Did a complete exterior lighting overhaul on our Pickering property this spring. Sharing the scope and costs since exterior lighting is one of those things that’s easy to under-spend on and then regret.
What we had before:
- Two builder-grade wall lights at the front door (incandescent, no motion)
- One floodlight on the garage (halogen, half the time the motion sensor was dead)
- Zero pathway lighting
- Nothing in the backyard
What we installed:
- 3x Kichler LED wall lanterns at front (door + garage) with dusk-to-dawn photocells: $620 installed
- 2x Lutron Maestro motion+ambient outdoor floodlights at back corners: $580 installed
- Low-voltage landscape path lights (8 units along front walkway): $780 installed (12V transformer, timer)
- 3x recessed soffit pots under front eave overhang: $640 installed
- 2x exterior GFCI outlets (back patio): $380 installed (new circuit, permit required)
Total: $3,000 installed (including ESA permit for the new circuit)
Permit note:
The GFCI outlets required a new circuit which needed an ESA permit. The electrician pulled it — $95 permit fee, passed on first inspection. Everything else was fixture replacement on existing circuits — no permit needed.
One year later:
The front soffit pots transformed the curb appeal at night. The back motion lights have already activated 3 times for actual security events (raccoon once, neighbour’s dog twice). Worth every dollar.