Any way to improve a floodlight's PIR range?

Question

I've fixed a 500w floodlight to the wall of my house. Unfortunately the effective range of the PIR movement sensor is not quite enough. Its effective range seems to be about 7 metres and I need it to be at least

10M. Is there anyway I can increase the range of the sensor?

TIA

D. Dalton

John Rumm · Accepted Answer

Stick another standalone PIR sensor further away from the light to cover the currently uncovered area.

Andrew Gabriel · Answer

sort of light combined with a PIR is a compromise, because theideal light height is completely different from the ideal PIR height.If the PIR can be angled separately from the light, you could tryangling the PIR up, but you will probably lose nearby coverage.Ideally, the PIR wants to be much lower than a 500W floodlamp,something like 8-10 feet for the PIR, 30 feet for the 500W floodlamp.500W floodlamps are almost always incorrectly installed much too low downon homes, where what should have been used are several much lower powerlights. If you use a floodlamp, it should be angled to prevent any lightbeing emitted horizontally or upwards, i.e. always pointing down.Ideally, the mounting height should be about the same as the intendedbeam spread, but certainly no less than half this. Don't allow light tospill on to someone else's land or property without their permission.Don't allow light to spill onto a public path/roadway without ensuringthere's no glare, i.e. the light bulb itself...

NT · Answer

+1That sounds like a good start for an outdor lighting article on thewiki. Fancy putting it on there?NT

DerbyBoy · Answer

500W floodlamps are almost always incorrectly installed much too low downon homes, where what should have been used are several much lower powerlights. If you use a floodlamp, it should be angled to prevent any lightbeing emitted horizontally or upwards, i.e. always pointing down.Ideally, the mounting height should be about the same as the intendedbeam spread, but certainly no less than half this. Don't allow light tospill on to someone else's land or property without their permission.Don't allow light to spill onto a public path/roadway without ensuringthere's no glare, i.e. the light bulb itself can't be seen by users ofthe path/road, and the lighting level isn't too high, either of whichcould temporarily destroy the road users' night vision.

Dave Liquorice · Answer

There is a farm the other side of the valley that has a couple of high pressure sodium (or something) lights that send enough light in our direction to read by! This farm is 3/4 of a mile away and 260' lower.

Andrew Gabriel · Answer

Yes, I should have some time later in the week.

Tim Lamb · Answer

In message , Andrew Gabriel  writesLow mounting has already been mentioned but a serious fault of the standard *close coupled* low wattage fitting is that the PIR unit swivel adjustment is quite limited. If the lamp is angled down to restrict the light spread, the PIR cannot be raised enough to give the expected range.150 Watts is adequate to illuminate a 20m x 20m yard.Installers should consider boiler flues and wind blown vegetation as well as returning after dark to check the operation.regards

Lyndsay Williams · Answer

Not sure if will work with PIRs, but I needed to change the directionand range of some thermopiles. I used aluminium foil as a reflector.Lyndsay

NT · Answer

the lenses work on PIRs, it might reduce the range.NT

Ian · Answer

Put the PIR assembly near the target area, use the PIR to control a relay which will allow the actual lamps to be as far away as you like.

D. Dalton · Answer

"Ian"  wrote innews:                 I think that might be my best option - thanks... (if I can figure out how to do it). What would probably be most suitable would be a battery-powered PIR sensor to that sends a wireless signal to the floodlight's switching device. That's because it's not very practical to have wires going to the PIR, if I place it close to the target area.I have not been able to locate such an item, but I'll keep looking...DD

Any way to improve a floodlight's PIR range?

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