Motion Lights and Security Lights are triggered when the fixture picks up "motion", which is defined as the movement of heat across the detection coverage area.  Keep this in mind when setting up your light fixtures, because false and unwanted light triggers will cause great frustration!

Because motion lights pick up heat across the sensor range, a number of heat sources will trigger your light.  In addition to people and animals, here are other heat sources that many times will cause false positives: 

• Pools of Water (from temperature changes rising off of, and above, the water)
• Air Conditioners
• Dryer Vents
• Fenced-In Animals
• Heating Vents
• Automobile Traffic

There are a number of ways to adjust your security light to avoid and minimize false positives.  If your motion light is coming on when you don't want it to, try some of the following:

1. Reduce the sensitivity using the motion light setting (usually a dial)
2. Use a lens shield, which is included with many motion lights, and provides a cover to block out portions of the sensor, to avoid motion being picked up in certain directions
3. Use the MacGuyver lens shield -- Duct Tape or Black Electrical Tape!  Cover the portion of the motion sensor that is picking up the unwanted heat source
4. Adjust the direction that the sensor faces - usually a simple adjustment with a wrench or even by hand

Good Luck!

Motion sensor lights turn on automatically when they detect motion in the sensor range.  There are many reasons that outdoor motion lights provide benefits over non-motion lights.   These lights provide cost-effective convenience and security.  Listed below are some top security benefits of outdoor motion sensor lights for you to consider - post any others you can think of.

Save money on outdoor protection lighting effects while at the same time, safeguarding your property (and your own personal safety) with floodlights that are activated when movement is detected by a sensor.  Automated motion sensor lights (flood or decorative) are an easy way to conserve energy and save.  

Motion activated outdoor lighting gives the security effect of shock value to would be intruders. When your house is in darkness, it is an easier target for burglary, and would-be intruders are shocked when they're suddenly flooded with light. The result is a deterrent effect, with the criminal choosing an easier target--one that has no outdoor lighting.

How and where you place your motion lights will directly effect the security and convenience you get from your lighting.  Before installing (or even purchasing!) your motion lights, make sure to think about your intended use for your lighting, your home layout, and placement of your lights.  One factor will be whether you are using existing non-motion lighting (and simply adding a motion sensor to that existing lighting).  Also, you should consider whether you are using existing light wiring, or are adding new wiring to your desired installation location.  Here are some additional tips to maximize placement of your motion detector light.

Best Convenience

For best convenience out of your motion light, place the motion detection sensor to cover the walks and pathways leading to your front door, your back doors and your driveway.  This will ensure that your motion lights will turn on when you come home at night.  Motion lights also add great convenience to light up patios, decking, stairways, and areas around swimming pools.  Also, consider using motion lights to cover any areas you use at night to take out your pets.

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!

The name says it all -- the Steinel^® NightGUARDIAN UltraEye Halogen Motion Sensor Floodlight packs real quality and performance, great range and precision, without a super-sized price.

• Accurate readings every time from the precision-molded curved lens
• Greater reliability and longer life from an advanced surface-mount circuit board
• Automatic Surge protection with auto-reset
• UL rain-tight rating for both fixture and sensor
• Manual override built into the Microprocessor
• Manufacturer Lifetime Warranty

This floodlight motion detector comes with an Ultra Eye Lens that includes 2 motion sensors, giving you a 240 degree adjustable detection angle and a 40 foot range. The detection zone can be customized using included shrouds. The unit also has a rain tight enclosure, UL rated IP54. The light-on time is adjustable from 10 seconds to 15 minutes, with adjustable lux setting from daylight to dark.

I want to introduce you to a device that will give you great security features for your home, does not require complicated installation, and costs very little (less than $70 at the time of this article) compared to the safety features it provides. Bear with me for a minute while I explain what this wonderful, innovative, safety device will do for you and your home:

• You place the outdoor motion sensor in an area of your yard that you would like to monitor -- front or back porch area, walkway, outside of garage, etc.
• You then place the indoor unit in your home and plug it into a standard wall outlet. Plug a lamp or other indoor light into this unit. Keep the indoor unit within 100 feet of the location of the outdoor motion sensor.
• When motion is detected from the sensor you have placed in your yard, the light you have plugged into the indoor unit will turn on, and the indoor unit will also emit an audible alarm!
• You can manually override the indoor unit, to control the light directly without the use of the motion detector. Also, the alarm includes a volume control, and you can adjust the amount of time that the light will remain on after outdoor motion is detected.

Motion detectors are an important part of any well-designed business or home security system. The best home security systems use a variety of techniques and technologies to detect an unwanted intruder, and motion detection is an additional layer of security that greatly enhances the efficacy of any home security system, without greatly increasing its price.  Although the technology is constantly advancing, and there are any number of niche solutions that rely on a variety of underlying theoretical models, motion detectors can be broadly grouped into five different classifications:

Passive Infrared Motion Detectors work by detecting the heat of a human body. This a highly effective detection system but it can generate false positives, whether from a pet, sunshine streaming in on a particularly hot day, a space heater activating when its thermostat drops below a certain point, and so on. However, passive infrared systems can be tuned to avoid false positives by requiring a certain magnitude of heat change before the alarm is triggered. For example, a sensor can be tuned to not go off when a pet enters the room, by excluding heat signatures below a certain size.