Need to Update my Exterior Lighting

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I need new porch lighting at all the entry points to the house. I've always had dusk to dawn fixtures that go full bright when motion is detected and I've been happy with them but just wondering if there is anything more efficient that I should be looking at. There are so many choices of bulb types and fixture types these days, it's quite overwhelming.
I also plan to install solar motion detector floodlights about 6 feet high on the exterior of my balcony for full rear and side coverage of my back yard.
Any suggestions or recommendations are appreciated.

 

[njhowie]

Just a few days ago I ordered (to be delivered by end of week) a few smart switches for our porch and two outdoor lights above our garage. I had wanted to do this a while back, however most all of these require a neutral wire, and our older home does not have a neutral wire to the switches. Recently there a couple that do not require the neutral wire, so figured I may as well give it a try. I like that they are programmable and manageable through Google Home, which we are using with a number of smart devices in our home already. If these work well, I may purchase a few more for other switches inside our home.

Last year, I updated those lights to LED, so they use almost nothing as far as the electric is concerned.

 

[OldShooter]

I am not a fan of solar-powered outside lights because we have found that the batteries are not particularly long-lived, so need replacement every year or two. Not too bad if one has only one or two lights of that type, but DW decided she wanted pathway lighting so we have many. Most of which are dim or dead most of the time, needing someone more dedicated than I am to battery service.

 

[MC Rider]

We had good luck with a solar power motion sensor light at our last place. Ordered a pack of 4 from Amazon for the new place. Tore out a bunch of old low voltage wired lights, and the wiring.

 

[Sunset]

I just use dusk to dawn LED's which are at full brightness all the time. Even if someone is standing on the sidewalk just looking at my house, they are in view.
If I had motion triggered ones, they would be in the dark still.

I do have 1 motion spot light in the back, we get all excited when a raccoon triggers it

 

[MC Rider]

We want lights on with motion only so as not to mess up anybodys dark sky.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Just a few days ago I ordered (to be delivered by end of week) a few smart switches for our porch and two outdoor lights above our garage. I had wanted to do this a while back, however most all of these require a neutral wire, and our older home does not have a neutral wire to the switches. Recently there a couple that do not require the neutral wire, so figured I may as well give it a try. I like that they are programmable and manageable through Google Home, which we are using with a number of smart devices in our home already. If these work well, I may purchase a few more for other switches inside our home.

Last year, I updated those lights to LED, so they use almost nothing as far as the electric is concerned.

I'm lucky in that my inside switches do work for the outside lighting. Was it an integrated LED light fixture or with LED bulbs that you purchased?

 

[njhowie]

I'm lucky in that my inside switches do work for the outside lighting. Was it an integrated LED light fixture or with LED bulbs that you purchased?

I purchased LED bulbs - did not change the fixtures. They had been using very old big high pressure sodium bulbs with mogul base that took about a minute to get up to full brightness. I got adapters for the base and put in some bright LEDs. That made a huge difference.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Mine are so old that I can't use regular LED bulbs, they need to be dimmable which I bought but they just don't work well with this older fixture. It's time for an upgrade, and so many choices but I think I'll stick to what I'm familiar with but get a fixture that will accept LED bulbs

 

[old medic]

We have several Solar LEDs mounted around the place. have worked fine for years. These are switchable, dusk to dawn or motion activated.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I have always liked having a motion-sensing fixture by the front door, usually one that stays on low from dusk until dawn, then gets brighter if it senses motion. I put a dimmable LED bulb in one of those for the first time a year or two ago and it's working pretty well so far.

 

[Jerry1]

I have always liked having a motion-sensing fixture by the front door, usually one that stays on low from dusk until dawn, then gets brighter if it senses motion. I put a dimmable LED bulb in one of those for the first time a year or two ago and it's working pretty well so far.

I have a fixture that has a setting for dim at dusk to dawn and bright if there is motion. I like that setting a lot. Mine also has integrated LED’s instead if separate bulbs.

What I don’t like is that most fixtures are made to be attached to a wall and all of mine are mounted on the eaves. Some allow for both types of mounting, but like anything, a mixed function item does neither function great. My next light fixtures will be specifically made for eave mounting. I’d also like them to be WiFi enabled.

 

[5Miler]

Just a few days ago I ordered (to be delivered by end of week) a few smart switches for our porch and two outdoor lights above our garage.

I did this several years ago as I have converted most of my home to smart switches/outlets over time. It does get expensive but I'm somewhat of a tech nerd at times. Ours run with Amazon Alexa and a SmartThings hub and the outside lights are programmed to turn on 1/2 hours after sunset and turn off 1/2 hour before sunrise. I added LED bulbs and removed the wiring in the lights for motion detection as it was very ineffective so the LEDS now stay at full brightness.

I have found the SmartThings hub sometimes fails to trigger the lights either on or off about once every couple of weeks no matter how I setup the app. I recently purchased a pair of used Wyse Thin Clients on EBay and am converting my smart home apps to Home Assistant in a Linux Container under ProxMox. Another container on the same Thin Client runs PiHole for network wide ad blocking. I just need to purchase a USB dongle for ZWavePlus to convert the switches away from SmartThings. Keeps me off the streets playing with these things.

 

[njhowie]

I did this several years ago as I have converted most of my home to smart switches/outlets over time. It does get expensive but I'm somewhat of a tech nerd at times. Ours run with Amazon Alexa and a SmartThings hub and the outside lights are programmed to turn on 1/2 hours after sunset and turn off 1/2 hour before sunrise. I added LED bulbs and removed the wiring in the lights for motion detection as it was very ineffective so the LEDS now stay at full brightness.

I have found the SmartThings hub sometimes fails to trigger the lights either on or off about once every couple of weeks no matter how I setup the app. I recently purchased a pair of used Wyse Thin Clients on EBay and am converting my smart home apps to Home Assistant in a Linux Container under ProxMox. Another container on the same Thin Client runs PiHole for network wide ad blocking. I just need to purchase a USB dongle for ZWavePlus to convert the switches away from SmartThings. Keeps me off the streets playing with these things.

Good info - thanks!

 

[troutnut1]

Just because we can light our yards like football stadiums that doesn't mean we should. However you do it, it pays to consider neighbors, plants, animals, and safety. You can read about good lighting and how to avoid "light trespass" at darksky.org.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Just because we can light our yards like football stadiums that doesn't mean we should. However you do it, it pays to consider neighbors, plants, animals, and safety. You can read about good lighting and how to avoid "light trespass" at darksky.org.

I'm doing it for my safety since criminals prefer to hide in the dark and don't like bright lights. If they don't come into my yard, no problem and no lights triggered. Maybe Montana crime is low, but not in Southern California these days.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I did this several years ago as I have converted most of my home to smart switches/outlets over time. It does get expensive but I'm somewhat of a tech nerd at times. Ours run with Amazon Alexa and a SmartThings hub and the outside lights are programmed to turn on 1/2 hours after sunset and turn off 1/2 hour before sunrise. I added LED bulbs and removed the wiring in the lights for motion detection as it was very ineffective so the LEDS now stay at full brightness.

I have found the SmartThings hub sometimes fails to trigger the lights either on or off about once every couple of weeks no matter how I setup the app. I recently purchased a pair of used Wyse Thin Clients on EBay and am converting my smart home apps to Home Assistant in a Linux Container under ProxMox. Another container on the same Thin Client runs PiHole for network wide ad blocking. I just need to purchase a USB dongle for ZWavePlus to convert the switches away from SmartThings. Keeps me off the streets playing with these things.

I was a SmartThings user before Samsung came along and ruined it.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I have always liked having a motion-sensing fixture by the front door, usually one that stays on low from dusk until dawn, then gets brighter if it senses motion. I put a dimmable LED bulb in one of those for the first time a year or two ago and it's working pretty well so far.

That's what I have right now but they're old and won't work properly with LED bulbs even the dimmable ones so it's time to upgrade. I'm currently using the regular bulbs which are of a lot higher wattage.

 

[RobbieB]

I have (3) dusk to dawn LED sconces on the house. All of them are under eves so not a lot of "upshine"

Use very little power and they are on when I need them to be without me needing to do anything.

 

[MC Rider]

I'm doing it for my safety since criminals prefer to hide in the dark and don't like bright lights. If they don't come into my yard, no problem and no lights triggered. Maybe Montana crime is low, but not in Southern California these days.

Outside the big city maybe not so bad. If prowlers actually came up our hill cul de sac, they will need their own lights at night. First time I went on the front porch at night, it was so dark I had to feel for the door handle to go back in.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Outside the big city maybe not so bad. If prowlers actually came up our hill cul de sac, they will need their own lights at night. First time I went on the front porch at night, it was so dark I had to feel for the door handle to go back in.

I see you moved from a city to a village, good for you.
I'd love to get out to but the kids and grand-kids keep me here.

 

[jazz4cash]

Great topic. Last summer I bought ~10 motion sensing solar wall lights. The cheap generics on Amazon. They work well to light a path on the back and sides of the house. Working well so far even on the cold. Batteries are not serviceable on these. In the front I use LED smartbulbs by tplink on the kasa app. They work great but one pair of lights in the front use candelabra bulbs which are not available for the kasa app. Very frustrating.

I am disappointed by lack of motion sending range and lack of a remote motion sensor for these devices. Ideally a wired solar panel could be mounted independently of the light and a separate remote motion sensor could communicate wirelessly when motion is detected (e.g. at the end of the driveway). The remote motion sensing is available but haven’t found a setup to trigger a light.

Another part of my setup is Blink cams which are battery powered. Battery life seems OK so far but disappointed with lack of detection range and response time to connect when motion is detected.

 

[troutnut1]

I'm doing it for my safety since criminals prefer to hide in the dark and don't like bright lights. If they don't come into my yard, no problem and no lights triggered. Maybe Montana crime is low, but not in Southern California these days.

I understand. Scary place. I like the Ring camera and lighting systems if you have the ability to manage the tech part of getting them all working together. It would light it up and give you videos records for evidence.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I have the Ring doorbell and it alerts me of any motion near my front door and it works great, my dog is so in tune with it that the moment it tinkles like a wind chime she throws herself at the front door barking viciously. I can also view what's going on outside on my echo show from the kitchen or my cellphone and there is no delay.
I can block out areas so I don't get an alert every time a car drives by my house or my next door neighbor comes out their front door. Their blowup Santa has been a problem though with our recent winds.
I may get a Ring solar camera for the back yard. My back yard backs onto an Edison easement in the desert and a bad guy could climb the wall easily. My next door neighbor set this all off when he told me that an associate of one of our other neighbors was hopping fences a few months ago looking for anything to steal and ended up in his yard getting bit by their rottweiler before he got away. To get to his yard, this person had to cross mine first or simply just walk along the back perimeter wall so there is a reason for my paranoia.

 

[6miths]

We want lights on with motion only so as not to mess up anybodys dark sky.

Thank you!