DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Sep 8, 7:01 am, Smitty wrote:
In article
,





wrote:
My dad asked me to replace the light next to his front door with a
motion sensing unit. He bought a stock fixture from HD with the sensor
built into the fixture. There is no way to aim the sensor, it just
points straight out from the front of the fixture.

The instructions say that the sensor will work better if the "heat
source" moves across the coverage area as opposed to straight towards
it. They sure got that right!

The approach to their front door is straight up a ~40' walkway from
the sidewalk. Even set at the highest sensitivity, which should allow
for a ~30' range, the light doesn't come on until the person is right
at the stoop, ready to lift their leg onto the first step.

However, if you walk across the yard the light will come on anywhere
in the 5' to 30'+ range. In fact, 1 out 3 cars going down the street
activate the light.

Unfortunately, "across the coverage area" is not how they (or anyone
else) would approach their front door.

What kind of fixture/sensor does he need so that it will pick up
people walking straight towards it?

BTW, it's an old brick house with a shallow box for the fixture cut
into the brick. A one-for-one swap is easy, but mounting a separate
sensor someplace else and running wires back to the fixture would be a
pain. I'd really prefer something built into the fixture if possible.

Thanks!

You could use an emitter / detector across the path. Or, put a big pile
of gravel in the middle of the walkway, with a detour sign that directs
people to walk sideways for several steps to get around it.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"You could use an emitter / detector across the path"

Did you miss the part where I said:

"...mounting a separate sensor someplace else and running wires back
to the fixture would be a pain. I'd really prefer something built
into the fixture..."


I wanted to keep the existing fixture so I mounted a sensor about 3 feet
to the side of the light and ran the wires between the joists. Since I
was going to have to add a waterproof box I decided to add a outlet as
well for the Xmas lights.

It works as intended, lights come on as soon as you step out of the door
or approach the entrance from the driveway.

The sensor is similar to the floodlight type with over 180 deg coverage.