This may not be appropriate for this site or this section of the site soforgiveme in advance if it doesn't belong here. We have a unique problemthat for thelife of my electronics background, doesn't make sense but itsreal and strangeat the same time... and it's driving us bonkers!I have two garage door openers as I have two separate garage doors. Theremotesmysteriously do not work sometimes.... BOTH of them. Ouralternatives are tounlock the house front door and go through the house tothe garage and push themanual button. It doesn't matter which car, orremote we use, they all work ordon't work at the same time (with eitherdoor). So we were thinking it was rather odd, but both garage door openers arefailingat the same time. Or something worse.Then I realized last night that the problems occur mostly at night orspecifically between dusk and dawn. Around the time that my landscapelightingcomes on. The system has been in use for a couple of years butjust recently Ireplaced all of the quartz hallogen bulbs with LED toconserve energy and cutdown on bulb replacement. All of the bulbs werepurchased over the internetfrom a variety of sources (ebay). Some of thespot lights are up to 6 watts ofconsumed powere so I suspect there is somecircuitry involved internally. BUTit appears that once I've swapped outall of the bulbs and the system comes onat dusk, the garage door openerremotes just do not want to work. Freaky -almost like the aluminum foilhat type of thing. Can anyone explain this tome or am I thinkingsomething that just can't happen this way.Any advice would help - even those that think I must be smoking something(I'mnot... but hey... it's still advice),Thanks,Jerome B. --------------------------------------- Posted through

eThe LED bulbs likely interfere with the garage door receivers. Tryswitching back to the previous bulbs, then you'll know.--Cheers,James Arthur

LED Lights and Garage Door Opener???

Apr 13, 2010 64 Replies

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Don Y 11 years ago

We've had a LOT of CFL failures (OTOH, we had a lot of CFL lamps installed!). Most of ours are installed "base-up" -- which tends to be a no-no. But, if your lighting is all in that configuration, then...

There's a 4W incandescent in the master bathroom (CdS sensor). It throws a

*lot* of light. I could probably read under it!

The "step light" is probably brighter. Definitely harsher! (bluer color) No idea as to power consumption -- can't find any markings on the device, box, documentation, etc. I've been rethinking looking for a different device (e.g., something louvered) just to cut down on the light thrown into the nearby bedrooms when it is on (or, add a motion sensor?)

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Joe Gwinn 11 years ago

The 7 watt bulb is for XMAS lights. The night light bulbs are 4 watts, but in the same envelop. Easy to mix up.

Joe Gwinn

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upsidedown 11 years ago

I have installed a night light high on the wall, illuminating only the ceiling and thus avoid the risk of looking directly into the lamp. The nameplate claims 0.6 W, but it seems to contain a 5 mm white LED so most likely it is a 20 mA or about 60 mW LED in it.

The lamp is covered by a deep red filter, so very little light comes out of it, but sufficient for a dark adapted eye. Astronomers, submariners and on the bridge of ships, red night light has been used for decades, but there are conflicting reports if the colour really matters, only the level seems to be critical.

I have also seen battery powered down lighters that should be installed 20-30 cm above the floor or staircase and the batteries last all winter. By using battery power, you do not have to worry about wiring issues.

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Lasse Langwadt Christensen 11 years ago

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-Lasse

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upsidedown 11 years ago

That article mentions several low light level application with different colour preferences. However, it does not address the melatonin production.

If your intention is to continue sleeping after your visit to the bathroom, do not use light sources with strong deep blue or greenish blue spectral output, since it suppresses melatonin production, making it hard to fall asleep again.

About the feasibility of battery powered night lights, assume the following constraints: desired illumination 0.1 lx (moonlight), floor

during sleep time only 8 h / day, otherwise switched off due to natural or artificial light, primary cell capacity (3xAA) at least 3 Ah.

Thus, total luminous output required 0.3 lm, LED power 3 mW, current 1 mA, daily consumption 8 mAh, battery lifetime 1 year.

At higher latitudes in the summer, there is practically no need for night lights anyway, thus the battery life could be extended or illumination level and/or area increased. In winter time the burn time would not be much longer, since other artificial lights would be used during the evenings and mornings.

Of course NiMh secondary cells would be useless due to the high self discharge rate.

A battery powered night light with double sided tape fitting would allow easy installation of down lighters where the light is actually needed.

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