High amp occupancy sensor for lights

[bad5x8]

I need a higher amp occupancy sensor for my interior garage lights...
Want them to turn on when we walk in or when the garage door goes up.
I have 10 dual bulb t8 4 ft fixtures...on their own circuit. Single pole switch.
I have seen 2.5 amp and 4 amp...but they seem too low?
I put it in the googles...and wayfair.com of all places popped up with a 20 amp sensor from Leviton R62-IPS06-1LW. Only $24.

What do you all think? What else do I need to check?
Thanks in advance.

 

[cybrdyke]

That switch isn't rated for 20A, it's only rated for 150w of LED. Wayfair ad is incorrect. Also, it wont turn the lights on when your garage door opens, unless your garage door is on fire.

What is the wattage of your LED tubes?
CD

 

[dogdog]

most of them sensors / timers / WIFI stuff requires neutral wires at the switch / sensor as well. Unless it operates on battery.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I need a higher amp occupancy sensor for my interior garage lights...
Want them to turn on when we walk in or when the garage door goes up.
I have 10 dual bulb t8 4 ft fixtures...on their own circuit. Single pole switch.
I have seen 2.5 amp and 4 amp...but they seem too low?
I put it in the googles...and wayfair.com of all places popped up with a 20 amp sensor from Leviton R62-IPS06-1LW. Only $24.

What do you all think? What else do I need to check?
Thanks in advance.

why do you need a 20a rated sensor?

I highly doubt your ballasts pull 2a each. more like .75amp each

Can you post a picture of the ballast label?

This leviton occupancy sensor will do 10a for LED or ballasted loads.

https://www.leviton.com/en/products/ods15-idw-new

 

[KenB]

Why not use a 120v relay?

 

[bad5x8]

I have regular old school T8 bulbs. 32 watts....640 watts total.
I looked up at the lights and they have “.85 amps” on them....so times 10 fixtures is 8.5 amps....so I guess a 10 amp sensor would work.

 

[cybrdyke]

With all due respect....
Not sure what you have going on, but...
2 lamp F32T8 with standard electronic ballast is 59 watts, not 64 and .49A , not .85A .
Total is 590w, or 4.9A

And those sensors wont make your lights turn on when the garage door goes up.
CD

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I have regular old school T8 bulbs. 32 watts....640 watts total.
I looked up at the lights and they have “.85 amps” on them....so times 10 fixtures is 8.5 amps....so I guess a 10 amp sensor would work.

With all due respect....
Not sure what you have going on, but...
2 lamp F32T8 with standard electronic ballast is 59 watts, not 64 and .49A , not .85A .
Total is 590w, or 4.9A

And those sensors wont make your lights turn on when the garage door goes up.
CD

when sizing the circuit, you cannot use the bulb wattage. There are inherent losses in the ballasts thus the amperage rating on the ballast nameplate must be used.

 

[cybrdyke]

when sizing the circuit, you cannot use the bulb wattage. There are inherent losses in the ballasts thus the amperage rating on the ballast nameplate must be used.

Which is why I mentioned that the standard ballast is .49A, not .85A .

The OP has some weird stuff going on. I dont know what...



CD

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Which is why I mentioned [b{that the standard ballast is .49A, not .85A .[/b]

The OP has some weird stuff going on. I dont know what...



CD

No you said electronic ballasts.

Where did the OP say he has electronic ballasts?

Furthermore, every ballast is slightly different with different amperage ratings. Youre trying to put a rating on a ballast that you dont even know the model of.

 

[jlv03]

What make/model number of garage door opener?

 

[bad5x8]

I did not know about the wattage thing with the bulbs...sorry about that.
These fixtures are maybe 12-13 years old...unknown on magnetic vs electric ballasts..just going by the sticker on the fixture that says .85 amps. These are cheap Utilitech ones from Lowe’s.

In terms of opening the garage doors and the lights going on....I figured that the moving door and a car driving into the garage would trip the sensor....not that is was actually going to hooked to the opener in any way.

Just looking for an occupancy sensor that will turn on the garage lights with motion.

 

[Mr. T]

How big is your garage and how much are you willing to spend?

 

[cybrdyke]

No you said electronic ballasts.

Where did the OP say he has electronic ballasts?

Furthermore, every ballast is slightly different with different amperage ratings. Youre trying to put a rating on a ballast that you dont even know the model of.

OK, the old magnetic ones like the Advance R2P32TP, which went out of use in the late 1980's and were replaced with the electronic ones, pulled .64A with 2 F32T8's. Not .85A
Since then, nearly every T8 fixture used electronic ballasts. That's almost 40 years. You could have your choice, low ballast factor, normal ballast factor, or high ballast factor. The draw on the normal is .49A, the draw on the highest is .62A. Here's the spec sheet for the high BF ballast:

No, I dont know which ballast is in the fixture since the OP didn't say. But if it was sold within the last 15 years, it's pretty safe to say that it's electronic. One way a fixture could reach .85A with 2 F32T8's is if they used two separate magnetic choke ballasts, one to run each lamp. This was done by a few companies back in the early 2000's, mostly sold thru junk houses and scammers. Menards was famous for selling these. If that's what the OP has, he should just pitch them. Another way would be a T12 fixture that was retrofitted to T8. That would also explain a .85A sticker.
Since the fixture is just a cheap shop light, it's not likely to be high BF ballast, or a low BF ballast. That leads to the speculation that it's a normal BF ballast @.49A
CD

 

[cybrdyke]

I did not know about the wattage thing with the bulbs...sorry about that.
These fixtures are maybe 12-13 years old...unknown on magnetic vs electric ballasts..just going by the sticker on the fixture that says .85 amps. These are cheap Utilitech ones from Lowe’s.

In terms of opening the garage doors and the lights going on....I figured that the moving door and a car driving into the garage would trip the sensor....not that is was actually going to hooked to the opener in any way.

Just looking for an occupancy sensor that will turn on the garage lights with motion.

You'll need an ultrasonic, dual tech, or microwave sensor. A standard PIR wallbox sensor like those that have been linked in this thread wont work. It needs to see heat and motion together. The motion of the door alone wont trip it. Your car engine might do it, but I wouldn't count on it.
You can get both ultrasonic and dual tech in a wallbox sensor like this one:https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-MS-A102-WH-Occupancy-required-Single-Pole/dp/B00TNI5P46/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=dual%2Btech%2Bsensor&qid=1594080769&sr=8-7&th=1
Good luck
CD