Metro Square 316 Stainless Steel

The Metro RGBW is a colour-changing recessed inground uplighter with a 316 stainless steel cover on an aluminium body, and this listing sells the square part, HV1701RGBW. It sits in a canister below ground and finishes flush behind clear glass. Havit rates it trafficable to 600 kg, IP65 and IK10.

It is a sealed built-in LED — there is no globe in this one

⛔ This is the part of the Metro range where the light is integral. There is no lamp base, no socket and nothing to change: the fitting carries a 1 x 5 W RGBW LED producing 255 lm at 3000K in white, at CRI >80. RGBW means the three colour channels plus a dedicated 3000K white channel, so it does warm white properly rather than approximating it by mixing colours.

You need two things behind it, not one

This is a 12 V DC constant-voltage fitting and it is Protection Class III — low voltage, no earth required. ⛔ It must not be connected directly to 240 V. Havit's wiring diagram runs fitting → RGBW controller → 12 V DC LED driver, so a colour installation needs both a suitable 12 V DC LED driver and a compatible RGBW controller. ⚠ That controller is also the only way to dim it — Havit records it as dimmable with an RGBW controller, and not otherwise. Fittings are wired in parallel, the cable is colour-coded at the tail, and the supply arriving at each fitting must stay within ±5% of rated or the warranty is void.

The hole, the drainage and the warranty conditions

Havit's drawing gives the cutout as Ø110 mm with the canister and Ø100 mm without, with a 120 × 120 mm square face and a 155 mm canister. ⛔ Drainage is a warranty condition: a 100 mm space under the canister and 100–150 mm of crushed rock below it. The canister must finish level with the ground or floor — Havit voids the warranty if it does not. Joins are soldered and covered watertight, every o-ring and seal must be seated, the cable gland is tightened before the fitting goes in, and silicone is run around the edge. ⚠ Because there is no globe to replace, none of this has to be undone again for maintenance — which is the practical argument for the RGBW model over the tri-colour one.

Where it should not go

⚠ Havit's current installation sheet restricts aluminium and 304 stainless steel fittings to no closer than 5 km from salt water, and this fitting has an aluminium body beneath its 316 stainless cover. ⚠ Tea staining on 316 stainless is excluded from the warranty, so the cover wants regular cleaning wherever it is installed. Published lamp expectancy is >30,000hrs and the warranty is 3 Years Replacement.

If you are planning a colour-changing garden scheme, talk to Lights For You about the controller first — the controller decides what the installation can actually do, and it is the part people leave until last.