My wife bought a "security light" at Costco, to be installed above the garage door, below the eve of the roof. It's a basic model, with two bulbs, probably no more than $50. The unit looks identical to what is shown at the following URL (no ads or popups, or dancing monkeys, so feel free to click.)
Q1. I was able to run only 2 wires from the outlet, so there is no grounding wire running from outlet to the "circular plate covering the hole in the wall", as shown in the picture at the URL listed above.
Is this a complete no-no? As I asking for trouble? Or is it OK? I have some small appliances (desk fan, table lamp, etc.) that use cords with only two wire -- no grounding wire.
Also, the extension cord from outlet to the security light is only 5 feet, well insulated, and the security light is mounted well above the ground. There are no metal parts near it (garage door is an ancient, 30 year old, single panel, wood door).
Q2. When security light is activated, it suffers from flickering IF the garage door is fully open. If the garage door is closed at least 20% or so, i.e., the door panel is angled at least 20 to 30 degrees, the flickering stops (0 degree means fully open; 90 degrees mans fully closed)
This is again due to reflection from the garage door (painted white). I treat this flickering as a feature (reminding us to close the garage door), but my father thinks of this as a bug. Any suggestions to avoid flickering? (Sort of upgrading garage door to a new, sectional kind).
Thanks a lot.
Bhoot Nath