Kitchens, bathrooms, gardens and decks

LED, interior and outdoor lighting in St Marys Bay

Good lighting changes how a home works: light where you cook and read, soft light where you relax, and a lit path to the front door. Our electricians design and install LED, pendant and outdoor lighting for St Marys Bay homes and businesses, from a single new fitting to a whole house relit after a renovation.

Electric light came early to this hill

Lighting has a longer story around St Marys Bay than most people expect. The Catholic Bishop's House, built in 1893 and 1894 in the block bounded by New Street, Green Street, St Francis De Sales Street and St Marys Road, looked out over the harbour and the bay to the west. Heritage New Zealand's listing for the Bishop's House records that parts of it were lit by gas burners fitted with patent electrical mechanisms to light and put out the flame, advanced technology some fifteen years before the city council began making its own electricity.

The Victorian cottages and villas nearby were built before Auckland had public electricity, for gas, lamps and candles, and their lighting was added afterwards, one circuit and one fitting at a time. It can still show in a single pendant in the middle of each ceiling and very few switches. Relighting a room today usually means rethinking it from scratch: where you need bright, even light, where you want warmth, and where a fitting should be the feature.

Kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms

In a kitchen the job is light on the bench, where you are working, not just in the middle of the room; slim LED downlights or strip lights under the cabinets do that, and a pair of pendants can mark an island or a dining table. Bathrooms need fittings made for damp rooms and light at the mirror that does not cast shadows across your face. In living rooms and bedrooms, dimmers and a mix of ceiling and wall lights let one space work for a bright Saturday morning and a quiet evening.

Whatever the fitting, it has to suit the lamp. WorkSafe warns against fitting a bulb of higher wattage than a fitting is rated for, because it can overheat, scorch the fitting and start a fire. LED lamps run far cooler, but the rating on the fitting still decides what goes in it. Where a room is being relit after a renovation, it is also the right moment to check the circuit behind it, especially in an older house; our house rewiring page covers that.

A white bathroom with a long double vanity, black tapware, a cluster of hanging pendant lights and a freestanding bath

Getting LED lighting right

Choose the colour of the light

Warm white suits living areas and bedrooms; a cooler white helps in kitchens, laundries and workspaces. Mixing the two in one room rarely looks right.

Match dimmers and drivers

Not every LED fitting dims smoothly on every dimmer. Choosing them as a pair avoids flicker and buzzing.

Plan the switching

Two-way switches at both ends of a hallway or stair, and separate switches for task and mood lighting, make a bigger difference than the fittings themselves.

Replace tired fittings

Discoloured, buzzing or smelly fittings and any with exposed wiring are a warning sign, not just an eyesore, and are worth replacing.

Garden, deck and path lighting

Outdoor lighting makes a garden usable after dark and a front path safe to walk. Every fitting we put outside is made for outdoor use and goes on a circuit with residual current protection, because damp and electricity are a poor mix. Near the harbour we also favour fittings and fixings that stand up to salty air, since exposed metal suffers there faster than it does inland.

Lighting is also one of the simplest forms of security. The Privacy Commissioner's advice on home cameras suggests considering lights and alarms first, and a sensor light over a side passage or back door often does more than a camera. If you want both, see our security camera and alarm service. On a character villa, lights on the back deck and in the garden are straightforward; if you plan new fittings on the street-facing verandah of a house in the special character overlay, check with Auckland Council first.

Lighting questions

Can you swap my old ceiling lights for LED downlights?

Usually, yes. We check the ceiling space and the circuit, then plan the positions so the light falls where you need it, rather than simply following the old single pendant.

Do I get a certificate for new lights?

New circuits and new fittings wired into the fixed wiring are certified with a Certificate of Compliance. Replacing an existing light fitting like for like is maintenance and does not need one.

Can I fit a brighter bulb in my old light fitting?

Only up to the wattage the fitting is rated for. WorkSafe warns that a higher-wattage bulb than recommended can overheat and start a fire. An LED lamp gives more light for far fewer watts, so it is usually the answer.

What do outdoor lights need that indoor ones do not?

Fittings made for outdoor use, connections sealed against the weather, and a circuit with residual current protection. Close to the harbour, corrosion-resistant fittings last noticeably longer.

Do you light shops and hospitality businesses?

Yes. We do commercial as well as residential work, including display, task and outdoor lighting for businesses.

Power off, a breaker tripping, or a job to plan?

Call 021 156 4005 at any hour, or send us the details and we will get back to you.

Contact us

Call 021 156 4005 - our electricians are available for call-outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - or leave a message below.

021 156 4005

Auckland
Call-outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week