outside security light versus on all the time light?

[toffee]

I live in a semi detached house in a dark rural location.There is a garage on the side of my house which in essence acts as a passage way from the front to the back of the house.The main door that I want to be used( on completion of extension to back of house)is at the back of the house. This will mean walking up unlit drive and through garage (door at front and back of garage) outside again and to back door.
I am wondering about lighting.could some advise me pros and cons of having movement activated versus on all the time lighting for this set up please? I am not asking for actual prices but wonder if its possible to tell me which is more expensive to fit and/ or run etc.
I have been told that movement activated lights are expensive to run but my other worry is of having 'on all the time lights' is that what happens if I am first to return home in the dark before the outside lights have been switched on?
Also, I am home alone at night time regularly and I would like to be able to illuminate the garden at the back whether I am upstairs or downstairs with a spotlight type light. I would prefer to not have to come downstairs to switch the spot light on ( not for laziness.. just cos when in the past there were prowlers, I felt scared to come downstairs.)
any suggestions for my requirements would be gratefully received

 

[JohnD]

I get the impression you'd like to have the lights on...

Lets get over the question of cost:

I have a photocell-operated porch light with an 8w mini fluorescent in it.

I pay 7.5p per kwh.

the photocell has failed so the lamp is permanently on.

It might run for an average of 8hours/day if the photocell worked, but it runs 24hrs/day until I buy I new a new fitting.

8w x 24 hrs x 365 days is 70kwh costs £5.25 p.a.
8w x 8 hrs x 365 days is 23kwh costs £1.75 p.a.

Should I spend £20 on a new lamp? It will take me 7 years to get my money back in savings.

If you buy a couple of lamps for the front, side and back of the house, with economy compact fluorescents, the cost of running them all night, every night, will be insignificant. If you want some bright lamps on PIRs, they are much more expensive to run, buty faitly cheap to buty and will only come on when a cat or fox walks through your garden, so again, cost is insignificant compared to what you're spending on an extension.

 

[breezer]

you could always do what i did

get a light with pir separate sensor, the light has a compact flouescent

I also think you aare being mis guided by who ever you spoke to in the first place, they do not cost that much to run, unless you havesomething like a 500w flood light on a pir, now they DO cost a fair bit to run, but there are loads of differnt styles and deigns

 

[Steve]

consider a couple of sodium lights, front and back, timed for, say, 6pm to 11pm (these take 5-10 mins to heat up, like street lights, but only consume 70w IIRC, designed for constant use)

whoever told you pir lights are exp to run doesn't know what they are talking about. It all depends on wattage. If you have a 500w light and the PIR turned up to max. sensitivity, of course its going to cost more than a 18w CFL (compact fluorescent) light with the PIR turned down.

You could have a couple of 500w floods on a 2-way switch (one upstairs, one downstairs) for instant surveillance.




If you want to go the full monty, build a 7ft wall around your house with leilandi 3 times as high, cover the whole property with mercury lights, shining into the sky, and CCTV on both gates, as well as sodium lamps on the corners of the house. A house near us, on the outskirts of a little village, has just this arrangement. Can see his lights a mile off. Think he has a helipad too

Whatever lights you choose, make sure they dont shine in any neighbour's gardens or into the sky or anything, this is causing a nuisance.

 

[toffee]

Please be patient.... are you meaning that I can get lamps that will come themselves when it gets dark and they will stay on until daylight again? that sounds good for me.
I know I sound like a silly woman and I dont mean to but.... we have lots of wild cats and foxes about and I just know that if I have a pir (the movement activated one) I will spend my time worrying about what set it off!!! then on the phone to my partner to come home and check it out!!
I would like a powerful light I can switch on at will if I hear something. Oh, if I did have a PIR, can I make it come on from the house when I want it to or will it only come on if something moves outside?
I take it compact flourescent is a light that you have on all the time as opposed to a pir?
I did say be patient..... and I do appreciate this help.

 

[toffee]

I sent my last before before reading the above reply.
I dont want to annoy my neighbours or anyone and hear where you are coming from!! No, I dont want floodlighting nor 7ft fencing... and I hate light pollution in the night sky too.
I just got the scare of a life time previously and want to be able to see when I walk up to my house with my children and to be able to light up the immediate vicinity of my house at the back when I am alone with my family if, as previously, there is a threat to us.
It is an awful feeling with only fields around to know there is someone out there but you cant see them.

 

[JohnD]

A compact fluorescent is one of those energy saving bulbs*

the example I gave is very cheap to run for a whole year, as in my case. I have a few of them round the outside of the house and they give reasonable light so that it is not dark, but without dazzling the neighbours. You could have a fw of these in outdoor lights costing anywhere upwards of £5

, or with a photocell and/or a PIR upwards of £25

just browse a few catalogues.

The Halogoen floodlights

are from £12 and cost a lot more to run (500 watt would be 4 pence an hour so you can control them with a switch and/or a PIR movement detector.


The Photcell means it comes on when it get dark, and automatically turns back off when at sunrise. the PIR detects movement and switches on when a person, animal or car moves about in the field of view (which you can usually adjust. when you use a PIR lamp you want it to be bright enough to be eyecatching.

Best to fit them a bit higher than a man can reach without using steps so no-one interferes with them. Compacts last for years so you won't be forever changing the bulbs*





*though electricians will grumble that bulbs grow flowers, and these are lamps.

 

[toffee]

Thank you, your help is very much appreciated.

 

[JohnD]

p.s. I can tell you are a Northerner. Down here in the South we like to enter our houses through the front door!

 

[toffee]

cheeky!!!!! I bet you also class manchester as north and anything above as Scotland!

 

[JohnD]

Anywhere north of Portsdown Hill

Guildford is Midlands.

Croydon is the North.

Beyond Staples Corner is icebergs and polar bears.



We've built a row of forts along the crest of Portsdown Hill to keep out the Northerners from Petersfield and Hazlemere. like this!

My God, I once worked in Darlington and used to drive home every Friday night. I think it would kill me now.

 

[wkb21]

get a light with pir separate sensor, the light has a compact flouescent

Will a free standing PIR detector switch a compact flourescent without an intervening relay - without problems?

 

[Steve]

get a light with pir separate sensor, the light has a compact flouescent

Will a free standing PIR detector switch a compact flourescent without an intervening relay - without problems?

should do. check the PIR - it will say "compatible with fluorescent loads" or similar. most are.

 

[breezer]

get a light with pir separate sensor, the light has a compact flouescent

Will a free standing PIR detector switch a compact flourescent without an intervening relay - without problems?

yes. iput the following up for my (pensioner) mother 2 weeks ago

this

this

recomnded lamp is this

i also have one of these but dont recomend them as they need a lot of light to turn off

 

[wkb21]

this

recommended lamp is this

Your recommendations are precisely what I have in mind. Much thanks for feedback.