Shop Light

Dec 26, 2021 Last reply: 4 years ago 40 Replies

"Convenience" isn't the only thing to consider. For my garage door opener, I like the "convenience" of the light coming on automatically. The same for the walkways around my house and in my shed.

However, I also have 3 sets of switched lights in the garage which are used - individually or in groups - depending on what I am doing.

For my bathroom, bedroom, hallways, etc., I only want the lights to come on when I want them to be on. Sometimes I want the bathroom light on full. Sometimes the nightlight casts enough light for me to do what I need to do. Dimmers provide a multitude of levels in between on and off.

Sometimes I just want a little light in the bedrooms, sometimes I want a lot. Dimmers conveniently provide that option.

Feel free to automate your lighting to your heart's content. For some of us the "convenience" you seem to be pushing doesn't fit our lifestyle. For the little bit of "work" it takes to turn a light on or adjust a dimmer, I get exactly what I want, when I want it.

I still hear my dad. "Turn that damn light off" after more than half a century.

It could have been a motion sensor that was poorly configured. I've installed many motion sensors, interior and exterior, all that have timers. Typically something like

2 minutes, 4 minutes, 10 minutes.

The only time I've seen motion sensors act like the one in that bathroom is when they are in test mode, typically used at install so that they can be aimed even in full daylight.

I doubt it was a poorly sited (sic) occupancy sensor because it didn't matter where in the bathroom you were. 20 (maybe 30) seconds after coming on, it turned off.

When we lived in Europe most common area lights were on motion detectors. Electricity was about 30 cents a kWhr.

Where i worked until recently a very large number of the buildings had motion detector lights. In most buildings they save energy; in a large admin building that got a security check every hour the whole building would light up so probably not.

The electricians hated them because they made trouble shooting so hard. Is it the bulb, the switch, the ballast, the breaker, oh wait, there's a motion detector tied to the breaker, etc. And we got some unreliable batches of motion sensors that resulted in a lot of them being jumped out.

Marilyn Manson snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote

Sure, but some of that can be done with more than one motion sensor and what cant with a voice assistant.

Rather silly having to always use switches all the time in that situation.

I realise that you only sometimes need to rebuild your makeup from scratch.

With the best systems like the Philips Hue system, most of that can be programmed if the different levels are required have a pattern in them like dimmer when watching TV etc. And even with the ones that aren't that predictable, it makes more sense to have the lights done automatically with a separate override for the less common configs, done with alexa or google voice assistants rather than a physical switch you have to get up and go to to change the lights.

Yeah, I realise that again sometimes your makeup needs a complete rebuild from scratch after yet another illegal drug binge and that bad hangovers and your migraines are a hell of a problem for you at times.

But again, it makes much more sense to use a decent system which allows for some configured scenes which you tell the voice assistant to use when you need that config than to fart around with physical dimmers and switches all the time any light needs to be changed.

I am.

I'm not pushing anything, troll boy.

See above.

Stupid to do that all the time, much better to only do that when you are doing something unusual.

That was a motion detector not an occupancy sensor or it was poorly sited

With the exception of one flood in the back yard all of our motion activated lights are just enough to see your way around with. We like soft light too, usually indirect lighting. I have task lighting where I need it.

On Mon, 27 Dec 2021 11:42:18 -0800 (PST), Marilyn Manson

We have rope light under the toe kicks and under a counter edge near the toilet.

My adoption of motion light was not an old age thing, quite the opposite. Our daughter (6) didn't understand "off" and she left a trail of light everywhere she went. She and her Mom were using the fridge as a night light and someone forgot to close it a few times. That was my first motion light. It grew from there. That was 36 years ago. Now I am frustrated when I go somewhere and the lights don't come on when I walk in.

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote

Because you two are so obscenely ugly that the last thing you need is to see yourselves with no pants on. Could die laughing in your case.

You have no idea what my garage looks like nor do you know how I use it. As usual, you're spewing bullshit about that which you have no knowledge.

Bullshit.

lkpo's Posting Rule #1: "When my own argument is so stupid that I even I realize it, say something really asinine in an attempt to divert."

I'm already up, idiot. I don't need to talk to my lights while I'm on my way to take a leak.

lkpo's Posting Rule #2: "When I think I've said something so clever that I've peed myself while giggling, expand on it. Say the same thing again, but add something to make sure I sound even more like an idiot.

Your use of exaggeration is noted. Do you sell Pocket Hoses for a living?

Bullshit.

"Unusual" is when you make a comment worth considering.

Oh, good. Now we're being subjected to grade school humor. Wonderful.

Marilyn Manson snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote

Don?t need to know either, I said SOME for a reason, f****it.

And what is or is not sensible in your garage is irrelevant to what makes sense in the house.

<reams of your trollshit flushed where it belongs>

See, there you go again, spewing s*it that you know nothing about.

There are things in my garage that have direct connection to, and relationship with, things in my house. My garage is essentially an extension of my house, so here's another case of you not having a clue.

It's almost unbelievable how f****ng stupid you are. What makes it believable is that you keep proving it.

Yep...your standard MO. When you can't fight back, you delete.

How often did you get your ass kicked in high school, assuming you actually went to school? You probably stayed home just to keep the ass kickings to a minimum.

Go away. Your crap is getting tiresome. You barely put up a decent fight anymore.

These days with the LEDs I am not sure that is all that important but I still like the lights coming on as I walk around at night. It also makes it a little tougher for a burglar. I can see them, they can't see me. (no motion lights in the bedroom)

[snip]

I have one of those and like it. It replaces a regular switch (although it does take a larger box) and has 7 buttons. On for 5, 10, or 30 minutes or 1, 2, or 4 hours. The seventh button keeps it on.

I

and I hear my mother yelling "FLUSH IT!!!!".

[snip]

Talking is something I should not do during the night. it makes it harder to get back to sleep. I've never had the problem of "middle insomnia" and don't want to start. Pushing a button (for light) is much less of a disturbance than ASKING for light.

I suppose if I wanted to automate it, I could put a mat switch on the floor where my feet touch when I get up (and hope the cat doesn't use it as a launch pad).

[snip]
[snip]

I have a LED nightlight in the bathroom (and Lilly's lights* in the hall) but never in the bedroom. I want it to be dark in there.

BTW, the LED nightlight is multicolor. It comes on write but pressing a button changes the color. I like green, which provides another benefit. I can thee if power has gone out recently, since when it comes back on it has "forgotten" what color to be and comes on white.

  • named after a little cat that often slept there.

We have a multicolor LED nightlight in a hallway. It fades in and out, cycling through 4 different colors every 3 minutes or so. SWMBO likes it so I let it be.

The flashing clocks on the range and night stand clue me in to power outages. ;-)

I have some puck lights that I installed in a display nook probably 30 years ago. I think they are halogen. They have a touch pad which cycles through 3 levels of light then off. Whenever the power comes back on, the lights glow at the lowest setting. Unfortunately, the nook is in a guest bedroom, out of view of the door, so it's no good as a post-power-outage indicator. On more than a few occasions, those lights have glowed for several days before we noticed that they were on. ;-)

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required