Dusk to Dawn Fixture

[nafterclifen]

I currently have a motion fixture above my garage doors with (2) flood lamps. It comes on when it detects motion. I would like to add a (3) lamp, multi-position dusk to dawn fixture that would allow me to keep (1) lamp on dusk to dawn and the other (2) for motion. The goal is have a little bit of light for security at night but much more light when I park the vehicle or walk outside of the garage at night.

Haven't been able to find such a thing. Help/advice is appreciated!

 

[Norcal]

A photo cell for the one light, & motion lights for the rest, doubt a "off the shelf" option is available, it would have to be assembled onsite.

 

[mikeceli]

I bought a dual floodlight motion detecting fixture w/ a built in dusk to dawn, lower voltage illumination feature. I don't recall where, but they are available.

 

[smalltown]

Just yesterday I bought an Intermatic timer with the astrological feature ( another poster here suggested it) that is supposed to turn my led lamps outside on and off and adjust the times automatically or even come on at dusk, and go off at say 11PM. Haven't installed it yet, but will very soon as I complete all my wiring.
I had the same concern as I will have a motion light at the garage peak. The timer will be installed inside the garage in a standard switch box.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Intermatic-15-Amp-Astronomic-Digital-In-Wall-Timer-White-ST01K/205478792

 

[TheLurker]

Picked these up to replace our outdoor LED lights on the corners of the house. Has all kinds of on/off settings and dual brightness times (lights stay on at 100% for x amount of time then dims to 70%).

Motion sensor has two zones as well. Normal zone and a secondary zone that looks straight down. Short of a crawling slower than the motion sensor is able to detect, there's no getting around this thing.

I was initially concerned that they wouldn't be as bright as I wanted but that concern was quickly proven wrong.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_459002-85538-SH-5942-BZ-A_0__#noop

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Any of the fixtures at Lowes that has "DualBrite" on the box have the ability to be at a lower brightness from dusk-to-dawn and go to full brightness when motion is detected.

If you really want a three light fixture with two motion and one dusk-to-dawn light, I would assemble it yourself. Get a round (or rectangular) weatherproof box, two weatherproof covers for the boxes with three threaded inlets, and three of the outdoor lights that screw into the cover. Then get a dusk-to-dawn sensor and a replacement motion sensor, both of which should screw into one of the box covers. Install one of the covers over your existing box, and thread the new lights into the openings. Then run a short conduit to the side of the box and install the second box there. Place the dusk-to-dawn sensor and the motion sensor in two of the threaded openings of the second box, and close the third opening with the included plug. You would then split your incoming power to the motion sensor and the D2D sensor, and then from each of those to the appropriate amount of lights you want powered from each. If the existing box is recessed into the wall so the current light is flush-mounted, you will need an extension ring to bring the box out off the wall. Or if your garage walls are unfinished inside, it would be easier to run the wire inside and then install a new box outside wherever you want the two sensors, and you wouldn't have visible wire/conduit between the two boxes.

If that doesn't make sense I can make a diagram. Or maybe someone else will have a better idea.

 

[Labradorian]

Any of the fixtures at Lowes that has "DualBrite" on the box have the ability to be at a lower brightness from dusk-to-dawn and go to full brightness when motion is detected.

If you really want a three light fixture with two motion and one dusk-to-dawn light, I would assemble it yourself. Get a round (or rectangular) weatherproof box, two weatherproof covers for the boxes with three threaded inlets, and three of the outdoor lights that screw into the cover. Then get a dusk-to-dawn sensor and a replacement motion sensor, both of which should screw into one of the box covers. Install one of the covers over your existing box, and thread the new lights into the openings. Then run a short conduit to the side of the box and install the second box there. Place the dusk-to-dawn sensor and the motion sensor in two of the threaded openings of the second box, and close the third opening with the included plug. You would then split your incoming power to the motion sensor and the D2D sensor, and then from each of those to the appropriate amount of lights you want powered from each. If the existing box is recessed into the wall so the current light is flush-mounted, you will need an extension ring to bring the box out off the wall. Or if your garage walls are unfinished inside, it would be easier to run the wire inside and then install a new box outside wherever you want the two sensors, and you wouldn't have visible wire/conduit between the two boxes.

If that doesn't make sense I can make a diagram. Or maybe someone else will have a better idea.

Here is the issue I ran into by having 3 motion sensing fixtures on the front of my garage......

See motion detectors detect the change in temperature of its suroundings......google this for more info.

so when one fixture on the front of my garage sensed motion it would come on, and trigger the other two to come on and then would never or rarely shut off. they were detecting each other.

im thinking if you had one lamp set to dusk to dawn, when it came on it more than likely might trigger the motion sensor and the other 2 will come on.

My 3 fixtures are about 10ft apart and were triggering each other and not going off.

What I had to do was to was wire the 2 down stream fixtures to the trigger wire(red) of the first fixture in the circuit.

Hope this makes sense. Just letting you know my issues.

cheers

 

[nafterclifen]

I've reviving this thread because as previously suggested, the "dual bright" feature on the HeathZenith lights at Lowe's is exactly what I'm looking for (see link below). The lights can be set to stay on at night at a dim setting and when motion is detected, they go to full brightness.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_182155-85538-SH-5105-WH___?Ntt=182155&UserSearch=182155&productId=3018462

However, the reviews are not so great. Is anyone aware of a similar fixture made by another manufacturer? Cost is not a factor. I'll easily pay $100 but not $1000. I inquired with a local electrical and lighting supply store and they were not aware of a fixture like the HeathZenith. I was surprised. Surely there must be others, not JUST HeathZenith?

 

[Commendatore]

Have you considered moving to low power LED bulbs and just leaving them on full brightness all the time?

 

[machsnell]

I would like to find or reluctantly make one of these also. Great idea. I would like to use with led bulbs.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[cybrdyke]

Have you considered moving to low power LED bulbs and just leaving them on full brightness all the time?

^^^ THIS!!
Screw all the complexity and weirdness of motion sensing outdoors.
With the new LED outdoor PAR lamps using only 15 watts each, instead of 100+ watts of a Halogen, just leave them on all night. It'll cost you $6 to run them ALL YEAR. Install an inwall astro timer, like the Intermatic EI600C, in place of a toggle switch, set it to Astro ON/Astro OFF and stop worrying about it.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-...immable-LED-Flood-Light-Bulb-435016/205213868

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Intermat...Digital-Timer-EI600WC/203954897?keyword=ei600

CD

 

[Shiftless]

Have you considered moving to low power LED bulbs and just leaving them on full brightness all the time?

This is the best idea. You don't really need high levels of illumination to walk around and get in and out of your car. Whatever levels you feel necessary will probably be appropriate for security purposes anyway. If your led floodlights or spotlights are properly placed I bet a few 8 watt led bulbs will do the trick. If I were you, I wouldn't spend a lot of money on fancy controllers. Just put a few of those on dusk to dawn timer and be done with it.

 

[TheLurker]

I've reviving this thread because as previously suggested, the "dual bright" feature on the HeathZenith lights at Lowe's is exactly what I'm looking for (see link below). The lights can be set to stay on at night at a dim setting and when motion is detected, they go to full brightness.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_182155-85538-SH-5105-WH___?Ntt=182155&UserSearch=182155&productId=3018462

However, the reviews are not so great. Is anyone aware of a similar fixture made by another manufacturer? Cost is not a factor. I'll easily pay $100 but not $1000. I inquired with a local electrical and lighting supply store and they were not aware of a fixture like the HeathZenith. I was surprised. Surely there must be others, not JUST HeathZenith?

Funny, I clicked your link and the first review is the same "problem" I just found. Couldn't figure out why my lights seemed to not be coming on at dusk then I'd see them on at 2am. Turns out our Christmas lights were bright enough to spoof the sensor into thinking it was still enough daylight to not come on. After the timer for the Christmas lights turned those off, the flood lights would come on and work normally.

Light sensor is definitely sensitive. I'd bet that many of the "these don't work anymore" reviews are due to additional light sources around these lights.

We're only on month 4 with these lights but I'm still happy with the ones we bought so far.

 

[nafterclifen]

Have you considered moving to low power LED bulbs and just leaving them on full brightness all the time?

I am going to try this route by replacing the combination photocell/motion sensor on my existing RAB fixture with an adjustable photocell sensor. And going to use these Cree LED bulbs...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-90W...t-Bulb-BPAR38-1503047T-12DE26-1U100/205184900

 

[SierraDenizen]

Just yesterday I bought an Intermatic timer with the astrological feature ( another poster here suggested it) that is supposed to turn my led lamps outside on and off and adjust the times automatically or even come on at dusk, and go off at say 11PM. Haven't installed it yet, but will very soon as I complete all my wiring.
I had the same concern as I will have a motion light at the garage peak. The timer will be installed inside the garage in a standard switch box.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Intermatic-15-Amp-Astronomic-Digital-In-Wall-Timer-White-ST01K/205478792

These switches are pretty flexible programming-wise. I had four or five of them from 2007 until 2014, and they all gained a couple of minutes per month, so I found myself adjusting the time every 4 or 5 months. I pulled all of them out and went with a bunch of Smarthome switches and some controlling software. Complicated to setup but more reliable over time, since the time is adjusted automatically and stays accurate.

Jeff