Front garden lights advice please

[5teves]

My electrian and me are still debating to go with built in pir of seperate pir sensor.

He prefers a built in sensor and im not sure and i want to lights to come on at the same time.

Can you recommend a exrernal sensor to use?

Also, he still advises for two seperate siwtch I'd need two seperate pir sensors

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Also, he still advises for two seperate siwtch I'd need two seperate pir sensors

I still say that Smart Switches and Smart PIR will give you the best of all options, with manual control. Further more, if you don't like the way it works, you can instantly adapt it via your phone running Alexa. It is endlessly versatile.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Thankyou so much to you all, lots of helpfull advice, and much appreciated.

However, you don't seem to have read it all.

Also is there a way altenative way to wire a dusk till dawn sensor so that it only starts to work when its switched on?

In other words: Is there a way of switching it off?

See above.

 

[5teves]

However, you don't seem to have read it all.


In other words: Is there a way of switching it off?

See above.

Hi,

I have read it all albeit i may have not understood it all. I'm not a qualified electrician hence please do make some allowances.

I appreciate your help and advice

 

[endecotp]

he still advises for two seperate siwtch I'd need two seperate pir sensors

Show him the circuit diagram posted above in post 8.

And/or find a smarter electrician.

 

[SUNRAY]

As others have pointed out some of my ideas are way OTT, however that was my point, and you have to decide how far to go. Back in the days before LED there was good reason for PIR and timers, but the LED uses so little power, what is saved using PIR and timers is not really worth the cost of the buying and fitting the PIR's and timers.

OK I am not pleased that a neighbour has a pair of lights running all night so I can't watch the stars from my house. However as far as cost goes, switching the lights off saves so little, and PIR's and timers don't last for ever, so money wise a simple plug in time clock is likely the best idea.

But although I know that, my outside light is controlled by a smart socket. I know it does not make sense, but I have still done it.

An office block i worked in had ladies and gents on each floor in the lift lobby, they went through a big energy monitoring phase and realised the lights were turned on by the first person in the morning and off by the cleaners in the evening, so something like 12 hours a day. each toilet had 4 CFLs: in an airlock lobby, over the basins and over each trap.

I've thrown away the book with details so can't quote exactly but for each toilet 3 or 4 PIR's were added, something like 2W each =6Wx168hrs/week = 1000Wh/week
the lights were on for a good deal of the day, lets say half the time or 30 hrs average per week of 4 lights@7W = 840Wh/week
total 1800Wh/week

As opposed to 5dx12hx4x7W = 1680Wh/week or an increase of 14%.

I remember the increase of consumption to be greater than this but without the records I can't quote accurately.

 

[SUNRAY]

As Rocky said:

View attachment 214399

Or you could just use two-way switches if you don't need the permanently off option.

I'd also add a 3pole isolator switch for the PIR.

 

[5teves]

Thankyou, I'll show the diagram and see what he says.

So just to confirm, this set up will

Allow two seprate light circuits on two seperate switches to be to turned on all together on one pir sensor. (I'll have to turn both switches on at the switch)

And should i wish to turn off one circuit whilst keeping the second curcuit on, I'll need to do switch the it off at the switch.

 

[endecotp]

The circuit shown has a three-position switch where each light can be ON, OFF or AUTO.

Your electrician has probably never used a three-position switch. He will probably put in a two-way switch. In that case, you can have ON/AUTO, or AUTO/OFF, with small modifications to the circuit.

 

[5teves]

The circuit shown has a

The circuit shown has a three-position switch where each light can be ON, OFF or AUTO.

Your electrician has probably never used a three-position switch. He will probably put in a two-way switch. In that case, you can have ON/AUTO, or AUTO/OFF, with small modifications to the circuit.

I think the auto/off sounds ok if he was to use the two way switch, with the assumption that switching on and off multiple times will cause the lights to stay permanently on?

 

[endecotp]

with the assumption that switching on and off multiple times will cause the lights to stay permanently on?

No, it won’t do that.