Lighting
Lighting for Ponsonby homes, gardens and shopfronts
Good lighting changes how a room feels at nine o'clock at night far more than paint or furniture does. As a lighting electrician in Ponsonby we plan and install LED, interior, garden and outdoor lighting for houses and apartments, and for the shops, bars and restaurants that keep Ponsonby Road busy long after dark.
From three gas lamps to LED
Ponsonby has cared about its lights for a long time. Ponsonby Road was given gas street lighting in 1889, and the three gas lamps that stood where it meets Jervois Road and College Hill gave the Three Lamps end of the street its name. Electric trams came up College Hill and along Ponsonby Road in 1902, and more shops followed them.
Many of those shops are still there, and some keep their original glazed shopfronts, with early interior detail you can see from the footpath. At night those windows are lit from inside, so a shop's lighting is part of how the street itself looks. The same is true at home in a smaller way: a villa hallway or a restored lounge can look flat and tired under one central pendant, and warm and generous with lighting planned around how the room is used.
Shops, bars and restaurants
Commercial lighting on Ponsonby Road has two audiences: the people inside, and the people walking past deciding whether to come in. A boutique wants light on the stock and the window. A restaurant wants warmth at the tables and enough light in the kitchen to work safely. A bar wants something different again at six o'clock and at eleven.
We install track and spot lighting that can be re-aimed when a display changes, linear LED in ceilings and joinery, feature pendants over counters and tables, and dimming circuits so the mood can shift through the evening. Under the street's suspended verandahs, lighting has to suit the facade and stay out of the eyes of people on the footpath. It all ties in with the rest of a fit-out, which our commercial electrical page covers.
Lighting at home
Lighting uses 13% of the electricity in an average New Zealand home, according to BRANZ's Level guidance on lighting design, which also notes that LED fittings can give the right light levels while using energy efficiently. Within that, there is a great deal of room for good design.
LED downlights and fittings
Swapping old halogen and incandescent fittings for LED, and placing new ones where the light is actually needed rather than in a grid.
Layers and dimmers
General light, task light over benches and desks, and softer light for evenings, each on its own switch or dimmer.
Feature and hidden lighting
LED strip in a ceiling recess, under kitchen cabinets or along a staircase, for light without a visible fitting.
Smart lighting control
Scenes, timers and app control as part of a wider home network and smart home set-up.
Gardens, paths and front gates
In Ponsonby's oldest streets some houses stand only one to three metres back from the road boundary, so the front path, the gate and the verandah are a short walk from the street, and they are the first thing anyone sees after dark. Outdoor lighting helps people get safely to the door and can add security too. Movement-sensing lights that switch on as someone comes up the path, and stay on only as long as needed, suit a narrow front garden well. Behind the house, low garden lighting and lights on a deck make a small section usable on summer evenings.
Ponsonby also knows its festive lights: Franklin Road, which runs down off Ponsonby Road, has been known for its December Christmas lights display since the early 1990s. If you decorate, WorkSafe's advice is to use only lights labelled as suitable for outdoor use and to plug older mains-voltage sets into an RCD. A properly installed outdoor power point with RCD protection makes that much easier, and one can often be added at the same time as a switchboard upgrade.
Lighting questions
Is it worth replacing working halogen downlights with LED?
In most homes, yes. LED fittings give the same light while using energy far more efficiently, and replacing old fittings is a chance to fix the placement as well, so the light falls on the bench or the artwork rather than the floor.
Can I just put a brighter bulb in an old fitting?
Not if it means a higher wattage than the fitting is rated for. WorkSafe warns that bulbs above the recommended wattage can overheat, burn the fitting and start a fire. If a room is too dark, more or better-placed fittings are the safe answer.
Can lighting be controlled from my phone?
Yes. Smart switches, dimmers and lighting systems can be set up with scenes and timers and run from an app, as part of a wider smart home set-up.
Do I get a certificate for new lighting?
New lighting circuits and new fixed wiring are tested and certified. Swapping a light fitting for another on an existing circuit is maintenance and does not need a Certificate of Compliance.
Can you light the verandah of our shop?
Yes. Verandah and shopfront lighting is part of our commercial lighting work. Tell us about the building and how late you trade, and we will suggest what would suit it.
Power out, or a job to plan?
Call 021 156 4005 at any hour, or send us the details and an electrician will get back to you.
Other electrical services in Ponsonby
Emergency electrician and fault finding
Call-outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to find and fix the fault that has cut your power.Villa and house rewiring
Rewiring for cottages, villas and bungalows whose wiring was never meant for the appliances in them today.Switchboard upgrades
Old fuse boards replaced with modern switchboards and circuit breakers, inspected where the law requires it.Commercial and hospitality electrical
Electrical work for the shops, bars, restaurants and offices along Ponsonby Road.Heat pump installation
Heat pumps sized for the room and installed with their own circuit.Data and fibre cabling
Wired data points, fibre and network cabling for homes and offices.Enquiries
Contact us
Call 021 156 4005 at any hour, or tell us below what needs doing and where, and an electrician will get back to you.
021 156 4005- Auckland
- Call-outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week