Automatic Bathroom Light?

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Our bathroom has no windows therefore the light needs switching on each time you pay a visit, during the night the pull switch makes a real noise, and wakes my other half up.

Is it possible to fit something in the existing light switch box that senses someone's presence and will switch light on when entering and off when leaving.

The possible switch needs to operate the extraction fan as well.

Any suggestions please.

Thanks.
 
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Sorry slight mistake it needs to fit in place of the existing pull switch and use the existing wiring!
 
Plenty of options. Google 'PIR light switch', your main problem will be if there's no neutral at the pullswitch, other issue may be poor detection if the pullswitch is in a corner.
 
Plenty of options. Google 'PIR light switch', your main problem will be if there's no neutral at the pullswitch, other issue may be poor detection if the pullswitch is in a corner.

In which case a microwave-based detector will work more effectively.
 
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... during the night the pull switch makes a real noise, and wakes my other half up. .... The possible switch needs to operate the extraction fan as well.
In addition to what has already been said ... a common question we get here relates to the fact that family members get woken up/disturbed by the noise of a bathroom extractor fan if the room is used during the night. I therefore wonder whether resolving the issue of the noisy pull switch would, alone, necessarily be enough to resolve your problem?

It would be possible to arrange things that the (or a) light (but not the fan) came on at night when someone entered toi room, but that would be appreciably more complicated.

Have you considered forgetting about the existing light/wiring and simply getting a cheap battery-operated PIR LED light? I use several in my house - they are readily available, often for under £5 (see example here) , requiring no wiring or installation, the batteries last for many months with the sort of usage you're talking about, and the amount of light should be adequate for most nocturnal trips to a bathroom (and you could always use more than one if you wanted). ... and, of course, it would avoid the fan noise as well as the sound of the pull switch.

Kind Regards, John
 
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Our bathroom has no windows therefore the light needs switching on each time you pay a visit, during the night the pull switch makes a real noise, and wakes my other half up.
How big is the bathroom?

Do you need to use a pull-switch, or could you have a normal wall one?
 
You can get lightbulbs with PIRs built in. Just search on amazon.

Iv got one on the landing so the kids dont fall down the stairs when they are looking for the toilet in the night.
 
consider the cost of running an ordinary, low-wattage LED lamp.

you will find it is cheaper and less trouble to leave one running continuously that to buy a timer or photocell.

Though I still use timers for my stairs and porch, it is not worth buying replacements when they fail.
 
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consider the cost of running an ordinary, low-wattage LED lamp. you will find it is cheaper and less trouble to leave one running continuously that to buy a timer or photocell.
Probably not 'cheaper' (in the long term), if the timer/photocell/PIR is cheap and lasts for at least a few years, but certainly a pretty trivial cost (~£7/year for a 5W LED).

However, as for 'less trouble' if, as in the OP's case, there is a light-switch-controlled fan, then a certain amount of re-wiring would be necessary to address that issue.

As I wrote in post #5 above, I personally address such requirements with very cheap battery-powered PIR LED lights.

Kind Regards, John
 
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You can get lightbulbs with PIRs built in. Just search on amazon.
One can and, indeed, I use some in my house. However, use of them requires that the lightbulb is permanently powered which, in the OP's case, would mean that the extractor fan would be on continuously - so some (wiring) work would have to be done to get around that problem.

Kind Regards, John
 
One can and, indeed, I use some in my house. However, use of them requires that the lightbulb is permanently powered which, in the OP's case, would mean that the extractor fan would be on continuously - so some (wiring) work would have to be done to get around that problem.

Kind Regards, John

The fan has a switch outside of the bath room to isolate it, therefore there would be no need to change any wiring, may well try the LED bulb option and just leave the switch in the 'ON' position.
 
The fan has a switch outside of the bath room to isolate it, therefore there would be no need to change any wiring ...
Yes, you could use that isolator switch to control the fan, but then you would have to manually turn the fan on and off with that switch, as required, and the fan obviously would then not come on 'with the lights' (or 'run on' for a period after the lights were turned off) - which is the functionality which people usually want of a bathroom fan.

If you manually turn off (and remember to manually turn off!) the extractor fan as you leave the bathroom, it probably won't achieve very much in relation to either moisture or odours.

Kind Regards, John
 
I replaced an internal pull switch with a sensor , also had timer run on so rarely turned off while occupied ( unless you stand perfectly still in the shower for a while) simple wave of the arm turned it back on.
 

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