Motion Activated Lights

[GGorman04]

I have spot lights in the front and back of my house. They are controlled via a standard switch. Can I switch to motion activated bulbs?
If yes, would the switch always need to be on?

Also, I wanted to add a motion light over my garage area. Can someone recommend a good light that is easy to install?

 

[blupupher]

You can add motion detectors onto existing lights, they sell them at any home improvement store. If you have multiple lights, you can wire it to be controlled by 1 sensor or one on each light.
Yes, the switch does need to be on all the time. The sensor needs power to know when to turn the lights on.

As for the garage, do you have power to where you want the light? You need power, a junction box to mount to, and a switch for it. As for what light to get, there are too many options, do you want LED, Halogen flood lights, regular flood light bulbs, single, double, triple head, auto dimming, etc. What is the price range?

 

[jeepman3071]

We have a motion activated module with spot light bulbs in it over the garage. The switch does need to be on for the motion light to turn on when motion is sensed. This is a good feature though, since it will stay off when a deer walks across the driveway at 2am and won't shine into the neighbor's house.

 

[deanm11]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
We have a motion activated module with spot light bulbs in it over the garage. The switch does need to be on for the motion light to turn on when motion is sensed. This is a good feature though, since it will stay off when a deer walks across the driveway at 2am and won't shine into the neighbor's house.


But it depends what you want the motion for- only for guests to have automatic lighting -or- lighting in order to illuminate uninvited/undesired 'guests'

 

[GGorman04]

I want motion solely for the uninvited guests.
I currently have two lights at the garage area. Can I just by motion sensor lights to plug into these?
That would be really easy then

 

[eljefino]

There are other options too, like lights that start dim and get bright when they detect motion.

The outside switch of practically all of them has an "override" feature where you flick off for one second, and the lights will just stay on until the switch is cycled again for 1/2 minute.

 

[JimPghPA]

Pay attention to the wattage rating of how many watts (from the bulb(s)) that the sensor is rated for, and NEVER exceed that wattage. Many of the halogen flood light bulbs draw more watts than some of the automatic sensors can handle. If you exceed the wattage rating of the sensor it will probably burn up.

Also be aware that some halogen spot lights are too wide for some of the housings that some of the sensor set up have.

 

[JimPghPA]

For our back porch I have two sets of motion sensor lights that each have two bulbs. They are wired with the switch section of the sensor in parallel so that if one turns on they both turn on. The total wattage rating for each is 200 watts, so since each can turn on all 4 bulbs I am limited to 50 watts maximum for each of the four bulbs. I also have a switch mounted in the wall by the door for the back porch that is in parallel with the switch section of the sensors so the lights can be turned on to stay on with the inside switch. I also have those sensors and light protected from voltage surges from things like a near-by lightning strike, by MOVs and an inline 2 Amp fast blow fuse.

For our front porch I have taken the sensors of of three light sensors and wired them in parallel with each sensor facing in one of three different directions. One sensor senses anyone as soon as they walk out the front door, one sensor senses anyone who walks up the front porch steps, and one sensor senses anyone on the porch. These are also protected from voltage surges by MOVs and an inline 2 Amp fast blow fuse.

My neighbor asked me to install a motion sensor on her back porch, so I did. About a year later she put large halogen spot lights in them and the total wattage of the bulbs exceeded the wattage rating of the sensor and the sensor burned out.

That same neighbor asked me to install a motion sensor on the side of her house to light up the alley-way if anyone walked in it. She wanted me to install some low wattage halogen flood lights in it, but they were too wide for the housing around the sockets and would not fit.

So be aware that you can damage the sensor by running bulb(s) that exceed the wattage rating of the sensor. And some bulbs are too wide for some of the housings that some sensors have.

 

[Smokescreen]

They have infared activated LED light bulbs now...an all in one unit. Check Amazon.