Adding motion sensor to existing flood light circuit

[gahrajmahal]

I did a search and did not come up with an exact answer to my question. So here is the question. The house has security floods, two on each side. There is a single wall switch inside. I would like to add an outdoor motion sensor that signals the indoor switch rather than adding separate motion sensing lights on all four sides of the house. I also like the idea that the whole house is lit up if motion is detected. I don’t mind hard wiring the motion sensor, but am trying to avoid fishing wires to the indoor switch.

 

[FMB4]

I'd reconsider adding separate motion sensing lights on all four sides of your house. I say this for several reasons: A single motion sensor that operates all 4 lights will very likely not be able to sense motion that covers both ends of the house. Such a sensor, if available(?) might sense motion in the front area of the house, but not the back or sides. This could allow an intruder to jump your backyard fence and/or side yard fences without tripping the motion sensor.

 

[Terry D]

I agree with FMB4, you possibly could add a motion sensor to the first light and just feed the rest off the load side of the sensor, as long as you don't exceed the rating of the sensor, but it will only sense motion at that area. The location of the sensor you want to install would have to see all areas around the house.

 

[mikedodge]

You can also get sensors with a relay for more load but it'll only sense one spot unless you add sensors on all 4 sides going back to the single point.

 

[gahrajmahal]

https://nextdoor.com/p/F43LMYS3LTdD/c/661083479?utm_source=share
here is the reason I am suddenly interested in lighting up the whole house at night. This video is 1/4 mile away from our house. Happened at 7:30 in the evening, the homeowners caught them in the act. There have been many reports of cars getting broken into over the summer via. Nextdoor social media (local homeowner network).

 

[Terry D]

How many motion sensors do you want

 

[gahrajmahal]

Just one. I want to know when someone comes into the driveway. The driveway is single lane about 30 ft. long up hill, then levels out to an area big enough for four cars.

 

[Innovate1]

https://nextdoor.com/p/F43LMYS3LTdD/c/661083479?utm_source=share
here is the reason I am suddenly interested in lighting up the whole house at night. This video is 1/4 mile away from our house. Happened at 7:30 in the evening, the homeowners caught them in the act. There have been many reports of cars getting broken into over the summer via. Nextdoor social media (local homeowner network).

Can't access the video without signing up as far as I can tell. Maybe you could just give us a bit more detail. Sounds like you want to detect motion around the cars but light up the whole area to see them when they run off or maybe light it up so the cameras can get better pics. Certianly possible. You could go with the type motion sensor that typically goes on lights although they often don't last more than a few years in my experience, especially in the sun. You would need to run the power back to the point where the power branches off to all the lights. Or you could put in a low voltage sensor that runs a relay which could also trip a video recorder if you wanted. I have used Optex LX402 for similar things with good results and it's been working for many years. You would need a time delay relay or something similar to keep the lights on for the desired time.

 

[gahrajmahal]

Hey all, sorry about the video. Basically a black explorer with window tint caught on camera pulling into a driveway. It turns around then two guys with ball caps and COVID masks go to the suv in the driveway. Unlocked, they rifle through the homeowners car and hurry back to their idling explorer, hop in and drive away.

I took a few photos of our house with the flood lights on. We keep the front porch light, post light and light under the deck on overnight. The house is really lighted up when we turn on the flood lights and I know that if thieves really want to get into our stuff a light or cameras won’t stop them, but it would let them know we might be calling 911.


thanks for the replies so far!

 

[Terry D]

Is there a flood light at the driveway now? if so, and if it is possibly the first light in the circuit, you might be able to install a motion sensor on that one and feed the rest off the load side of the sensor. Its just simple rewiring of the first fixture. The wall switch can still be used to override the sensor

 

[Innovate1]

Is there a flood light at the driveway now? if so, and if it is possibly the first light in the circuit, you might be able to install a motion sensor on that one and feed the rest off the load side of the sensor. Its just simple rewiring of the first fixture. The wall switch can still be used to override the sensor

^This. If you are lucky this is the first on the circuit and the others are fed from there. But I think the chances aren't in your favor. You likely will need to add a wire from the light with the motion sensor back to where the power splits to the multiple lights which would allow you to put the motion sensor in series with the switch as is commonly done for single fixtures.

Opening the boxes where the lights are mounted will allow you to see if one of the lights is the first in the chain. You could also open the switch box to see if the switch feeds more than one cable.

 

[gahrajmahal]

I think it would be easier to access the switch than one of the wires at the lights. The switch controls lights on three sides of the house. I will check my Home Depot 123 Electrical wiring book to clarify the series wiring sequence. Is a time delay part of the motion controller or do I have to purchase that part of the control separately? More photos…

 

[nadogail]

Invest in a sign that says “DOG HELL, BEWARE OF THE OWNERS”

 

[908Jim]

Hey all, sorry about the video. Basically a black explorer with window tint caught on camera pulling into a driveway. It turns around then two guys with ball caps and COVID masks go to the suv in the driveway. Unlocked, they rifle through the homeowners car and hurry back to their idling explorer, hop in and drive away.

I took a few photos of our house with the flood lights on. We keep the front porch light, post light and light under the deck on overnight. The house is really lighted up when we turn on the flood lights and I know that if thieves really want to get into our stuff a light or cameras won’t stop them, but it would let them know we might be calling 911.

thanks for the replies so far!

I did a search and did not come up with an exact answer to my question. So here is the question. The house has security floods, two on each side. There is a single wall switch inside. I would like to add an outdoor motion sensor that signals the indoor switch rather than adding separate motion sensing lights on all four sides of the house. I also like the idea that the whole house is lit up if motion is detected. I don’t mind hard wiring the motion sensor, but am trying to avoid fishing wires to the indoor switch.

I came across this thread while searching for something and it caught my attention.

In short, have you considered any "smart" lighting solutions? There are a lot of different options here, but, for example, Ring has outdoor motion sensors that would likely allow you to do what you're looking for and configure some pretty slick other features. The setup below could be used to send you an alert to your phone when somebody pulls into your driveway.

Motion sensor - $25

Smart Lighting Motion Sensor

Extend the range of Ring lights, doorbells and cameras with a battery-powered motion sensor that links to the Ring Bridge to activate connected devices.

ring.com

Wired Floodlight + bridge- $90

Shine Lighting on Your Driveway With the Smart Floodlight Wired

Shine light above driveways with the motion-activated Floodlight Wired. Link it to the Ring Bridge to enable smart controls and connect with Ring devices.

ring.com

 

[BukitCase]

Nadogail, I like this one better ... Steve

 

[Fasthotrod]

I did a search and did not come up with an exact answer to my question. So here is the question. The house has security floods, two on each side. There is a single wall switch inside. I would like to add an outdoor motion sensor that signals the indoor switch rather than adding separate motion sensing lights on all four sides of the house. I also like the idea that the whole house is lit up if motion is detected. I don’t mind hard wiring the motion sensor, but am trying to avoid fishing wires to the indoor switch.

I did exactly what you are saying you want to do. I decided I wanted more control of the house lighting, so I started with a Smarthings home hub by Samsung. It acts as the base unit that communicates between the app on my phone (to set everything up and control it) and the items on the ZWave network. Items being: Switches, sensors, lights, etc...

I replaced the regular wall switch with a ZWave switch that can be controlled remotely. You can name each switch so that it makes sense... patio light, shop door light, garage door lights, etc... Then I bought a couple of outdoor motion sensors and added them to the ZWave network.

Now I have certain routines setup that I can monitor and control. For instance, towards dusk I have the outdoor house lights in the eves kick on until 9 p.m. I also do the same for the shop outdoor lights. I have them kick on in the morning so we can see when leaving for work, then kick off at sunrise.

I have the two outdoor motion sensors connected to the system, one above the garage door on the house, the other under the eves of the house pointing towards my patio/back yard, and shop. If/when they detect motion, I have them turn on the lights automatically.

The cool thing about Smarthings is that you can integrate so many other things into it. For example, I have an Ecobee thermostat for the house HVAC. Part of that system is four separate, remote temperature transmitters with built in motion sensors. That way, Ecobee knows how to adjust the HVAC based on an average of the room temps, and based on what room we're in. The cool part is that Smarthings will ALSO use those motion sensors like a security system, and sends a signal/alert to my phone that tells me if there is motion in the house when there should not be. If I wanted, I could also have it trigger an alarm to alert people in the area that something was up.

As far as setting it up, if you can replace a regular wall switch (most switches HAVE to have a dedicated neutral to operate properly) then you ahead of the game. The app is pretty simple, once you get the hang of it, and there are a lot of places on-line that talk about how to get your ZWave network up and running.

Your local Home Depot probably has the Smarthings hub available:

Samsung SmartThings Hub 3rd Generation - Smart Home Automation Hub GP-U999SJVLGDA - The Home Depot

The SmartThings Hub is the heart of your smart home. It connects wirelessly with hundreds of compatible smart devices, allowing you to monitor, control and secure your home from anywhere. The SmartThings

www.homedepot.com

Here's the type of motion sensor that I'm running:

Amazon.com

As for the wall switches, you can get just a switch, or a dimmer switch. They also have 3-way switches/dimmers, if needed. I've gone with a lot of the GE switches, but there are others that are cheaper that do the job just fine.

Amazon.com

We tied our Smarthings hub into our Google hubs, which makes things really convenient. When we come in with an arm-load of groceries, I don't have to try and turn on a light with my elbow. I just say, Okay, Google... turn on the kitchen lights." Done. If I get back into the house and don't remember if I turned off the shop lights? "Okay, Google... turn off the shop lights." If I just want the shop man door light on, I just tell Google and it does it. (Or I can just open the Samsung Smarthings app and hit the light button and it does it.)

Hope this helps.

Mark

 

[gahrajmahal]

908Jim and Fasthotrod, thank you both for taking the time to add to this post with your detailed response and links to the goods. I think this will help others doing this modification to their homes for security.