Chat & Social > The Bar - General Chat
Automatic home lighting?
Evilgoat:
Buy it someplace else then :)
Security PIRs are probobly up to the job with a bit of electrickery. You should be able to do it with a 12v power supply and a realy easy enouhg for the quick and dirty option.
Some places at the uni had them and I have to say I found after a while they didnt actually work that well, when you were sat at the desk in the room they wernt sensitive enough to keep the light on. %5 mins after you sat down. off they went
ChrisW:
To be honest, you're wasting your time looking at PIR's, unless you are walking across a room constantly they will not be sensitive enough to keep lights on while you are in a room.
Microwave or ultrasonic presence sensors are what you need. At work we usually specify these people, there are others on the market too.
Ex-or's silver or goldspot detector is the one we normally use in most applications. Set up correctly, these will keep the lights on whilst someone is sitting at a desk with just a slight hand movement being detected.
The other option could be wiring the lights via a timeclock arrangement with a PIR sensor such that if the sensor detects movement i.e. you coming home through the front door then it initiates control of the lighting via the time schedule. You'd probably just need a push to make button somewhere convenient then to act as a run-on signal if you're stopping up late or something.
Why not just buy a load of 13A plug-in timers and light the house by table lamps? :lol:
ChrisW:
Forgot to mention, high efficiency fluorescent lamp control gear does not use more electricity being switched on and off lots of times either, sorry - old (or new?) wives tale!
jeepmadmike:
PIR sensors which replace your normal light switches (fit on the same screws) are available and relitively cheap
thermidorthelobster:
The Maplins ones have a built-in timer so it won't turn the light off the second you stop moving. I think it's user-configurable. The ones we used to have at work seemed to be PIR, but NEVER turned the lights off unnecessarily, no matter how still you were.
According to the blurb they are also light-sensitive. I'm hoping this means that they don't bother turning on if there's already enough light, although the description isn't really that clear on this. I think I'll get hold of one and try.
Our local Maplins (Farnborough) hasn't turned to the dark side just yet, as far as I can tell.
The LightSpot ones don't seem to be available in a format that I could use to replace the existing stuff without rewiring.
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