Wall Pack & Outdoor Area Lighting Guide (Canada): Lumens, Photocells & Placement
A wall pack is a building-mounted LED area/security light for entrances, facades, and lots. Choose it by area and mounting height — more lumens for parking lots, fewer for doorways. Add a photocell for dusk-to-dawn, pick full-cutoff to cut glare, and match colour temperature to the job.
What is a wall pack and where is it used?
A wall pack is a luminaire mounted on the exterior wall of a building to light the area in front of it. Modern units are LED, and they cover everything from a back door to the side of a warehouse. You'll see them on entrances, loading docks, façades, stairwells, alleys, and the walls overlooking a parking area — anywhere a building face can do the lighting instead of (or alongside) a pole.
Functionally they overlap with area lights and floods: wall packs mount to a wall, area/flood fixtures often mount to poles, brackets, or eaves, but the buying logic — lumens, mounting height, optics, controls, colour — is the same. For pathways and low-level marking, a bollard or pathway fixture is the better tool than a wall pack aimed downward.
How many lumens / what wattage for my building or lot?
Spec by the job and the area, not by watts. With LED, wattage only tells you energy draw; lumens (total light output) tell you how much light you're actually getting. If you're still thinking in old incandescent/HID watt terms, start with lumens vs watts — a modern LED wall pack delivers the output of a much higher-wattage legacy fixture.
The right number scales with the size of the area and the mounting height: a single doorway needs a fraction of what a parking lot wall needs, and the higher the fixture, the more output it takes to land usable light on the ground. Bigger lots are usually better served by several moderate fixtures spaced out than one very bright unit that throws glare and leaves dark gaps. Use the table below as a starting frame, then confirm the layout with your electrician.
| Application | Typical mounting height | Relative output | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry / doorway | Low (above the door) | Lower | Enough to see faces, locks, steps; avoid glare-bombing the threshold |
| Building façade / wall wash | Low–medium | Low–medium | Even coverage for curb appeal and surface security |
| Parking lot / yard | High | Higher | Multiple fixtures spaced out beat one over-bright unit; full-cutoff to control glare |
| Pathway / walkway | Low | Lower | Often better served by bollards than wall packs |
Ballpark figures only. Required light levels, uniformity, and any code-driven minimums for a commercial site are an electrician/lighting-designer call — we supply the fixtures, not the photometric layout.
Mounting height & spacing?
Mounting height drives everything downstream. Mount higher and a fixture covers a wider area but needs more output and tighter glare control; mount lower and you get a smaller, brighter pool that's easy to over-light. As a rule, the taller the mount, the more you should lean on full-cutoff optics so light goes down where you want it, not sideways into eyes and neighbours.
Spacing is about uniformity — you want overlapping pools with no dark gaps between fixtures, not a few hot spots. For a lot or a long wall, several evenly spaced units almost always beat one big fixture. The exact heights, spacing, and aiming for a real site are a layout decision for your licensed electrician — your job is choosing fixtures that give them the output and optics to work with.
Photocell / dusk-to-dawn & controls?
A photocell senses ambient light and switches the fixture on at dusk and off at dawn automatically — the classic "dusk-to-dawn" behaviour, and the right default for security and entrance lighting you don't want to think about. Many LED wall packs ship with a photocell built in or offer a socket for one; others accept add-on controls.
Beyond dusk-to-dawn, common options include motion sensors (full output only when something moves, dimmed otherwise), integral dimming, and field-selectable wattage/lumen switches that let one fixture cover several output tiers. Multi-CCT (selectable colour temperature) plus selectable wattage on a single SKU is increasingly common, which simplifies stocking and spec'ing. Confirm which controls a given fixture supports before you buy — not every unit takes every accessory.
Full-cutoff / dark-sky & reducing glare?
Full-cutoff optics direct light downward and stop it from spilling above the horizontal. The payoff is less glare, less light trespass onto neighbouring property, and less wasted skyglow — the core of "dark-sky friendly" lighting. Many municipalities have outdoor-lighting or dark-sky provisions, so full-cutoff is often the safe spec for commercial and multi-unit sites.
Glare control isn't only optics: aiming, mounting height, and not over-lumening the area all matter. A correctly aimed full-cutoff fixture at a sensible output lights the ground without blinding drivers or bleeding into a bedroom window next door. Check local bylaws for any specific cutoff or trespass requirements before finalizing a layout.
What colour temperature for security vs curb appeal?
Colour temperature (CCT), measured in Kelvin, sets the mood and the perceived "crispness" of the light. Cooler light (higher K) reads as bright, alert, and high-contrast — often chosen for security and lots. Warmer light (lower K) reads as inviting and is friendlier for entrances, façades, and curb appeal, especially on residential and hospitality buildings. A middle "neutral" white is a common all-rounder.
You don't have to commit at purchase: multi-CCT (selectable) wall packs let you flip the colour on the fixture, so one SKU serves both the security wall and the welcoming entrance. For the full breakdown of which Kelvin reads how, see the colour temperature guide.
Where Maple fits
Maple is a Canadian supply house: we stock the fixtures, in CAD, and help you spec the right output, optics, and controls for the job — we don't do the install or the photometric design. Browse wall packs, the broader outdoor lighting collection, and EiKO lighting solutions for multi-CCT and selectable-output options. Then hand the fixtures and your site plan to a licensed electrician (ESA in Ontario, RBQ in Quebec) who'll wire and lay them out to the Canadian Electrical Code.
Common wall pack mistakes
- Spec'ing by watts instead of lumens — and ending up under- or over-lit
- One giant fixture on a big lot instead of several spaced units (hot spot + dark corners)
- No full-cutoff on a high mount — glare for drivers, light trespass for neighbours
- Cool "security" white blasting a residential entrance that wanted warm, welcoming light
- Forgetting controls — no photocell means someone has to remember the switch
- Treating a walkway as a wall-pack job when bollards would light it better
Frequently asked questions
What is a wall pack light used for?
It's a building-mounted LED area/security light for entrances, façades, loading docks, walls, and parking areas — lighting the ground and approach from the side of the building instead of a pole.
How many lumens do I need for a parking lot wall pack?
It scales with area and mounting height — lots need far more output than doorways, and higher mounts need more again. Several moderate fixtures spaced out usually beat one very bright unit. Treat any figure as a starting point and confirm the layout with your electrician.
What is a photocell / dusk-to-dawn wall pack?
A photocell senses daylight and switches the fixture on at dusk and off at dawn automatically. Many LED wall packs include one or accept an add-on, and some also offer motion sensing and dimming.
What does full-cutoff or dark-sky mean for a wall pack?
Full-cutoff optics push light downward and stop spill above horizontal, cutting glare, light trespass, and skyglow. It's the dark-sky-friendly spec many municipalities expect — check your local bylaws.
What colour temperature is best for outdoor security vs curb appeal?
Cooler white is often chosen for security and lots; warmer white suits entrances and façades. Multi-CCT (selectable) fixtures let one SKU do both — see our colour temperature guide.
- Electrical Safety Authority (Ontario) — licensed electrical work: esasafe.com
- International Dark-Sky Association — outdoor lighting / full-cutoff guidance: darksky.org
- EiKO / manufacturer product documentation — multi-CCT & selectable-output wall packs
Lighting a building, lot, or walkway? Maple stocks LED wall packs and area lighting in Canada — multi-CCT, photocell, full-cutoff options. Ask Maple
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