Dusk to Dawn Lighting
We’re exploring our options for outdoor lighting, and “dusk to dawn” sensors that turn on when it gets dark seem like a sensible and economical option. Does anyone have any advice about these? How well do they work? Where is a good place to buy them?
We’re exploring our options for outdoor lighting, and “dusk to dawn” sensors that turn on when it gets dark seem like a sensible and economical option. Does anyone have any advice about these? How well do they work? Where is a good place to buy them?
I’m looking at doing the same thing. Touch & Glow Lighting Solutions claims to have a screw-in sensor that specifically works with compact fluorescent bulbs. Anyone have any experience with these? Do you think they will work better than the regular ones you get from Home Depot or Lowe’s?
Don’t eliminate the screw-ins if you use incandescent, or a new technology, cold cathode; these are quite expensive %15/bulb but won’t burn out like CFLs. A 8w bulb (highest you can get) is like a 45w incand.
Otoh, if you’re doing major stuff, it’s trivial to hardwire in a timer which works with everything, including the garage door opener.
Apology accepted, tybur6. We are in the middle of a huge renovation and I really am completely overwhelmed with all the details.
Thanks, cmontgom. I suspected the screw in things might be too good to be true. Now I’ve got even more decisions to make.
Worst combination…screw in dusk to dawn control with compact flourescent bulbs. I found that the bulbs flickered incessantly and lasted about two weeks when I did the same at my place. I resorted to using a switch on a timer. My exterior lights are linked to the foyer chandelier, which are both controlled by a switch in my foyer. I replaced the standard switch with a timer. This has worked great. The other alternative is to buy the fixture with the dusk to dawn feature built in. If you go this route use regular bulbs. These still don’t work well with the compact flourescent. Been there..done that…trust me.
I’m sorry dumpstress… you have plenty to think about without me being a douche bag.
So long as you don’t use a motion sensor you should be okay with a CFL. Here, I use Insteon home automation for stuff like this. The computer knows my lat/lon, time of day and time of year so it knows when to turn the lights on and off.
Thanks. We were planning to to use compact flourescent bulbs, and we were looking at the kind of sensor that screws into each bulb socket, so the multiple bulb workaround wouldn’t be an option. This information is very helpful.
Note that CFL’s may fail prematurely with sensors. If you have several bulbs on the same circuit, use one 25w incandescent and others CFL and all will be well. See:
http://seeinggreen.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/compact-fluorescents-ii.html
I’m a new homeowner who never had to think about this stuff before, and I’ve never owned a nightlight.