Automatic home lighting?

[thermidorthelobster]

I used to work in an office which had a very efficient automatic lighting system.  PIR sensors would detect movement and turn the lights on;  a few minutes after you left the area they'd go off.  Each ceiling light panel had its own sensor, so only the lights immediately around you would be lit.  The PIR was sensitive enough that the lights never went off if you were there, even if you were pretty stationary.

I know about PIR light fittings used for security lights, but I wondered if it's possible to get adapters which you could plug into a standard fitting, and plug the bulb into the adapter, which would switch on/off based on a PIR sensor?  It'd be nice to be able to kit out the lights at home to automatically switch on and off, but I don't want to be rewiring the whole house with PIR sensors to do so.

[AbyssDJ]

i think there are things a bit like that... as it happens, we MAY be able to get them! im sure i've seen something like that in one of our catalogs! i'll have a look for ya :)

other than that, try maplins maybe? search PIR on the website

[Skibum346]

other than that, try maplins maybe?

 :(biglaugh):  :(bloodshot):

[Range Rover Blues]

Thing is if you are using energy efficient lighting then it's striplights and these use more power switching on than in running for ages and ages (half hour or something stupid like that).

[thermidorthelobster]

Hmm, this looks interesting.  Not exactly what I had in mind, but I might get hold of one and give it a test-drive.  Wouldn't work in every room, but might work well in some.

[Evilgoat]

Buy it someplace else then :)

Security PIRs are probobly up to the job with a bit of electrickery. You should be able to do it with a 12v power supply and a realy easy enouhg for the quick and dirty option.

Some places at the uni had them and I have to say I found after a while they didnt actually work that well, when you were sat at the desk in the room they wernt sensitive enough to keep the light on. %5 mins after you sat down. off they went

[ChrisW]

To be honest, you're wasting your time looking at PIR's, unless you are walking across a room constantly they will not be sensitive enough to keep lights on while you are in a room.

Microwave or ultrasonic presence sensors are what you need. At work we usually specify these people, there are others on the market too.
Ex-or's silver or goldspot detector is the one we normally use in most applications. Set up correctly, these will keep the lights on whilst someone is sitting at a desk with just a slight hand movement being detected.

The other option could be wiring the lights via a timeclock arrangement with a PIR sensor such that if the sensor detects movement i.e. you coming home through the front door then it initiates control of the lighting via the time schedule. You'd probably just need a push to make button somewhere convenient then to act as a run-on signal if you're stopping up late or something.

Why not just buy a load of 13A plug-in timers and light the house by table lamps?  :lol:

[ChrisW]

Forgot to mention, high efficiency fluorescent lamp control gear does not use more electricity being switched on and off lots of times either, sorry - old (or new?) wives tale!

[jeepmadmike]

PIR sensors which replace your normal light switches (fit on the same screws) are available and relitively cheap

[thermidorthelobster]

The Maplins ones have a built-in timer so it won't turn the light off the second you stop moving.  I think it's user-configurable.  The ones we used to have at work seemed to be PIR, but NEVER turned the lights off unnecessarily, no matter how still you were.

According to the blurb they are also light-sensitive.  I'm hoping this means that they don't bother turning on if there's already enough light, although the description isn't really that clear on this.  I think I'll get hold of one and try.

Our local Maplins (Farnborough) hasn't turned to the dark side just yet, as far as I can tell.

The LightSpot ones don't seem to be available in a format that I could use to replace the existing stuff without rewiring.

[Mutz]

Forgot to mention, high efficiency fluorescent lamp control gear does not use more electricity being switched on and off lots of times either, sorry - old (or new?) wives tale!

Unfortunatly not many high efficiency fittings are fitted in a domestic situation, and switching on and off does shorten the life of the tube

[BrumLee]

Does anyone make a sensor that turns off lights, TV, stereo, etc off when teenagers leave their room    :roll:

[thermidorthelobster]

I've ordered a couple of the Maplins units to play around with.  You could certainly modify them to isolate a relay (and therefore the TV, stereo etc) if you needed to!

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

Does anyone make a sensor that turns off lights, TV, stereo, etc off when teenagers leave their room    :roll:

Do teenagers actually leave their rooms? Mine doesn't. She just stays in there mumbling, grunting and eating.

[littlepow]

Does anyone make a sensor that turns off lights, TV, stereo, etc off when teenagers leave their room    :roll:

I think their called parents...  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[thermidorthelobster]

OK, well I bought a pair of the Maplins switches.

First off, they don't work with low-power eco-friendly bulbs.  They have to have 40W bulb or greater to work.  So you have to burn more energy when the light is on by using an inefficient bulb!

Secondly, the sensitivity isn't accurate enough for them to actually be useful.  They'll turn themselves off, even though I'm sitting here waving my arm around in front of the sensor;  and then they'll turn on in the middle of the night for no obvious reason.

So it's a nice idea, but in the case of the Maplins sensors, the technology's just not mature enough to be useful yet.

I might have to retire these to the garage, where hopefully there are enough low-power bulbs to draw enough current for the sensor to work properly  :?