Switch for outdoor light

[Ivan Vegvary]

I have an outdoor pole light (probably sodium vapor) adjacent to my shop. The light gets its power from my house (switch in living room). Switch and light are 120 ft. ± apart. Underground wire from switch to pole light is broken (dug it up and found the break). I don't want to lay new cable from house to shop because of the many slabs under which I would have to go. So, I would like to power it and switch it from the shop (only 12 inches from the pole) but still be able to turn it on/off from the house. Are there any remote control devices that will work 120 feet away? Seems like that would be a lot cheaper than trenching and paying for 120 feet of 3 wire burial cable.

Thanks for all info,

Ivan Vegvary

[gfretwell]

X-10 will do it pretty easy. You put the X-10 module in the feed to the light and a controller at the house.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Why switch? Turn the switch in "ON" position all the time and install light sensor switch in series at the post end. Another option may be wireless device(TX & RX)

[Mike Paulsen]

If you found the break, check with the electrical inspector / code office to see if you can splice it. Something like:

"UF splice kit" should be a good search term to learn more.

[Mark Lloyd]

X-10 MIGHT work. Line noise and the lack of error-checking means it could be very annoying.

BTW, X-10 seems to work fine on one side (power leg) of my house. On the other side, there's a lot of false operation.

[Steve Barker]

What you need to do is repair your broken yard wire. THEN using the house end as the feeder, use the two existing wires as travelers , and pick up the neutral from the shop. You don't need the third wire between the switches. This is typically called a 'california three way' switch setup. It may or may not satisfy the code ninnys but it works just fine.