Suggestions for dusk to dawn lighting

A few things:

a) From a purely practical view, all outside lights do is give burglars lig ht to see by. They give zero/nil/no/none additional security or safety. b) They contribute to light pollution. c) They burn power needlessly.

If *you* are looking for outside lights to see by, put them on a switch. If you want lights that allow you to leave the house and then go off, put the m on a timer switch. Some are sophisticated enough that you can set a 'come

-back' time so it will also light your way in.

But, to get directly to your question, Intermatic makes any number of astro nomical time clocks with daily, weekly or monthly (the latter is actually 3

65/366 capable) that you set your dawn, dusk and date and it does the rest automagically. No need for a light sensor to add complexity.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I don't know, but two days ago I found the source of a bad Buzz on my radio, it is an outdoor light with IR sensor AND slow turn on to extend bulb life. So I'm either on a search to quiet what I have or buy lights that don't produce RFI. Mikek

ight to see by. They give zero/nil/no/none additional security or safety.

If you want lights that allow you to leave the house and then go off, put t hem on a timer switch. Some are sophisticated enough that you can set a 'co me-back' time so it will also light your way in.

ronomical time clocks with daily, weekly or monthly (the latter is actually 365/366 capable) that you set your dawn, dusk and date and it does the res t automagically. No need for a light sensor to add complexity.

The simplest option is plug-in timers.

And outdoor lighting enables burglars to be seen.

NT

If its the security aspect of lighting, rather than likes of going going to an outside bog in the middle of the night, these things are excellent

next to no power used, just direct the very convincing (mixture of random and quasi-static) dancing/flickering/colour-changing light output towards , but not at, a curtained window. In a real lifetime-burglar test , it came out tops of deterrance kit.

A number of years ago I saw something about security lighting. In that article the author said that motion detection lighting is better security. The idea is that if the light is on all the time a burglar can see where the shadows are and stick to them. If the light doesn't come on until it senses the burglars movement they get caught in the light when it comes on.

Bill

We don't get free lecky,about 10hour x 365 days x 0.12 KW otherwise just for 1 year. These LED gizmos something like 0.005 KW consumption. I suppose these days much less likelihood of a TV catching fire , that seems to be the province of fridges and freezers these days.

Do you have light(s) in your back yard? Burglars seldom go in the front door.

Yep. Those few burglars that still operate at night around here tend to wear bright uniforms with reflective stripes and drive panel vans with magnetic signs of one sort of emergency response group or another.

The best deterrent of all is a nosy neighbor - and our neighborhood is full of those. Next best is a loud dog. Similarly, including two of our own.

to motion/light cell type fixtures, and they worked well for several years . Last year they became a bit numb. I replaced the photocells that had wa ter damage, resealed them and they worked another year, but are crapping ou t again or are killing bulbs in two weeks (guessing they're running at low voltage?).

and I don't want to go through the expense of changing 10 fixtures in exch ange for questionable service life or erratic performance.

witches that control the 10 outdoor fixtures to an automated type and have a single light sensor control them at one shot. I don't need the motion asp ect; I'd rather have them come on at dusk and stay on till morning.

years ago. Does anyone know of a reliable system or pieces I can put toget her that will get me what I want?

Google this: 'solar outdoor lighting'

Don't install yourself because you could nullify your property's insurance. Get an approved installer to install the lighting for you.

Use one of these to control a 120 VAC relay with contacts heavy enough to handle your entire lighting load.

--
Jeff-1.0 
wa6fwi 
http://www.foxsmercantile.com

yes

they've tried all the doors & some windows here. None seem keen to return though.

there are various deterrents.

NT

Per John-Del:

I used to have 250w floods arranged to illuminate the entire perimeter of the house and controlled by x10 - with as "Panic Switch" x10 remote in the bedroom that turned them all on at once.

But the x10's did not age well, my paranoia subsided, and now we have nothing security-wise.

For my backyard critter cams, I have been using 500w motion-triggered halogen lights like this:

They *really* light things up - giving daylight color and motion conditions to the cams.

If I were doing my home, I would put one of those (or maybe one of the next grade up

at each potential entry point.

I have no expert knowledge, but intuitively it seems to me like motion-detected with *lots* of light would be superior because:

- They let you know something is up by the intense amount of light suddenly shed outside

- It has to be unsettling to a prowler to be spotlighted while the inside of the house is dark (giving advantage to the person inside).

The weak point I have found in motion sensing is the sensors: sometimes they get weird in cold weather and trigger spontaneously.

--
Pete Cresswell

Our neighbor has motion sensors. Start with the premise that we are in the immediate ring-suburb to Philadelphia - I sometimes walk the dogs and cross over the border.

We have: Deer, wild turkeys, great-blue heron in the summer, raccoons, foxes, and more. Each and every one of which will trip a motion sensor, as the animals are fearless and they are more-or-less guided right by them.

And, as stated, cold weather does weird them out such that windy nights have them on as often as off.

Anything large enough to be of concern will get the dogs going even before any lights go on. People, other dogs, and deer - that is it. Timers if you must light up the world. Please.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

PIRs certainly aren't perfect, and many just aren't set right in practice, but they're a lot better than leaving the light on all night long.

NT

I remember seeing stats saying that night-time prowlers usually know the victims already. Explain that!

A successful burglar is not stupid. Most house robberies are committed duri ng daylight hours when the residents are at work or school. Most are well-s coped. Have you had poll-takers, surveyors, solicitors for charity and vari ous causes come to your door? Our township requires a license and picture-t ag on a lanyard for such activities for that reason. Not that many comply.

Night-time burglaries tend to be equally well scoped. Such as porch-light o n 24/7, or inside lights that stay on all night. Whatever is not what you d o routinely will be spotted by a pro - and that is a signal for them. And, even timed lights that do not vary are a signal.

At the same time, a pro *will not* take on a challenge. They will move on t o the next victim. It is similar to running from a bear. I do not have to o utrun the bear, just the person with me. I do not have to have an impregnab le house with super locks. Just be a bit more difficult than the guy next d oor.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

then what are they doing burgling?

ts are at work or school. Most are well-scoped. Have you had poll-takers, s urveyors, solicitors for charity and various causes come to your door? Our township requires a license and picture-tag on a lanyard for such activitie s for that reason. Not that many comply.

on 24/7, or inside lights that stay on all night. Whatever is not what you do routinely will be spotted by a pro - and that is a signal for them. And , even timed lights that do not vary are a signal.

to the next victim. It is similar to running from a bear. I do not have to outrun the bear, just the person with me. I do not have to have an impregn able house with super locks. Just be a bit more difficult than the guy next door.

Burglars come in all types. Any attempt to defend against just one type has a habit of defending against just one type.

NT

ents are at work or school. Most are well-scoped. Have you had poll-takers, surveyors, solicitors for charity and various causes come to your door? Ou r township requires a license and picture-tag on a lanyard for such activit ies for that reason. Not that many comply.

ht on 24/7, or inside lights that stay on all night. Whatever is not what y ou do routinely will be spotted by a pro - and that is a signal for them. A nd, even timed lights that do not vary are a signal.

on to the next victim. It is similar to running from a bear. I do not have to outrun the bear, just the person with me. I do not have to have an impre gnable house with super locks. Just be a bit more difficult than the guy ne xt door.

as a habit of defending against just one type.

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm going to read back through it after Than ksgiving and see what I can try.

FWIW, this is not a security issue. We have a full perimeter security syst em installed in our home. My wife and I are both licensed carriers and anyo ne in our home that doesn't follow instructions to stop and drop *will* be dropped anyway.

Motion detectors have always been dodgy at best, and while I would prefer t o have the lights come on when anyone approaches them for convenience reaso ns I'll settle for dusk till dawn lighting.

We live on a dead end in a quiet suburb and there are no street lights. On a moonless or overcast night, it's freaking dark and hard to see whether i n the driveway, my front porch, or my back deck.

I was happy with the motion detecting light fixtures we had (although sever al were bad out of the box as I recall), they don't last long enough to jus tify their existence. They also are finicky about both LED and CCFL lamps.

I was thinking about just replacing the switches that control these fixture s with something like this:

With these, I can have the front porch and back deck lights go off after sa y midnight and leave the driveway lights on till morning. They are also co mpatible with CFL and LED lights, something most sensing detectors are not. The last step would be to gut the electronics out of the fixtures I have ( which are aluminum and otherwise in excellent shape) and hard wire them thr ough.

They're stupid at everything else but burglarizing?