Recommendations for dusk to dawn lights

[newbury]

I'm wanting to put some "dusk to dawn" lights in my porch lights because I can't train my 25 yr old to turn the lights off in the morning and it bugs me. I know it's not cost effective versus just burning the CFL's 24/7.

Anyways HD has Philips 60W Equivalent Soft White (2700K) Spiral Dusk till Dawn CFL Light Bulb-405852 at The Home Depot.

Anybody have recommendations for other candidates?

 

[kevinwak]

I have used a photocell from Home Depot. About $20 and it wires into the circuit just ahead if the lights like a switch. A neutral. A black hot in and a red hot out. It mounted on an electrical box near the soffit.
I also have a wifi controlled light switch on my garage soffit lights, since on these it was easier to just change the switch than to wire in the photocell. With this the lights now have an iphone app that I can program the lights with. They now come on at dusk and go out at 10:30 pm. Then in the morning the come on at 5:30 and off again at 5:50 to catch the time that I am leaving for work. That switch was $49 at best buy.

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

I just replaced the switch for my outside lights with one of these...
Electronic In-Wall Timers
no need for wiring up a photocell... you program it for time, date, and how far from the equator you are and it automatically turns lights on & off based on dusk & dawn for the particular time of year.
Or you can set an off time if you don't want the lights on all night.
My lights always come on automatically, and go off at 1 AM if no one turns them off manually before then.
It even changes time for savings time... but it was made 10 years ago so it does that on the old schedule.
I've had this one installed for 10 years, still working fine. Can't remember exactly, but I suspect around $40 back then.

Pete

 

[woodlandfarms]

I went with Photocell as well. Also, we are swtiching out from CFL and to LED. You might find some good LED Outdoor lights (I did) on ebay in the 27 watt category for $25 or so.

Nothing I hate more with wall timers than A- Loosing Power - B Time changes - C it getting lighter or darker than programmed.

I assume that Photocell switches have some sort of power consumption...

 

[George2615]

I use the motion detect two bulb flood lights. They only work at night when motion is detected and automatically shut off after one minute of no movement. I have one at the front entrance to the house and one on each above my two garage doors. Bought them at Home Depot years ago. I think I've only had to replace two of the six flood lights in many years. they have adjustable sensitivity and time delay for how long they stay on.

 

[zzvyb6]

What do you need to explain to a 25 y.o. with two black eyes ?

Nothing.


You've already explained it twice.

 

[Looking4new]

My 46 year old is the same way. I pay the hydro bills and he leaves every light on that he possibly can.
You might try Par 38 LED bulbs on motion sensors. That is what I have switched to and they do throw a lot of light and don't suck much power.

 

[westcliffe01]

To the OP, Philips makes good quality CFL's but the only snag you will run into is that they can have problems starting in cold weather. CFL's seem better suited as indoor lighting. I don't know if they did anything special to the bulbs in question, since it seems that they are designed for outside use ?

Having said that, LED's are better suited to the job. They do not have cold weather issues, they light up right away and they have the best life in turns of hours on that I am aware of. Bit more expensive, bit weaker for a given size, but for any application where they will be lit for a long time, I would say they are the best solution. I would also use them for motion sense applications since they produce much less heat than incandescents and have a fast on time and the actual motion sensor would have less interference from the bulbs themselves which is a common problem.

 

[Looking4new]

CFL's have Mercury in them, that is why I went with LED's and the LED's suck less power.

 

[newbury]

Many of you seem to have plenty of money for LED's. The better prices I've seen for LED's are now about $10 for a 60Watt equivalent. CFL's < $1.50.

A LED might last 25,000 hours and consumes 12.5 watts.hr. A CFL 8,000 hours and 15 watts. Burning the light 8 hours/day that's over 3,000 days for the LED and 1,000 days for the CFL. I don't plan on lasting in this house for 10 years. With the rapid price drop of LED's and the small difference in energy consumption it seems CFL's are the "sweet" spot now.

As LED's drop further in price the equation will change but for easy to change bulbs CFL's win hands down for me now.