Tivah Solid Brass TRI Colour Single

Read the spike length before anything else: it is 1000 mm. That single number is what separates this Tivah from the garden spikes it sits beside in the catalogue. A 200 mm spike pushes into a bed and throws light upward at a wall or a trunk. A metre-long stem holds the head at roughly knee height, which is where you want it for washing a path, a driveway edge or a low planting bed — close enough to read the ground, high enough that the beam clears the mulch. Most of the stem is buried or sleeved; what stands proud is a slim 23 mm column. It is a bollard that happens to be installed with a spike, which is exactly why it is filed as one.

Solid brass, unlacquered, and Havit says outright that it changes

The head is solid brass — not brass-plated steel — and the datasheet records the colour as "Brass (will age over time)" rather than pretending otherwise. Left outside it moves from bright yellow through gold to a deep warm brown, quickly in the first season and then slowly. That is the reason to buy it: because the change happens in the metal rather than in a coating, a scratch weathers back in instead of exposing a different material underneath. If you want the aged look on day one, the antique brass version of the same fitting is coated to start there. If you want it to stay bright, this is the wrong metal for an outdoor position and no product will fix that.

The globe sets the beam, and it is replaceable

It takes a 5 W MR16 tri-colour globe, supplied, in a socket rated to 20 W. Colour is chosen at the fitting, not at the checkout: the globe leaves the factory on 3000K, and you change it by twisting the cover off anti-clockwise, lifting out the glass and moving a small switch on the side of the globe. Output is 270 lm at 3000K, 285 lm at 4000K and 300 lm at 5500K — note that it does not climb with colour temperature in a straight line, so pick the colour you want rather than chasing lumens. Because the globe is replaceable, the fitting has no beam angle of its own. The tri-colour MR16 in the box is a 120° flood, which is what you want for a path. Havit's own optional MR16 is a 60°, and swapping to it turns the same fitting into something much tighter.

Wiring, and the two conditions that are warranty terms

• 12 V DC from a suitable 12 V DC LED driver. Do not connect the fitting directly to 240 V.
• The fitting must sit no more than 25 m from its driver, and supply must stay within ±5% of 12 V. Havit states both as warranty conditions, not as guidance.
• 2 m of reinforced cable, and every joint must be soldered and sealed watertight — an unsealed joint voids the warranty on its own.
• Not dimmable. Both of this fitting's sheets record it plainly.
• 90° tilt and 270° swivel — but stop when it stops. Forcing it past the mechanical limit tangles the internal cable and shorts the fitting, and that is excluded from warranty.

IP65, IK08, protection class 3, CRI above 80, and a 3-year replacement warranty.

Lights For You stocks this body in brass, antique brass, copper and stainless — if the finish is your only doubt, ask us how each one behaves in your climate.