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I have been trying for a while now to figure out a wall-mounted outdoor
light that looks the way I want it to look, and that does what I want it to do. And, since I cannot seem to find the light that has all the features that I want (and don't want), I have an idea of how I may be able to configure something that will work. Here what I want and don't want: I want a wall-mounted outdoor light looks okay as a front porch light and that is not a flood light type of light. It will be the outdoor front porch light above the door on a two-unit apartment building that I rent out. I want the tenants to be able to turn the light on or off as they choose, but if it is turned on or left turned on, I want it to be a dusk-to-dawn light that will go on at dusk and off at dawn. But, if it is turned off, or left turned off, I want it to work as a motion sensor light that will automatically come on if someone approaches the front door when it is dark out. I know there are wall-mounted outdoor lights that are supposed have these features, but all of them that I have found so far that combine the dusk-to-dawn feature with a motion sensing feature are "programmed" lights -- which means for the occupants to turn these features on and off, they have to do some gyrations like flip the switch off for 1 second and then back on, etc. It's too complicated and no one can figure out what the settings on the light really are. That might work in a house that I own and live in myself because I can eventually learn how to use it and make sure I set it the way I want it. But, with a house occupied by others, that won't work. Here's my idea about how I may be able to get what I want and I am wondering if this will work: 1) I buy a light that looks the way that I want it to look and that is just a dusk-to-dawn light without the motion sensing feature. I've seen an inexpensive one at Lowes and/or Home Depot that is wall-mounted, that is strictly dusk-to-dawn with no motion sensing features, and which uses a plug-in type fluorescent bulb that will last a long time, uses much less electricity, and the bulb is not compatible with indoor lights so tenants won't have a tendency to steal the outside bulb to put in one of their indoor lights when their inside light bulb goes out. With this light, when the switch is on, the light is on, and when the switch is off, the light is off -- except that with the switch on, the light will only operate from dusk to dawn, so the light will not be on all day long and look stupid. 2) I buy a motion sensor and wire it so that it is connected across the same switch that controls the dusk-to-dawn light. So, when the light switch is on, the light will be on (from dusk to dawn) and the motion sensor will have no impact on the circuit because the switch circuit is already closed. But, when the switch is off, and the switch circuit is open, if someone walks by the motion sensor it will close the circuit and the light will come on (as long as it is dark outside due to the dusk-to-dawn feature of the light itself). Will this work? I don't really know how a motion sensor device is wired and whether it can be wired to be in parallel with the light switch so that EITHER the light switch OR the motion sensor will close the circuit to make the light come on. But, it seems like it would work as far as I can tell. |
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