What kind of landscape lights should I get?
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The Intermatic switch also has a battery in it so that it saves the time and you don't have to reset after a power outage. We probably change out that battery once every five years. Depends on the cumulative duration of power outages....the battery is not rechargeable, and it's a weird size like an N, so we always have to go to HD to buy one when it dies...
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Hmm our switch is part of a three block switch. Two are outdoor lights, one is for inside the entry hall.
Wonder if those can be split some how …
Probably the question is if we need an electrician, how much it will cost. And will we need to do drywall repair…
I really want to have the outdoor lights automated for when we’re traveling… -
I'm sure it can still be done, even if it isn't a one-for-one swap of switches.
There are light fixtures that have built-in sensors, and ones that have combo light and motion sensors. The ones I've seen are at Menards and Home Depot and they can be flaky and the sensors don't seem to last very long. Plus they tend to be on the cheaper side and rust/deteriorate. If you have a nice quality porch light you may not want to swap it out, but if it's a builder grade thing you could look at replacing it entirely.
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Well, the porch light fixture and the garage fixtures match, so I'd like to keep those if I can.
I bought some bulbs that have sensors on them, I'll try them tonight and see what I think. But probably the best better is a timer inside the switch plate...
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@ShiroKuro If the sensor bulb works in the porch light, I think you might replace the switch with a timer. Then the landscape lights would turn on and off at the set times and the porch light would work at command of the sensor during those times. This would mean you only have to replace the switch. The downside is the porch light could only be activated by the sensor during the on period for the landscape lighting. You may or may not see this as a significant disadvantage.
I have a front porch light fixture that includes a sensor and I have really liked it because it lights the porch when someone approaches from outside at night. When the light was controlled only by a switch, I had no illumination when approaching the porch unless I left the switch on the entire time I was gone.
Big Al
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@Big_Al do you mean motion sensor? I got a light sensor, not motion.
I also got light sensor bulbs for the path lights, not sure if they’ll work or not though. The path is in full sun right now and it’s too hot, so I’m waiting for the sun to sink a bit first before trying it.
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@ShiroKuro said in What kind of landscape lights should I get?:
Hmm our switch is part of a three block switch. Two are outdoor lights, one is for inside the entry hall.
Wonder if those can be split some how …
Probably the question is if we need an electrician, how much it will cost. And will we need to do drywall repair…
I really want to have the outdoor lights automated for when we’re traveling…You have something like this? Or maybe not a Decora style, but still three small switches...
And will we need to do drywall repair…
As long as there is space in that area, I would think an electrician could open up the drywall carefully and put a larger box in the wall that would accommodate two regular size switches and a timer. Or two mini-switches and a timer.
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@ShiroKuro Yes, I did mean motion sensing. My front porch light and the floodlights above my garage are both motion sensing. They also sense daylight so they don.t turn on during the day. They have an override feature that keeps them on all night if you cycle the switch on-off-on so they can be forced to stay on ithrough the night but then turn off when day comes and resume their normal motion-sensing operation.
Big Al
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thanks @Big_Al
Hmm, well the light sensor bulbs didn't fit in the path lights, so that won't work...
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I have an update!!
The electrician came out. The landscape lights work, and they actually look great when on. The guy said the part that was worried about is just old and doesn’t look great but still functions so we’re leaving it as is. (Bc the alternative is probably totally disconnect and switch to solar stick lights)
So Instead of swapping out the lights that are there, we added a timer to the switch plate as per @wtg ‘s suggestion.
Yay!
I think we might actually be done with all the stuff we needed to when we closed on the house
