Switch for outdoor light

Mar 26, 2009 5 Replies

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



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.

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)

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

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

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.

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.

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