Having a nice yard to relax on the weekends is a great way to enjoy the outdoors. One of the best ways to spruce up your outdoor space is to add some deck lights. But how far apart should you make your deck lights? In this blog post, we will go over a few things to consider when deciding how far apart to make your deck lights.
Correctly placed lights can add an extra special touch to your deck and make it easier (and safer) for you to use the space once it gets dark.
In general, floor deck lights should be placed 40-60 inches apart all around the perimeter. Two tread lights can be installed at the sides of each step, in case the stairs are less than 36 inches wide, while riser lights can be used for larger steps and spaced 36-72 inches from one another.
How far apart your lights are going to fully depend on the type of the fixture and the purpose that it serves. Let’s take a closer look at all the different scenarios.
How Far Apart Should You Make Your Deck Lights?
Deck lights can serve quite a few functions. Some of them you install to create a magical atmosphere, while others keep you and your guests safe or provide light for a strategically important area (like a barbecue station, for example).
In a nutshell, you would have to make sure that every step of the stairs can be seen in the dark and that there is a light source next to the door. When it comes to accent lighting, the world is your oyster as long as you manage to get the luminosity just right.
Spacing Porch Deck Lights
The deck’s ‘main’ light is, perhaps, the porch light. It can be a single spotlight that will help you see not only the deck but also your door at night.
Such lights should be installed quite high – about 78-84 inches above the deck (not too low or the light might blind you). You can place the porch light about a foot away from the door.
Spacing Deck Stair Lights
One of the most common lighting fixtures used on a deck is the stair lights. These little saviors will help make sure that you and your guests get through the most ‘adventurous’ part of the deck without breaking an ankle.
For the job, you can opt for riser or tread lights, as well as rail lights.
Riser lights
Such fixtures are installed right into the stair risers. Some outdoor deck stairs do not have risers (the vertical back piece), so you might not need these lights.
For the stairs that do have a back, you can choose to install a single riser light, if the stair is narrower than 36 inches.
In case you have wide steps, you can try installing the riser lights 36-72 inches apart.
Tread lights
The treads on the stairs are the horizontal parts that you step onto. Having a riser light on each step (about 4 inches above the step) might be enough to light the whole construction.
If you decide to go for tread lights, then you would want those to be located closer to the sides. Usually, nothing would happen to the fixture, if someone steps on it, but people tend to naturally avoid stepping on lights.
It’s important to provide enough space between the lights to allow people to walk comfortably.
That’s exactly why tread lights might not make sense if you have steps wider than 36 inches – the two fixtures at the edges will leave too much dark space in-between.
Rail lights
These fixtures are not installed in the actual steps, but they can help you see the stairs a bit better in the dark. For example, you can choose to install under rail lights.
There is no exact spacing requirement.
Spacing Accent Deck Lighting
Now that you have taken the safety aspect into consideration, you can start spacing out the deck lighting fixtures that are going to contribute to the space’s atmosphere. Remember that the main job of accent deck lighting is not to provide light, but to make the space ‘glow’.
- You can get rid of some ‘task’ lights after adding the accent lighting if the deck seems too overloaded.
- If your porch light ends up being less than 10 inches away from an overhead table light, you would have to either remove the former or keep it switched off.
- You would want the accent and task light to be around 96-120 inches apart so that every fixture has its own space where it can shine.
Post lights
Of course, the number of the actual post lights would be limited to the number of railing posts. The majority of posts would already meet the spacing requirement, so if the fixtures are over 72 inches apart, simply light every single one.
If for some reason, you’ve got posts placed closer together, then you might want to light every other fixture.
Rail lights
In case the railing is located along the stairs, lighting up this part of the deck would also serve a more practical purpose.
For all the other rails, going for dim downlights might be the best decision as such fixtures can be installed very close to one another.
Another tip, when it comes to luminosity – you wouldn’t want the rail lights to be brighter than the post lights (if your deck has those).
Floor deck lights
Recessed or ‘in-floor’ lights are the kind of fixtures that can be installed right into the deck’s floor. They are made to sit flush with the surface making the bulb look like it’s glowing from within an opening.
When it comes to floor lights, consistency is way more important than the distance between the fixtures.
Around 60 inches can be used as a benchmark. Start by placing two lights at the corners and then move to the center making sure that the distance between the fixtures is equal.
Final Thoughts
How far apart should you make your deck lights?
Well, you should make your deck light enough to be able to navigate it safely, but, at the same time, not too overwhelmingly light.
When it comes to installing ‘task’ deck lights that serve a certain purpose, it might be better to add a few extra fixtures, instead of missing a couple.
You’ll get to experiment more with accent lights. Those can be far apart or close together – everything can look good, as long as you are able to regulate the light’s intensity.
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