ᐅ Urban villa roof overhang with lighting

Hello everyone,

I just signed up here because we are in the middle of planning our build. We are designing an urban villa with a roof overhang of 80 cm (31 inches) and I would like to install recessed spotlights in the roof overhang. I have read that there can sometimes be issues with insects in such areas. However, on another site I saw that lights with 3000 Kelvin do not attract insects. Does anyone here have experience with this?

Thank you very much

prudi1986 schrieb:

We are planning a town villa with a roof overhang of 80 cm (31 inches), and I would like to install some spotlights in the roof overhang. I have read that there can be issues with insects in this area. However, on another site, I also read that lights with 3000 Kelvin do not attract insects.

The range of animals affected by light pollution is by no means limited to insects. If you want to illuminate your keychain at the front door, you don’t need to do this from six meters (20 feet) high. And if someone wants to “drop brains from the sky,” they can do it even in the dark—just not for everyone...

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I believe the number of fans of this type of lighting in the forum is limited, so I’m not sure you’ll get much constructive feedback here. Besides the mentioned light pollution, it annoys the neighbors and wastes money unnecessarily. I also don’t understand what people find appealing about it. You’d be better off investing those thousands in proper indoor lighting design, especially given today’s construction costs. 🤨

Here’s my take as well:
Don’t do it. Why?
- Light pollution
- Electricity costs
- Very little light actually reaches the ground, so it’s not suitable for pathway lighting
- You won’t even notice it because you rarely stand a few meters (yards) away from your house
- If a spotlight breaks, you have to replace it at a height of 6–7 meters (20–23 feet)
- In the end, you’ll lower the blinds because it’s too bright inside... and the neighbors will be standing outside with pitchforks because they want to sleep without blinds down for once...

And the most important point:
The exterior plaster needs to be absolutely perfect if you go for something like this. You’re shining the light directly on it. In this housing development, some houses have such spotlights under the eaves. It really looks awful when they illuminate their wavy, “cloudy” white facade all night long.

My father-in-law installed halogen floodlights under his rather wide eaves at the bottom. He uses them to light up the side of the house facing the garden during parties. It looks good... also because his exterior plaster is really well done.

I would also tend to advise against that. Install wall lighting around the house along the paths and the terrace instead. Later, you can control the lighting times with motion sensors or timers.

Any light source at night disrupts insect navigation. So, your spotlights probably wouldn't make much difference. I only know of one house around here that has spotlights installed up high. They haven’t used them yet, though. I’m not sure why, but it’s likely because the landscaping isn’t finished, so the overall appearance isn’t quite final (or not yet suitable for social media).

I’d suggest that using such spotlights in the neighborhood might actually create a negative impression.

Before installing such lighting fixtures, it is essential to first clarify the plasterer's skills. Otherwise, your house will look like a white pineapple at night.