Question

How about smart rgb outside under soffit lights. What kind should I use? The peak of my house is 30' high.  

Answer 1

Depends on what kind of RGB lighting you want. If you are wanting something that would work for year round Christmas lights. Look up The hookup and DrZzs as both explain about controllable rgb light strips or bulbs and options.  

Comments

I want all year around lights so when there is not an upcoming holiday they will be either bright white or soft white, think modern house. And at Christmas for example I will have clear icicle long bulb lights and I want the soffit lights to be the background colored lights.  

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@volpe1 Then I would suggest looking at both of those YouTube channels as they provide really good info. The leds are 2812b leds and can be fully customizable and are addressable which means each led can be a different color. Running it on a peak I would say probably the 12v would be better than the 5v. In the videos they show hanging options and effects.  

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OMG you just opened up a whole new world for me! My husband is NOT going to like you LOL! I was literally just talking about 4" round recessed down lights that are color changing. But NOW I have to work on the next level of lighting!  

Answer 2

Currently I am using all Sylvania Smart+ recessed lights and they are working good. Do you have a smart home hub like SmartThings or Hubitat?  

Answer 3

I am building my house right now. we are in the electrical wiring stage so I want to make sure I have wire where I need it now and for the future!  

Answer 4

A point to consider is the amount of light necessary to make an impact. Both from a brightness AND a coverage spread point of view. It's one thing to have just some white lights casting some accent light. That doesn't take much. But a lot of times when people want to use color they want a much larger wall wash effect. Putting a couple of color bulbs into soffit can fixtures does not provide a wall wash effect. Instead it just looks like a couple of pitiful bits of color spread way too far apart.  

Comments

@poulard70 that’s why I need help!  

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We hired a lighting consultant from a local lighting place to review our architect's plan. This resulted in moving a few cans around, adding one or two in a few places, removing some others. All of which was done just after getting the roof on (but before windows). This way there was natural light casting into the space. For the eaves it was a matter of recognizing why we wanted light. We wanted just some downward wash to bracket around sunset. We put them on 3 sides, each separately switched (using Lutron Ra2 lighting). It's worked perfectly for our goal. But if we wanted to bathe the faces of the house in a full amount of color this would not be the way to do it. For that you really need to use floodlights out on the property. And depending on landscaping/terrain that could mean all sort of things.  

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@poulard70 this is what I had in mind. My soffits will be cedar

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So do you want just that soft lighting or do you want a full wash of color? You'd also probably want to consider separate circuits for floodlights. One to light up the driveway, for sure, but what about the left side of the house? The idea being light up the area at night during need situations, like unexpected noises, moving trashcans and the like.  

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Pro-tip, if you want to accommodate holiday lighting, be sure to put in outlets in places best suited for it. Like alongside the railings, under the eaves, etc. Anywhere they'd be an end of a lighting string. Likewise run a conduit under concrete. And eventually having an electric vehicle would benefit from a conduit ready to handle the heavier gauge wire a charger would require.  

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Already planned on under soffit outlets on all 4 corners.  

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@volpe1 I have all of my porch on one outlet. I used half of the socket for the automated circuit. The other half is live. I painted the switched side red to distinguish the difference. It has worked well. So it's one circuit for 'holiday' through a switch, and another circuit direct. Both are 20A circuits (as all that wattage adds up and may exceed a regular 15A draw). I can power holiday lights and also use yard tools or something else that might be a problem for running through an automated switch (motor in an air compressor, circular saw, etc).