Motion Activated Exterior Lighting Provides
Safety, Security and Convenience
By Mark J. Donovan
Recently I replaced my home’s
exterior lights with new motion activated exterior lighting. Motion activated
exterior lights look exactly like traditional exterior lights, except they come
with motion sensors and control switches to program their sensitivity and use.
Motion activated exterior lights are available in a plethora of styles and
finishes so there is virtually no limitation in choices.
Motion activated exterior lights are
installed the same way as traditional exterior lights.
They have three wires that are
designed to tie into your existing home’s wiring. The wires include a black
wire (hot), a white wire (neutral), and a green or bare copper wire
(ground).
Installing Motion Activated
Exterior Lights
To install a motion activated
exterior light first turn power off to the existing exterior light at the
main circuit breaker panel.
Photo by Mark Donovan
Next remove the old exterior light.
Usually there are 1 or 2 small decorative nuts that need to be unscrewed on the
light fixture faceplate to remove the light.
After removing the decorative nuts,
slowly pull the light fixture away from the house siding to reveal the
electrical wires. Unscrew the wire nuts that hold the black and white wires
together and disconnect the green or bare copper ground wire from the light
bracket. With all of the wires disconnected you should be able to remove the old
light fixture from the house.
Now replace the old bracket assembly
that is attached to the electrical box with the new one that came with your
motion activated exterior light. Sometimes when installing a new bracket you
might need to be a little creative. For example, you may need to use longer
screws with the bracket assembly depending upon how deep the electrical box sits
back into the wall. Other times you may need to adjust the screws that are
associated with supporting the light fixture itself.
Next use the wire nuts to marry up
the house electrical wires with the new light fixture wires. Make sure to first
twist the black wires together using a wire nut. Next, repeat the process for
the white wires. Finally twist the ground wires together using a wire nut
(greeny) or a copper crimp, before attaching one of the copper wire ends to the
metal bracket. Normally there is a small green screw on the bracket for
attaching the ground wire to.
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After wiring up the motion activated
exterior light you can then fasten it onto the mounting bracket. Usually there
is a single threaded tube or two screws on the mounting bracket that you have to
mount the light fixture onto.
Once the light fixture is properly
positioned onto the threaded tube or screws, attach the decorative nuts to hold
the light fixture in place.
With the motion activated light
fixture installed, turn power back on to the light fixture at the main circuit
breaker panel.
After restoring power to the light
fixture you can then test and adjust the functionality of the motion activated
exterior light. Typically there are three switches that you need to adjust.
The first switch is associated with
the sensitivity level of the motion sensor. For example, you can adjust this switch so that
the light does not turn on with the movement of a small animal, unless of course
you want it to.
Photos by Mark Donovan
The second switch is associated with
the length of time the light stays on after it has been activated. Depending
upon the particular motion activated exterior light model, the length of time
the light is lit can vary from 1-20 minutes.
The last switch is the security mode
switch. With this switch you can either set the light to always be on from dusk
to dawn, or so that it is only activated when it senses motion.
Usually it takes a few evenings of
trial and error to adjust the switches to your preferred settings, however once
set, the light should be hands free operational.
So if your exterior lights are
looking old and shabby and you are contemplating replacing them, consider motion
activated exterior lights. They provide a level of safety and security, as well
as convenience that is unmatched with older exterior lights.
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Motion Activated Exterior Lights
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