How To Turn Off An Outdoor Light’s Motion Sensor

The biggest complaint of many homeowners is that their outdoor light’s motion sensor is too sensitive – even a strong breeze is able to set it off in the middle of the night. Most manufacturers will have installed a function that enables them to turn off the sensor, whereas others will require you to completely remove it from the fixture in order to get a peaceful night’s sleep.

“Off” Switch

Step 1: Stand on a ladder to access lights that are out of your reach.

Step 2: Look for the motion sensor operation switch (it should be located below the sensor attachment). If you cannot visually find the switch, use your hand to feel around the perimeter of the light.

Step 3: Turn the switch to the “off” position. If your motion sensor doesn’t have an “on/off” function, you will need to remove the whole sensor.

Sensor Removal

Step 1: Switch off the power supply to the outdoor lights you are working on.

Step 2: Undo the sensor’s lock nut (it should be located behind the cylindrical shaft connecting the sensor to the light). Slip-joint pliers will help you to grip, twist and loosen the nut.

Step 3: Undo the wire nuts that connect the sensor to the fixture, remove the wires and take the sensor off.

After making the decision to turn your motion sensor off or to completely remove it from the offending fixture, you must keep in mind that your outdoor lights will now be manually operated. Whilst you won’t be woken up in the middle of the night due to a breeze or one of your pets, you won’t be able to see when you get home in the dark.

Can You Use Indoor Lights Outside?

Many homeowners like to decorate the outside of their homes for special occasions, like birthday parties and Christmas gatherings. More often than not, they will choose to use the fairy lights that they purchased to decorate their stair rail or to hang on their Christmas tree to do this. Are these indoor lights suitable for use outside, however? In most cases yes, providing that you take some precautions to protect them from the elements.

• Use the string lights in the covered entertaining areas of your property, like the patio and verandah. Instead of hanging them from the rafters (where they may be more exposed), consider draping them on your outdoor furniture.

• Use indoor lights to outline your home’s windows. Before doing this, however, you should check that your windows are fitted with a soffit that will shield the wiring from the elements. Adhere the wiring to the frame with staple gun.

• Use the string lights around your roof by hanging them directly below your gutters. This should provide the wiring with plenty of protection against the elements, and you should run the extension cord through a well-protected window to avoid shorting it out.

If you have accidentally purchased indoor lights for use in your outdoor decorations or you have been wondering whether the string fixtures that you hang on your Christmas tree can be used outside for a party, you can rest assured in the knowledge that this is safe. Just make sure that you follow the above tips to ensure that you are protecting the wiring from the elements.

Types of Ceiling Light that Can add Interest to Your House

Gone are those when ceiling lights were just a primary source of lighting a room. Today, the meaning of lighting house has changed as a whole. They are now a great way to set a mood, develop an attractive ambience and create a statement. Ceiling lights are available in endless and varieties and styles to fit individual choice. Some of the styles of ceiling fixtures you can find are…

Chandeliers: You can find these fixtures with five, six, eight and even more bulb fitting options. Basically they meant for living rooms and halls where you want to create a lively ambience. For smaller living rooms chandeliers with minimal light bulbs is appropriate and for larger rooms choice is all yours, either go for larger chandeliers or multiple small chandeliers.

Pendants: Pendant lights consist of single light bulb hanging from a wall through chain or designer rods. They are perfect option for bar or counters. However, they look awesome if used in living room corners to create a separate tiny and cozy seating arraignment.

Billiard lights: Billiard lights are not just for billiard boards, use them right over a dining table and create an interest. They are mainly comprised of more than two light bulbs in a row. They illuminate the table area and draw the focus all towards the table. Even when not use they look fabulous due to their design.

Flush mount: For a small bedroom flush mount is an ideal choice for perfect focal point and use as primary lighting. The major feature of this ceiling light is that they emit mild brightness and don’t stress your eyes. Apart from

How to Use Energy Saving Lights for Security Lighting

If you want to save energy and cut high electric bill for security lighting then energy saving lighting is the best option available today. These lights consume less energy, produce more brightness and reduce bill. There are various energy saving lights you can opt for, but none of them come cheaper, no matter whether you choose CFL bulbs, led bulb, or halogen bulbs. They all cost more than filament bulbs and life time is uncertain if current is fluctuating. Hence, even you are using these lights to save energy or bill, make sure you are cleaver enough to use them in the best possible way, especially when you are using it for security lighting. Here is how you can do it.

• Install overhead security lightings that are properly shielded. Shielding them will increase their brightness by concentrating the light despite of lower wattage. It will blend the brightness evenly and hence will prevent your lawn look like a stadium at night.

• Avoid using more bulbs than you actually need. Using more bulbs to gain excessive brightness will create discomfort to the eye hence will hamper visibility. Again don’t forget to get shield for the lights.

• If you want to leave your security light on overnight then install a motion sensor. This will allow bulbs to illuminate get on only when any motion is sensed and will get switched off automatically once movement stops.

• Also use timer or photovoltaic cell unit for walkway, security and porch lighting, so that lights will be turned on when it gets dark and then off automatically in the morning.

• Install security lights to the place where they can illuminate maximum area.

Using these tips, you can surely make maximum and better use of energy saving lightings.

A Guide To Choosing Table Lamps For Your Home

Believe it or not, there is actually more to choosing table lamps for your home than simply picking one out in a store and grabbing some globes on the way out; instead, you need to take into consideration how the lamp will be used and how it will match with the existing décor. Using these tips, you can ensure that you find a light that does all of the above with very little effort on your behalf:

• Where will you use the table lamp? Many lighting designers will actually create fixtures that are specific to certain locations, such as a home office or study, a living room, a bedroom or a hallway.

• How will the lamp be used? Determine whether the space requires task lighting (for reading, for example), ambient lighting (for establishing a particular mood), accent lighting (for drawing the eye to a particular element), or decorative lighting (for adding flair).

• What is the existing décor of the room like? You should allow the existing décor and furniture of the space to dictate what sort of lamp is ultimately chosen. Take elements from the room, such as material (wrought iron, glass, etc), colour (red, silver, etc), and shape (circles, squares, etc).

• How big is the table? For those that are quite wide, you should choose a light that has a larger base and for those that are narrow or small, you should choose a light with a long stem.

 

Once you have answered the above questions, you will be able to visit a lighting showroom and make an informed decision regarding the purchase of table lamps for your home. Don’t just simply grab the first lamp that you see; with some careful consideration, you could find a fixture that is more than just a light.

What Is The Difference Between Flush And Semi-Flush Ceiling Mounted Lighting?

When it comes to choosing ceiling mounted lighting, many homeowners are looking for fixtures that provide a room with adequate soft illumination; for the more directed task or accent lighting, they would instead by shopping for lamps or wall sconces. If you are looking for these particular fixtures for your home, you may be stunned at the amount of options open to you. Ceiling lighting is available in flush and semi-flush styles, but what is the difference between the two?

Flush Lighting

In this style, the fixture itself is mounted flush to the ceiling, so that there is no visible space between the fixture and the roof. Often, these fixtures look just like a globe sticking out of the roof and are often fitted with a shade. They are commonly found in bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms and any other space you can think of.

Semi-Flush Lighting

In this style, the fixtures generally hang around 4 to 8 inches below the surface of the ceiling. They are often said to resemble a chandelier, however, they are considerably less ornate. They are commonly used in homes where the ceilings are too low for the installation of a pendant or chandelier to be viable.

It is important, however, that you don’t get these types of ceiling mounted lighting confused with other types. For example, semi-flush fixtures are often confused with pendants and chandeliers, but they differ in the fact that these other fixtures hang down much lower. Flush fixtures are also often confused for island or recessed lighting, the former being described as rod-mounted pendants and the later installed directly into the roof (also known as downlights).

How to Use Table Lamps to Enhance The Beauty of Your House

Gone are those days when table lamps were used just at the bed sides or on the study tables. Today, table lamps have emerged as a decorative piece to enhance the beauty of the home interior. Apart from just flashing light to brighten the interior, these lights are largely being used by the home interior decorators to enhance the home features. The best part of these lighting is that they are portable unlike chandelier, wall and pendent lights. Since they can be moved to any corner of the house, utilizing their abilities becomes easier and scope broader.

Transform your home by placing carefully and strategically to show different object of your house. Place tall table lamps with spot light to draw the attentions of your guests to the collectibles, photos frames, paintings, ornaments, plants and flowers. Besides highlighting these objects, you can create wonder by simply placing a table lamp by the side of fire place. This feature of your home might have been neglected so far, but not now any more.

The most distinctive feature of table lamps is its shade which differ them from rest of the lightings. This is due to the reason that in bright daytime when electric light is not needed the beautiful shade of the table lamps will do the job of decorative piece. So keep collecting different designer shades and change it time to time to retain the interest of viewers.

If you search market you will find a huge collection of table lamps starting from traditional to modern, Chinese to Italian, and so on. You will get more than enough options to decorate your house with this wonderful piece of lighting.