With the current state of the economy, there is more concern than ever that burglaries and other household crime will continue to increase.  As a result, it is crucial now more than ever to increase security at and around your home.  While many home security systems and strategies will cost you thousands of dollars of upfront and ongoing cost, there are other supplemental and effective steps you can take now to increase your home security.  One effective measure that is relatively simple, quick and inexpensive to add to your home is to install motion activated lighting to your home and yard.

One of the main reasons that people install motion lighting is to deter the plans of would-be burglars and add safety to their home and home environment.  Other benefits and features of motion lighting include beauty, convenience and energy savings.

 

Based on our experiences with outdoor motion detector lights, this article will list the top 5 benefits that we have found. These are not the only benefits -- in fact, while reading this article, you will likely think of other benefits from outdoor motion lights. If you do, share them! Let us know how you have benefited from motion sensor lights!

• Security - this one is easy. Motion lights come on when motion is detected. With properly placed and set motion lights, intruders will be met with lights turning on in their face as they approach your house. Something to note: set your light sensitivity correctly. From experience, when your motion lights turn on in the middle of the night, you'll want to know what set them off! Setting the lights to avoid small animals like racoons, rabbits, etc. will help you avoid false alarms!

One of the key benefits of motion detector lights is the energy savings these lights bring.  The light stays on less and only when needed, and less energy is used as a result.

Instead of traditional incandescent light bulbs in your motion lights, consider instead using a CFL - compact fluorescent light - or LED energy savings light in your fixture.  These lights provide energy savings over normal light bulbs.  Keep in mind that these lights provide different lighting effect, so make sure to choose the right bulb for your lighting application.

Also, when using CFLs, make sure to choose CFLs that are rated to work with dimmer switches.  This is because CFLs that are not made for dimmers will typically require the full amount of voltage in order to fire the gasses inside the fluorescent bulb.  If the power gets below the required number of volts, which may happen with certain motion detector lights (for example, using the Dual Brite system), the CFL may not receive enough volts to cause the fluorescent light to fire completely, leading to a flicker effect.  Solve this by choosing CFLs that work with dimmer lights.

Otherwise, you should have no trouble using an energy savings bulb in your motion sensor light, and enjoy the extra savings.

 

The front door light or front porch light on most homes is not motion controlled.  The light is either on or off, depending on whether someone remembered to flick the switch.  As a result, the light sometimes stays on during the day, or stays off at night - either way, not the best use of the light for either energy cost and conservation or safety.  One easy way to deal with this problem, save money on energy costs and get the safety benefits of a light at your front door that will be on when you need it, is to use a motion sensor light.  These lights come in many decorative styles, colors and designs that are sure to enhance the beauty of your home front.

Not so long ago, motion sensor lights came in only a few, flood light styles.  Colors were typically either black or white, and the industrial look of these lights did not lend themselves well to a front door setting.  Not so any longer.  Even the flood light motion light styles no longer have this drab industrial look.  But look further at the decorative wall-style motion light, and you will find a vast selection of beautiful styles and designs to choose from.

When placed correctly, indoor motion lights provide great convenience, function and savings. The principle is simple - the light motion sensor control is located in a wall switch unit, which is added as a replacement for the normal light wall switch. Once you add a couple of indoor motion light sensors to a few rooms in your house, you will wonder what you ever did without them. The motion sensor switch uses your existing house wiring, and is very easy to install. Instead of the normal switch, the wall switch plate for the motion light sensor will look like the picture above. After using these light sensors for many years, we've listed below some of the top uses for these products in an indoor environment.

When the light sensor in the new wall plate picks up motion, the light turns on. Once motion is detected, the sensor can typically be set to leave the light on for a fixed period of time (from 5 seconds to 25 minutes), or to turn the light off as soon as the sensor stops picking up motion. This automatic function saves money - the lights only stay on as long as you need them. These lights also typically include an on / off button, allowing you to simply turn the light off or on, regardless of whether there is motion in the room.