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.

How To Clean Exterior Lighting

Unfortunately, our exterior lighting doesn’t get the tender loving care as frequently (if ever) as it would like. Being exposed to the elements often ends up with the lighting being coated with dirt and dust. Cleaning up your exterior fixtures, however, can make your entire outdoor area look much nicer (even newer), and can increase the brightness of your lights at night by up to 20% - why wouldn’t you want to achieve this?

Begin by turning off all exterior lighting in your yard and allowing the globes to cool down completely. Often, it is best to begin cleaning in the morning or early afternoon, when your globes have had a number of hours to cool down.

Next, you can dampen an old rag with some clean water. Remove each globe from its socket and wipe them down with the rag; this will remove all of the dust that has gathered over time. Once you’re finished, replace the globe back into the exterior lighting fixture. Spray some glass cleaner (such as Windex) onto the same rag, and use it to wipe down any glass that you happen to notice in your fixtures, such as the panels in a lantern, for example.

Take a new cloth and dampen it with water. Use it to wipe away all of the dirt and dust that has gathered on the metal parts of your exterior lighting. If you find that the metal has grown dull, you can apply a teaspoon of metal polish to each fixture and polish it gently with the cloth.

Whilst cleaning your exterior lighting is not a chore that you can complete every day or even every weekend, it is something that should be done around twice to year to ensure that they look much nicer and illuminate your yard as best as they can. It doesn’t take long – an hour or two, at the most, is all you need.

How Outdoor Lights Can Enhance Beauty of Your House

So far you have known lights as means of brightening home interior or exterior of your house, but now time has changed. Today lighting has evolved also as a means of decorating home exterior. With lights you can draw the attention of viewer to any particular place. This is what can be utilized to beautify your home exterior.

For instance, you have placed a beautiful clay pot just outside your house that catches the attention of guests or passers by in the day, but what about night? Should this expensive art piece be lost in the dark? Of course not, simply install a downlight or pendent light over it hanging with the ceiling. Also, you can highlight that special plant you bought from exclusive plant exhibition in the same way or different.

Pillars just outside your door are common places to hang wall light, but you can do it in different way from the usual one by opting for some more fashionable exterior lights. You can also highlight some of your garden areas with outdoor lights. Take your fountain for example. Apart from fitting light inside the fountain, place light around it or on the ground surrounding in such a way that it draw attention all as a whole not just the water part. Your bonfire area in the lawn can be another perfect place of being experimental with lights. By lighting your bonfire area you will be having a perfect place to enjoy chat and a fabulous moment even when you are not using it for fire.

Similarly, you can install outdoor lights in your patio or pergola and make your garden the most sought after corner of your house to spend time or through a party. So, with exterior lights you can decorate your house in as many ways as you can, it’s just how far your imagination works.

Trends In Exterior Lighting

Gone are the days when the only feature in our backyard was that lawn setting or the birdbath we bought twenty years ago. Today, exterior lighting features hugely in turning our yards into oases of entertainment and play areas, helping to increase the amount of time that we can use our outdoor space.

Pathways

Also known as area lights, this form of exterior lighting is used to light walkways, as well as to highlight nearby flowerbeds and shrubs. It illuminates in a soft, circular pattern.

Deck

These forms of outdoor lighting are generally mounted to the outside wall of the home, or even on the railing around the deck or patio. Like path lights, they illuminate in a soft, horizontal direction and reduce the glare that other types are known to give off.

Spotlights

Also known as accent lights, this form of exterior lighting is commonly used to highlight trees, statues and other clever or creative architectural features. They use beams of illumination that can be directed wherever you please.

Step

These forms of outdoor lighting are generally found in masonry or wood constructions, and are used to add a sense of safety and security to people using their decks or steps at night.

Ultimately, the purpose of exterior lighting is to tie together the relationship between our homes and our surrounding landscape. This is why the emerging trends are focused on bringing the indoors outdoors, without neglecting that security is also important. If you want to increase the amount of time your family uses your outdoor spaces, check out some of the above illumination solutions.