Attractive, high CRI, controllable motion flood light

akatsuki

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
21
So our insurance company requires us to have flood lights on each side of the house for security.

Fine.

But it means every time I go outside, I get blasted with harsh light regardless. What I'd like to do is find a flood light system that uses high quality LEDs with high CRI and that I can control. Ideally "On" puts it at a manageable light level; "Motion" blasts light at motion and "Off".

I suspect it will be using a separate bulb system instead one of the many integrated solutions on Amazon, but I would love suggestions of any sort.

Cheers!
 

kingofwylietx

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
446
Location
DFW, TX
While it would require more extensive wiring, I would use a 2-fixture solution on each side. One would be for general lighting and provide a nice amount of useful (and high CRI) light. The second fixture would be motion activated and it would blast an intense number of photons. I'd probably mount the motion light higher, out of the way...keeping the nicer ambient light where it would be most beneficial.

That is my thought, having just read your post.
 

N8N

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 26, 2013
Messages
1,241
While it would require more extensive wiring, I would use a 2-fixture solution on each side. One would be for general lighting and provide a nice amount of useful (and high CRI) light. The second fixture would be motion activated and it would blast an intense number of photons. I'd probably mount the motion light higher, out of the way...keeping the nicer ambient light where it would be most beneficial.

That is my thought, having just read your post.

And to make it work transparently, my first thought is to wire it up with a SPDT, center off toggle switch - one hot wire goes to the "I'm outside and want nice light" lighting, one hot wire goes to the motion sensor. This would work even if you end up using the same light for security and for outdoor lighting when you are actually outdoors, the one hot wire would just connect to the light directly; the other would go to the motion sensor and then the output of the motion sensor would also go to the light. That way if you manually turn on the light you disable the motion sensor light. Center off allows you to turn off completely for relamping, stargazing, etc. You'd wire this up with 14/3 or 12/3 rather than the usual 14/2 or 12/2.

Difficulty: I was going to try to find an example of a switch as I describe, and all the ones I'm finding appear to be fairly expensive.

Edit: Leviton 1285 is an example of what I was thinking of

https://www.leviton.com/en/products/1285

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton...ed-Contact-Toggle-Switch-Brown-1285/301447060
 
Last edited:

Hooked on Fenix

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
3,076
Do they have to be wired? If not, I'd save some money, go to Fry's (only place I've seen these so far) and get some Atomic Beam Sunblast solar motion sensor lights ($20 each) for the south side of your house (or anywhere with decent sunlight). They use COB l.e.d.s and I'd guess they put out somewhere around 200-300 lumens on high and around 50 on low. I got one and it does well at lighting up the whole side of the house and adjacent driveway. Only comes on for 30 seconds at a time though, no full time on mode.
 

light guy

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Joined
Aug 2, 2018
Messages
3
I've recently bought some security lights from four-bros.com and replaced the old fluorescent ones that I had. They were super bright and i have had them from a few months now and they're running great. Still too early to tell if they are going to last a couple of years but the lights that I bought come with a 5-year warranty.

So our insurance company requires us to have flood lights on each side of the house for security. They're 30 watt with around 2400 lumens I believe.

30W - Triple Head - LED Motion Sensor Security Light - Bronze- 5000K

Good luck!

Fine.

But it means every time I go outside, I get blasted with harsh light regardless. What I'd like to do is find a flood light system that uses high quality LEDs with high CRI and that I can control. Ideally "On" puts it at a manageable light level; "Motion" blasts light at motion and "Off".

I suspect it will be using a separate bulb system instead one of the many integrated solutions on Amazon, but I would love suggestions of any sort.

Cheers!
 
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