Looking for motion activated light switch...

[Luckydevil]

Basically I want my overhead lights to come on when I go into the garage. I'm tired of fumbling for the light switch in the dark. I know I could just get a night light or even a small motion sensor light, but I don't want that. I figure I might as well light the place up like a christmas tree right off the bat.

How cool would it be to walk into your garage and it automatically lights up for you?

Anyone have any ideas where to find something like this?

 

[ky-mike]

I believe that both Home Depot and Lowes would carry this. I have one and it is great. My wife or kids would always leave the garage light on and I was continually replacing the bulbs. Now, the light goes on when I enter the garage and goes off after the preset time if there is no motion. You can even get rid of the light on your garage door opener as the motion from the door opening will turn on your overhead lights. The switch also has a manual on/off setting as well.

 

[SK2003TypeS]

Luke,
Check out www.smarthome.com
They got some kool stuff there. I am not responsible for your credit card bills....

 

[JohnHenrys48]

Hey LD,

I installed one from Lowes that was rated for Magnetic Ballast flourescent lights. Didn't work as advertised. The light took several seconds to fully turn on and would still "floures" when shut off or in the off position. I called the maker, Cooper Electric and was less than impressed with their customer service. There guy basically said I didn't know what I was talking about and that I must have an electronic ballast light...blah blah blah...I eventually took it back and reinstalled the rocker switch. I think it would have worked great with an incandescent fixture. I also checked HD but they did not carry one for flourescent lights.

It's a great idea if I could get it to work, it was nice opening the door and having the light come on, or driving in the garage and having the place light up bright as opposed to the opener light.

The switches come with different degrees of sensor...I tried the 180 degree unit since the switch was on the same wall as the door. The one I used had an adjustable "off" time of I think 12 seconds to 30 minutes...but where it was exactly was trial and error since the adjustment was just a plastic screw.

If you find another brand besides Cooper I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Jim

 

[Ken Greene]

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/GE-S.../sem/rpsm/oid/80320/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

 

[dodgecharger-fan]

I use lots of x10 stuff in my house. i haven't done the garage yet, but I plan to.

www.x10.com

I'd replace the switch with a module and then mount a motion sensor in just the right place. Set the motion sensor to the same address as the switch and there ya go.

I had an unfinished basement in my old house with just bare bulbs with pull chains. I got real tired of having to walk all the way into a dark room to turn on the light. So, I put in a couple of socket modules and motion sensors and never pulled the chain again.

The modules can be set to turn off after a certain amount of time.

There's always a sale at the web site, but it may be worth a search through eBay for just the starter kit.

Radio Shack sold the same stuff under a house brand and I've seen professional quality stuff as well.

 

[Wile1Coyote]

A different option luke is to change the switch to one that acts as a night light when it is in the off position, makes it much easier to find. I'm with ya though, I got the incandescent screw in motion detector from smarthome and it works just as advertised. Which means it really doesn't work that well, you have to get too close to it to get the light to come on so it really isn't worth even bothering with. Would be perfect for a closet or utility room but it just doesn't have the range for a garage. At this point I think an Exterior motion light is your best bet.

 

[Baketech]

I have a lot of lighting in my garage, so I don't want to fire that up with the motion every time I step out there...ended up mounting a standard exterior type fixture to the brackets for the opener motor drive. Made a pigtail to plug it right into the same outlet as the opener. Inexpensive, and quick to install.

The fixture has two 60 watt bulbs in it, which is enough light to make it into the fridge for beer and pop without cycling all the bright flourescents...

 

[Roadster]

Basically I want my overhead lights to come on when I go into the garage. I'm tired of fumbling for the light switch in the dark. I know I could just get a night light or even a small motion sensor light, but I don't want that. I figure I might as well light the place up like a christmas tree right off the bat.

How cool would it be to walk into your garage and it automatically lights up for you?

Anyone have any ideas where to find something like this?

Leviton makes a great commercial product called the Decora Wall Switch Occupancy Sensor (ODS15-ID)...

http://www.levitonhelpdesk.com/cata...screen=productdisplay&ProductNumber=ODS15-IDA

I have 6 X 160W fluorescent light units in my garage, and I needed the commercial unit (1800W) in order to handle the amperage requirements for my lights. Residential units would simply burn up under that much current draw. I ordered it direct from the Levitron website, and it cost about $75.

 

[Luckydevil]

Roadster- how do you like it so far? any problems with it?

 

[Roadster]

Roadster- how do you like it so far? any problems with it?

I like it. No problems. It turns on when I go out into the garage from the kitchen or when I open the doors and drive in. It also goes out when I'm back in the house. If I just pop out for a few seconds to take out the trash, it goes out pretty quickly after I come back in. I'm very pleased with the installation.

 

[my58]

I have the Leviton in my garage the problem I have is if I am under the car for a while the sensor does not pick me up and the lights go out. Its not a biggie, you just toss something out from under the car and the lights go on. It just freaks you out if not prepared for darkness. The first time it happend I was welding the frame on a car and when I flipped my mask up it was still dark - kinda scary - thought my eyes were going bad.

 

[Kevin54]

I have a neon clock in my garage and a neon "Service" sign in the house garage. Makes for a cool light at night and just bright enough to make your way around. Before that I had a string of white Christmas lights around the upper perimeter. I'm the type that in the summer the doors are always open and we are always out in the yard so the faint lighting gives a nice glow. Besides that...not to many people like to break in when there is some type of light on.

Kevin

 

[Roadster]

I have the Leviton in my garage the problem I have is if I am under the car for a while the sensor does not pick me up and the lights go out. Its not a biggie, you just toss something out from under the car and the lights go on. It just freaks you out if not prepared for darkness. The first time it happend I was welding the frame on a car and when I flipped my mask up it was still dark - kinda scary - thought my eyes were going bad.

Yeah, that can be a problem, especially if you don't anticipate it. However, you can always override the timer by just pushing the button "on" before you go underneath the car, and then pushing it "off" when you go back in the house, just like a normal light switch.