Here at J Squared, we typically use Sterling Lighting fixtures. Sterling Lighting was created with the goal to develop the most advanced, durable, and aesthetically pleasing lights on the market with both the contractor and the homeowner in mind. They are a direct buy company, which allows us to offer high-quality products at a reasonable price.
All their fixtures are made of virgin marine grade brass rather than recycled brass. While recycled brass sounds great for the environment, recycled brass is made from an enormous variety of discarded objects that often contain non-brass metals. They are thrown together, melted down, and poured into molds for new products. In most cases, nothing is done to remove the impurities like lead and aluminum, which can lead to pitting and to an overall faded looking fixture. With virgin brass, the fixture will last longer and look better.
Most companies use eighteen- or twenty-foot wire leads on their fixtures, which means you’re making a connection at every fixture – connections can be a weak point in the system. Sterling uses a ten-foot wire lead, which allows you to easily connect multiple fixtures with less connections.
Here’s a look at the two fixtures we install the most often:
SL07 Up Light
Up lights are used to illuminate specimen landscape plantings (think trees) or to highlight the architectural features of your home. Some of the common problems with up lights are that they are typically installed with a slotted stake, which creates a weak point where the fixture could break if bumped, and most companies use anywhere from four to seven different LEDS in a single fixture and then crisscross the optics to get the desired beam spread.
Sterling’s up light uses a CREE LED chip that changes a 12v AC input into a 39v DC output and allows a range of brightness from 200-850 lumens in the same fixture. It comes with a standard 3” ABS stake that doesn’t have a slot, increasing the strength of the fixture. This light also contains a rubber gasket that keeps bugs and moisture out. At the weakest part of the fixture, there is a bolt that goes all the way through (not an industry standard) in order to provide greater strength and make the fixture easier to repair if it were to break.
Most companies use LED inserts to adjust brightness and beam spread. Sterling’s up light has five different brightness settings and five different beam spread settings, which is the equivalent of carrying 25 different LED inserts in a single box. With a long-lasting bulb and an incredibly versatile replacement insert, repairs and the installation process are made a whole lot easier.
SL07 Integrated Path Light
As the name suggests, path lights are used to illuminate pathways, be it your front walk or a stepper path through the garden. Some of the common problems with path lights are aluminum path lights with a ¼” stem that seem to always break at the stake, premium sand cast path lights that are so top heavy that they need to be cemented in to keep from leaning, and companies using copper plumbing and simply gluing them together. Another common problem is the lack of light output. Many companies restrict the light output by constructing metal bars to connect the stem to the hat of the path light. This creates odd shadows and doesn’t help disperse the light evenly across the surface.
Sterling’s path light uses a CREE CXA chip, 4-watt (9-15 AC voltage range), 400 lumen light source. It uses a heavy duty 1.25” solid virgin cast brass stake with a 9” ABS ground stake and a 20” cast brass stem. Sterling Lighting recommends burying six inches of the stem in the ground along with the 9” stake – that is a total of fifteen inches of the fixture in the ground, which allows the fixture to have a solid base and ensures the path light will be perfectly straight and not keel over.
Every component of the fixture, including the lens, is threaded together with no glue in sight. This gives the fixture tremendous strength and makes it easy to replace any component that might be having issues. The lens is twice as thick as any lens on the market and if it were ever broken, it is designed to simply be replaced.
It also gives amazing light output. The fixture creates a fourteen-inch circle of light. The light source is completely hidden from within the fixture to enhance its visual appearance and reduce light glare.
Like what you see? Does your home need a new or upgraded system? Give us a call at 937.572.5482 and we’ll install a lighting system that will make you love your yard after sunset!