Thoughts on motion sensing light switches

[danehoy]

This has become one of my favorite adds to the garage. When I walk in to the garage with an armful of trash or recyclables, when I pull in at night, or when I have dirty hands, this thing is there. It is just nice to see my bright garage neatly arranged when I pull in--it is like an extra few seconds of being home versus feeling like I am still trying to get home. Best of all, my wife cannot leave the damn lights on all night (one of the original reasons I was willing to plop down $$ to buy it)

Of course for safety, I put these in because as an adolescent, I had a bad habit of entering other people's garages. Nothing would scare me as much as bright light. Now, I am becoming a little obsessed, and may need a voice of reason. I want to add a second motion sensor on the opposite side of the garage to give overlapping fields of "fire." Is that going over-board? I am not sure yet.

This definitely is not for every garage, as I am sure it will have limits on distance for those working in a far corner. I also did not see a great range of color, which means it might be a sore thumb sticking out on the wall. Combined with the timer for my outdoor lights though, this has led to greater convenience and energy savings.

 

[Aceman]

Check out Wattstopper's site. I've had good luck with their DT-300 ceiling mount sensors combined with their BZ50 powerpacks. They have great coverage but they require some low voltage wiring, it's simple, as well as tapping into the switch leg running up to the light. Sometimes it's as easy as removing the existing switch, wirenutting it straight through, and putting a blank cover over it. Then mounting the powerpack to the first switched fixture. Mount the ceiling sensor(s) in the best spot for coverage and then run a small 3 wire cable back to powerpack. It's really very simple.

Their wall switch sensors, I don't remember the part # off hand, seemed to work well also as long as you adhere to their instructions and use them in their specified range. I'd recommend the dual sensing type(infrared and ultrasonic). The dual sensing type requires a neutral though, so you'll need to make sure your switchbox has one. But, if your garage is too large or has a lot of obstacles you may need to use the ceiling mount type.

I know the wall switch sensors were around $95 and the DT-300 plus the BZ50 powerpack were around $160 combined. FYI, Wattstopper or any other manufacturer I looked into didn't seem to offer a 3 way wall sensor switch, only single pole.