Battery powered security lights..??

[CluelessDIYer1]

My apologies then. I thought i'd made it clear but sorry if I hadn't.

Basically when you step to the door I want the light to come on for a few seconds, enough to get your keys & open the door.
What I don't want is for the light to come on when you're driving past the house or step on the beginning of the drive or when the old dear x-houses down the road steps out of her front door.

I'm on my phone at work right now with limited data allowance - so what is that switch? Looks colourful enough to attract kids to make them be a nuisance. seriously though, an on/off switch for exterior light on the outside? I've honestly never heard of that. Never known anyone have it. Everyone I know has either the switch on the inside or auto-lighting like motion detector.
Also I was preferring something I could do myself & not something we'd need an electrician in for. If that's the only way for something reliable then fair enough.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

what is that switch?

It's an outdoor timer switch - touch it and the light comes on for a set time (adjustable 2 mins to 2 hours, IIRC).

Looks colourful enough to attract kids to make them be a nuisance.

It has a little blue ring which glows so you can find it in the dark. Yes, kids could go up to your front door to turn the light on for a few minutes, but then they could do that if you have a PIR.

seriously though, an on/off switch for exterior light on the outside?

Why not? Makes sense to me to have a switch outside for a light outside.

Everyone I know has either the switch on the inside

Tricky when you're outside and need the light to see to get inside.

or auto-lighting like motion detector.

Prone to not working as required.

Also I was preferring something I could do myself & not something we'd need an electrician in for. If that's the only way for something reliable then fair enough.

I don't know what your skill level is.

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Well said that man! Fair points.

Thinking about it this afternoon though, i quite like the idea now

 

[333rocky333]

Led floods are fine with relay based PIRs.

What are they RF, do you mean like a remote pir rather than one integral to the fitting.
To be honest thats what i used to do with halogens due to issues with the combined pir/floods.

The led/pirs from W/F round here are nice fittings, yet the brackets are thin rubbish and the built on sensors seem poor with limited angle and appear a bit like cheap chinese tat,

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Well you wanted an update on the £10 battery one from B&Q & here it is....

It's going back so i can get refunded. Today if they're open. It wouldn't turn on at all with batteries on full charge.

 

[bernardgreen]

If you only want the light to come on so you can find the keyhole then you could do what I have done.

Ringing my door bell brings the porch lamp on for 30 seconds.

The simple way to achieve this is a relay coil parallel with the door bell and the contacts triggering a timer that over rides the switch for the porch lamp.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Not as simple, surely, as just buying a time switch?

Does your light come on in daylight when visitors ring the bell?

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

It must be annoying for people in the house at the time. It reminds me of how my dad always used to knock on the door when he came home and expect to be let in, even though he always had the key in his pocket.

(I didn't have a key, I just put my wrist though the letter box and turned the knob on the inside.)

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

It must be annoying for people in the house at the time. It reminds me of how my dad always used to knock on the door when he came home and expect to be let in, even though he always had the key in his pocket.

(I didn't have a key, I just put my wrist though the letter box and turned the knob on the inside.)

Who's that post aimed at?

 

[bernardgreen]

Does your light come on in daylight when visitors ring the bell?

No.. because it is controlled by the bespoke lighting controller which I designed for the cottage. This has a ambient light sensor which affects all the outside lamp functions.

The reason for the bespoke controller was to allow the of ELV ( 12 volt ) via miniature cables to all light switches thus avoiding the need to chase into wattle and daub walls. Once I started on the design I got a bit carried away adding extra functions.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

It must be annoying for people in the house at the time. It reminds me of how my dad always used to knock on the door when he came home and expect to be let in, even though he always had the key in his pocket.

(I didn't have a key, I just put my wrist though the letter box and turned the knob on the inside.)

Who's that post aimed at?

At Bernard who said: Ringing my door bell brings the porch lamp on for 30 seconds.

 

[bernardgreen]

It must be annoying for people in the house at the time.

Not in the least. It means I can see who is at the door.

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

It must be annoying for people in the house at the time. It reminds me of how my dad always used to knock on the door when he came home and expect to be let in, even though he always had the key in his pocket.

(I didn't have a key, I just put my wrist though the letter box and turned the knob on the inside.)

Who's that post aimed at?

At Bernard who said: Ringing my door bell brings the porch lamp on for 30 seconds.

Ahh right i get you.

Sounds like a good idea to me, but i think i'll look more into the solar powered model. See if it's reliable & hopefully not over-bright.

 

[SimonH2]

... all I really need is a light that comes on so you can see your keys & the lock on the door to put your key in. I don't need to light up the entire street.

You don't need to use a 500W floodlight !
There is a wide range of PIR lamps available, with a wide range of lamp technologies.

If you are happy with the light fitting that's already there, then just add a PIR sensor to it (separate unit, fairly simple wiring job).

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

... all I really need is a light that comes on so you can see your keys & the lock on the door to put your key in. I don't need to light up the entire street.

You don't need to use a 500W floodlight !
There is a wide range of PIR lamps available, with a wide range of lamp technologies.

If you are happy with the light fitting that's already there, then just add a PIR sensor to it (separate unit, fairly simple wiring job).

Thanks. For some reason i thought you got lights with PIRs & that was it, you couldn't make a standard light up with a PIR.

What would the wiring there entail? Would they have to start knocking off all the dashing to get to the wiring?