Thread: LED Lighting Options

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Last year we did a lot of experimenting with lighting. Our graveyard had a mix of different types of lighting including DMX LED, old style incandescent floods, hacked malibu lights and clamp lights with screw base LED bulbs. Of course the DMX LEDs were the best for lighting the main props but the hacked Malibu lights worked really well for lighting tombstones and such.

The hacked Malibu lights cost about $11 each to make and they are very easy to assemble. One thing I like about the Malibu solution is it is low voltage. The bulbs will run on either 12vac or 12vdc. I broke down and bought a 12vac Malibu power supply which I recall was about $50 but there are plenty of sources for 12vdc.

The lens for this light comes off with a counter clockwise twist. Inside is a small bulb that is easily pulled out.

Cheap Malibu Light $4.97

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053



This bulb will plug into the Malibu light and the lens will "fit" with some manipulation back into place. Then you just have to provide power to the light, either 12vac or 12vdc.



The links to the bulbs are to the "Wide" beam versions. Wide works best for lighting tombstones because it spreads the light more evenly where others can project more of a bright spot.

12 LED MR16 Wide angle beam $4.42: http://besthongkong.com/product_info...roducts_id=268


24 LED MR16 Wide angle beam $5.45 : http://besthongkong.com/product_info...roducts_id=273



Here is a picture with several tombstones lit with these hacked Malibu lights.




Standard screw base LED bulbs are getting cheaper and becoming easier to find. These can be used in a variety of flood light fixtures. Last year we used a few in small clamp lights. These bulbs though tend to be more of a spot than a flood but they are really cheap and work well but you may not like the way it tends to focus its brightness in a spot. From 8' away the spot spreads easily across a typical tombstone. But if you need to put it closer the spot will become more visible.

Here is an example of a tombstone lit with one of these lights where we had to do it from just a couple of feet away.



Clamp Light $5.47



http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...13&R=100354513

Screw Base Blue 24 LED Bulb $2.90



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=colour%09Blue

These lights all come from Hong Kong and take a couple of weeks to arrive. We have bought a bunch of LED's from BestHongKong.com and have had great results. The screw base bulbs we got from a different vendor but they work well and delivery was fast enough.

Thanks for this. I'm definitely in need of good cheap lighting options and they look great in your graveyard. I'll have to check out the malibu. Did you use the 12 or 24 for your headstones? I don't want to go too bright and really like your effect. Not too impressed with the clamp on lights.

Thanks for the info.I love your lighting.

Originally Posted by Growler

Thanks for this. I'm definitely in need of good cheap lighting options and they look great in your graveyard. I'll have to check out the malibu. Did you use the 12 or 24 for your headstones? I don't want to go too bright and really like your effect. Not too impressed with the clamp on lights.

I think for the money these are hard to beat. They are easy to assemble and the stake makes them easy to set up in front of props. We used 24 LED bulbs. If we had less ambient light we could probably have gotten away with the 12 LED bulbs but for the difference in the price the 24 is probably the best bet.

Great price! had a look but couldn't find them over here. Saw these though priced at $9.97 in the U.S and £19.37 over here..so almost $32!..They don't call it rip off Britain for nothing.

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/lightin...ack-40486.html

http://www.langtoninfo.co.uk/showite...=0885305001453