Sensor for illuminated house sign

[dstill]

I'm thinking of buying an illuminated house sign as no one can ever find our house number when looking from the roadside at night and the house number configuration in the street doesn't help!

The sign I'm looking at has a plug in transformer to reduce the voltage. My question is would it be possible to link a dawn til dusk sensor into this and would it need to be a mains voltage sensor or a low voltage sensor or could I use either if I link it into the cable at the correct point.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Iggifer]

You could definitely wire in a dusk till dawn sensor. You can use 12v or 230v, whichever you prefer.

For 230v install a fused connection with a 3a fuse - take the load side of this to a 230v photocell, then switched live, neutral and earth from the photocell to the socket for your sign.

Of course if you were planning on feeding it from your lighting circuit you could do away with the spur, but this gives you the ability to isolate it in case of a fault.

For 12v - plug the transformer in, take the cable to something like this, you'll also need the box at the bottom of the page, make your connections in there and then off to the light.

Whichever method you choose will work, I would probably go for the 230v option, because if you decide to change the light for 230v in the future, there's nothing else to change. If you put the 12v in and then make that change, you will have to start again.

You could always just use a plug in timer

 

[JohnW2]

You could always just use a plug in timer

I would personally be more inclined to take that approach, since I wouldn't particularly want the sign to stay illuminated all night (until dawn). Unless one got a very clever (aka expensive) one, one would have to re-adjust the 'on' time periodically, as dusk moved around, but the 'off time' would presumably not need to be changed (always 'midnight', or whatever).

Of course, the OP may frequently get visitors during the 'early hours', in which case that approach wouldn't work

Kind Regards, John

 

[Iggifer]

I would personally be more inclined to take that approach, since I wouldn't particularly want the sign to stay illuminated all night (until dawn)

There is of course the option of using both a timer and a photocell, which is an idea I like very much - lights come on when it's dark and shut off at x am once you're in bed, and then perhaps in the winter come on for an hour or two in the morning. More appropriate for outside lights though.

And I think also a bit OTT for something that I don't imagine being needed outside of the hours of say 5-10pm, but I guess it's up the OP to decide when he wants his sign on

 

[JohnD]

the amount of current used by CFLs and LEDs is so miniscule, that I recommend you calculate the difference in cost between 12 hours a day and 24 hours a day, over, say, five years, and see how that compares with the cost of your controls.

 

[JohnW2]

There is of course the option of using both a timer and a photocell, which is an idea I like very much - lights come on when it's dark and shut off at x am once you're in bed, and then perhaps in the winter come on for an hour or two in the morning. More appropriate for outside lights though.

Yes, I didn't want to make things more complicated, but that's precisely what I do with my outside lights. The is a time switch with 'on' about 2pm and 'off' at about 11pm. That feeds a photocell. The lights therefore come on for about 30 seconds around 2pm, until the photocell 'warms up', then come on at dusk (photocell) and go off about 11pm (time switch).

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

the amount of current used by CFLs and LEDs is so miniscule, that I recommend you calculate the difference in cost between 12 hours a day and 24 hours a day, over, say, five years, and see how that compares with the cost of your controls.

That's all true, but in my case it would not be anything to do with cost-saving (as you say, it would probably take years to even break-even) but, rather that I simply didn't want the sign illuminated all night (any more than I want my porch illuminated all night, or my living room illuminated all night, or ....!). That's certainly the case with my outside lights, but that's obviously a different matter!

Kind Regards, John

 

[winston1]

You could definitely wire in a dusk till dawn sensor. You can use 12v or 230v, whichever you prefer.

For 230v install a fused connection with a 3a fuse - take the load side of this to a 230v photocell, then switched live, neutral and earth from the photocell to the socket for your sign.

Of course if you were planning on feeding it from your lighting circuit you could do away with the spur, but this gives you the ability to isolate it in case of a fault.

For 12v - plug the transformer in, take the cable to something like this, you'll also need the box at the bottom of the page, make your connections in there and then off to the light.

Whichever method you choose will work, I would probably go for the 230v option, because if you decide to change the light for 230v in the future, there's nothing else to change. If you put the 12v in and then make that change, you will have to start again.

You could always just use a plug in timer

Where did this 12v come from? The OP mentioned low voltage by which I assume he meant extra low as mains is regarded as low voltage. No where was 12v mentioned.

 

[Iggifer]

What other voltage at ELV is any lighting manufacturer realistically going to use? I can change it to 11.5v if it makes you happy

 

[winston1]

What other voltage at ELV is any lighting manufacturer realistically going to use? I can change it to 11.5v if it makes you happy

3, 4.5, 5(very common now), 6, etc. I could go on but won't as there are so many possibilities.

 

[Iggifer]

OK well we shall wait and see what the OP has to say.

 

[dstill]

Thanks you for all your useful posts and informative replies, I'm impressed to say the least and appreciate all of them.

In regards to the various options on voltage I'm not that clever in this field unfortunately so cant really comment.

Thanks again everybody, great forum.

 

[john4703]

[QUOTE="Iggifer, post: 3437897, member: 173213"

There is of course the option of using both a timer and a photocell, which is an idea I like very much - lights come on when it's dark and shut off at x am once you're in bed, and then perhaps in the winter come on for an hour or two in the morning. More appropriate for outside lights though.[/QUOTE]

I have mine on from 06:30 to midnight. At this time of year it is only on for a few seconds each morning.

 

[JohnW2]

I have mine on from 06:30 to midnight. At this time of year it is only on for a few seconds each morning.

Yep, similar to my 2pm to 11pm one - so my 'few seconds' is early afternoon. The difference is obviously that I don't want mine to come on in the morning if it's still dark, but you presumably do (from 06:30 until 'dawn' in the winter).

Kind Regards, John

 

[Taylortwocities]

I have used this photocell in a number of projects. It has a number of switch on and off options.
It could, for instance, automatically switch the light off during the night after a pre-programmed period of time and then back on again at about 5 o'clock in the morning - if it's still dark.