The Night Garden

Discussion in 'Member's Gallery' started by Doghouse Riley, Jun 22, 2022.

  1. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Young Pine

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2019
    Messages:
    2,000
    Likes Received:
    4,816
    Location:
    South Manchester
    Some shots from this evening.

    The lights and the fountain are controlled by four switches behind the lounge curtains.
    "We rarely turn them on as the neighbours complain that the street lights go dim if we do."



    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2022
  2. Loading...

    Similar Threads
    1. S-H
      Replies:
      1
      Views:
      286,434
    2. S-H
      Replies:
      6
      Views:
      224,688

  3. waretrop

    waretrop Strong Ash Plants Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2011
    Messages:
    5,601
    Likes Received:
    2,331
    Location:
    north eastern Pennsylvania
    very nice...I should add lights all around gardens.
     
  4. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2007
    Messages:
    12,067
    Likes Received:
    3,501
    Location:
    Western Norway
    Looks very inviting. I can understand your neighbours, but on the other hand: a couple of hours in the evening wouldn't be too bad, though. It's a shame to have all those lights and not use them.+
     
    eileen, Pacnorwest and Melody Mc. like this.
  5. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Young Pine

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2019
    Messages:
    2,000
    Likes Received:
    4,816
    Location:
    South Manchester
    Sorry!

    "The lights go dim" was just a joke. No one ever says anything as I rarely turn them on.

    I installed the lights over thirty years ago when I anticipated we'd be spending some time in the garden on a few warm summer evenings. But due to my wife's increasing mobility problems, she now rarely goes into the garden at all. Because of her compromised immune system due to the drugs she's on she doesn't even like me opening any windows let alone the French doors in the lounge. She was asleep upstairs when I took those photos.
     
    Melody Mc. and Droopy like this.



    Advertisement
  6. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2007
    Messages:
    12,067
    Likes Received:
    3,501
    Location:
    Western Norway
    I'm so sorry to hear that, Doghouse. It's still a lovely garden though.
     
    Doghouse Riley and Melody Mc. like this.
  7. Melody Mc.

    Melody Mc. Young Pine

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2022
    Messages:
    2,125
    Likes Received:
    5,348
    Location:
    Brisith Columbia, Canada
    I'm sorry to hear your wife's health makes enjoying the garden difficult. It really is beautiul, and I hope turning the lights on when you can so that you can enjoy them brings you a sparkle of happiness. It truly is beautiful.
     
    Doghouse Riley likes this.
  8. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Young Pine

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2019
    Messages:
    2,000
    Likes Received:
    4,816
    Location:
    South Manchester
    Interst in iour lights was shown on another bnoard, so I posted this to explain how they work and how it was all perfectly safe.


    I laid an armoured cable between the house and the garage in 1976, under the concrete raft on which our patio sits. I had no idea what I was going to do with it at the time. Then later started installing lights in the garden.
    It's a four-core cable plus earth, which gives me one live and three common.
    So I can have three functions from these switches behind the lounge curtains. The fourth switch is for a coachlight on the back wall of the house. The power for this is from a dedicated socket in the lounge next to the radiator screen.
    To connect it all up I had to go under the floor. Fortunately, our houses are built on concrete rafts so there's an eighteen inch void under the floor accessed by a trap door in the cupboard under the stairs.

    [​IMG]

    The cable comes up in the border and enters the garage through the wall.

    [​IMG]

    The supply to the garage is via a sixty year-old pyro cable under the drive from a dedicated mini-breaker in a new consumer unit in the house. It supplies a similarly old mechanical 15amp breaker "with real fuse wire" in the corner of the garage. It's never failed or been turned off for thirty odd years, so no need to touch it. The supply then passes from it by a new cable to this up-rated RCCB. I installed once I was "messing with water and electrics" with the koi.

    [​IMG]

    From here the power splits to two supplies in conduit, one for the garage and what was the old koi pool filter room with its multitude of power sockets, the other for the shed and tea-house.

    I updated the garage electrics two years ago from a couple of double-pole switches to this consumer unit.

    "Mission control."


    [​IMG]

    There's mini breakers for:-

    The water heater over the sink, in the old koi pool filter room, now the freezer room,

    Power for the garage sockets and for the freezer room.

    Garage and freezer room lighting, plus some PIR security lights

    Garden lights and fountain.
    A live feed goes down the armoured cable to the switches in the lounge and the neutrals come back.

    All in numbered conduit so I know "what's what."

    [​IMG]

    The three sockets are for everything outside in the garden.
    There's four mains coach lights with LED lamps and a 15w fluorecent on the ceiling behind the doors of the tea-house. The fountain and it's 30w low voltage spotlight on the pergola and all the fairy lights. There's another 30w low voltage spotlight behind the pagoda. The transformers either side of the box are for the fountain and its spotlight.
    I have 5amp fuses in all plugs.
    I'd never put any real load on this mini-breaker.

    The shed and tea-house have their own mini-breaker in the shed.

    [​IMG]

    Power to the tea-house is through cables passed through some alkathene pipe buried a foot down in the border between it and the shed. There's a double pole switch in the tea-house to isolate the supply if necessary. There's sockets on the ceiling for two sets of fairy lights and the transformer for the low voltage 30w spotlight behind the pagoda. all low voltage cables are attached to the concrete base panels of the fences. They pass through bits of garden hose to the two Japanese lanterns to stop the squirrels chewing them.

    There's fewer sockets in the "freezer room" (there's two freezers in there) since it was a filter room. I'm down to four doubles plus a double pole switch for the old Santon water heater. I've had it since 1986. I bought it from my firm's works department for £2. It came out of closed shop. The Budweiser fridge is back in the tea-house.

    [​IMG]

    I flip the test switch on the RRCB periodically, but I've never had a problem with the electrics. There are no exposed mains cables outside of the buildings, it's all low voltage.
    and there's practically no maintanance other than changing a bulb now and then!
     
    eileen, Melody Mc. and Droopy like this.
  9. Clay_22

    Clay_22 In Flower

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2010
    Messages:
    851
    Likes Received:
    1,331
    Location:
    Wallkill,NY 6b
    very nice
     
    Doghouse Riley likes this.
  10. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2007
    Messages:
    12,067
    Likes Received:
    3,501
    Location:
    Western Norway
    Quite a set-up you have there. I'm impressed.
     
    Melody Mc. and Doghouse Riley like this.
  11. Growingpains

    Growingpains Young Pine

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2008
    Messages:
    1,840
    Likes Received:
    1,505
    Location:
    Michigan
    The light display is great, lovely. Rather sad that your wife
    cannot still enjoy them with you. Assuming she once enjoyed
    it, the memory probably still lives.
     
    Doghouse Riley likes this.

Share This Page