one, and light objects rather than open space. Warm white reads better outdoors than cool white.
The most common mistake is treating a garden like a car park. A single floodlight flattens everything and throws hard shadows. Three or four spike spotlights picking out a tree, a wall and a corner will make the same garden look considerably larger after dark, at a fraction of the wattage. Keep the brightness for where you need to see, and keep the effect for everywhere else.
Do outdoor lights need an electrician?
Yes for anything mains powered. Outdoor circuits need the correct protection and weatherproof connections, and that is work for a registered electrician.
Replacing an existing outdoor fitting like for like is usually a short job. A new position is bigger, because the cable route, the entry point and the protection all have to be right. Any connection made outdoors also needs a weatherproof enclosure, which is the single most common fault we see on outdoor lighting that has failed early.
Where can I buy outdoor lights in Ireland?
Shamrock Electrical supplies outdoor lighting across the Republic of Ireland, online with free delivery on every order, or over the counter in Rathcoole, County Dublin.
We are an independent Irish electrical business at Unit 22, Block 613, Jordanstown Road, Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, D24 TX98, just off the N7 and well positioned for the M50. The counter is open Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 1:30pm. Free delivery applies to every order, with one exception worth knowing: the two large Fumagalli post models are awkward to ship and are collection only from the counter. If you are planning a full outdoor scheme, call 01 401 9907 or email sales@shamrockelectrical.ie and we will talk through what suits the site.
