Security flood light - microwave detection?

[Oddbod1]

I dont want to over think this but I understand that those cheap £15 500w security floor lights have come a long way in the last 15 years. Someone mentioned to me to get a microwave sensor one to do away with the PIR plastic thing on the front and also go for an LED version.

Can anyone suggest a good £25-£30 one from Amazon and tell me that the difference is between the PIR versions that are still available and a microwave one?

I will be positioning it on my rear garden outbuilding facing the house.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

from Amazon, probably Powersave.
The microwave detectors sense motion with regards to speed and size, where the PIR sensor will sense heat and light.

 

[Oddbod1]

How likely is it to prevent false triggers e.g. windy outside or a fox or other animal triggering it?
Suggestions for a good LED wattage?

 

[JohnW2]

How likely is it to prevent false triggers e.g. windy outside or a fox or other animal triggering it?

Both PIRs and microwave detectors are at risk of detecting 'anything that moves'. In theory, PIRs ought to be less sensitive to moving things that aren't different in temperature from the environment (hence more sensitive to moving animals, including humans) - but I have to say that, in practice, I haven't noticed a lot of difference.

Suggestions for a good LED wattage?

That really depends entirely on the area you want to illuminate, how brightly you want to illuminate and what your philosophy is - some potential intruders will be frightened off by any sort of light of any magnitude (not the least because they won't be sure 'what else' might have been triggered). However, others might be more thick-skinned and might welcome your providing them with good lighting to assist their breaking in!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Oddbod1]

So what you pick from the amazon web site?

 

[JohnW2]

So what you pick from the amazon web site?

As I said, it would depend upon what I was trying/wanting to achieve. One size does not fit all.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ericmark]

Using the whole idea of radio detection and ranging or RADAR for short you can detect movement, but in the main we don't want a waving tree setting them off, so we tend not to detect movement but a rapid change in the inferred detected, and only at night once daylight arrives it switches off, the passive inferred detector does have some draw backs, reverse my car up the drive and it will not be set off, no inferred from back of the car, so until I open the door it simply will not see me, so also easy enough for anyone to defeat it if they want to, it is not really to stop intruders, it is to stop people tripping over due to poor light be it intruder or wanted visitor.

For intruders you need active inferred not passive, broken beam and the like. Also cameras these do detect movement rather than the heat the body emits.

So with the standard PIR you have 4 adjustments possible:-
1) Amount of light.
2) Sensitivity.
3) Time delay switching off.
4) Masking so not triggered by central heating and like.
I have a Aldi unit at my home, and a Screwfix unit at mothers house, I will compare. The Aldi unit got water in it very quickly, small hole drilled cured the problem, it also had a quartz tube, replaced with a LED of I seem to remember about 6W, the three trimmers were set for light, and sensitivity plus time delay so even with a busy street 20 foot away it only when on when in the drive, it came minus any cable and by time I had bought the cable and LED replacement for the tube was more expensive than the Screwfix one, in spite being bought in a sale. The Screwfix one was 10W brighter than the Aldi, and it came with a LED built in, it has not had a problem with water, and it came with a lead already attached. It also had two brackets so I could select the best one. However it had no sensitivity adjustment, masking the PIR with black insulation tape did do same job as sensitivity control, but not as easy to set up, in this case some 50 foot from a road with little traffic so even without the tape mask not really a problem, and the light spread is more even than the LED replacement for the quartz tube. It does a great job, lighting up the key safe so carers can get the key and put it away without using a torch which would highlight to anyone watching what they are doing.

Both lamps work, and both now once drain hole drilled in the Aldi one, have worked for over 6 months without problem. I would say once the drain hole was drilled the Aldi one was best, only 6W which was ample to see from car to door, and easy to set bit by bit until passing traffic did not trigger it, but Screwfix one cost less by time cable included and so far away from road it did not need a careful setting of sensitivity.

Until I had installed them, I did not know which would be best, and it is unlikely anyone has bought multi Amazon units to be able to compare them, and it would depend where fitted if they worked well or not.

I feel security light is a poor name, they do not increase security, in fact they help the prospective bugler avoid any items which could injure him or her, they trigger so often with cats, one quickly stops looking when they turn on, calling them an access safety light would better describe what they do. I noted my cat was not worried if the light was on or off, it did however allow the odd mouse to escape when the light alerted it that the cat was close.

I also have a IP camera with built in inferred lamp, now this is very different, if I am willing to pay, it will record any intruders, and the light being inferred does not help the prospective bugler it just shows me what he is doing. So security lamps should be inferred not visible light, and because not visible with direct human eye you also need a camera so you can see the intruder from the comfort of your own armchair. I was told at collage you are not allowed to set a trap, however you can watch an intruder injure himself when he encounters some thing. So you can't dig a pit to catch intruder, but if you dig a pit to service your car, you can watch an intruder walk into it without warning him. At least that was law in 1970's when I went to collage.

So question has to be, why do you want the light?

 

[Oddbod1]

To light up an area outside of an outbuilding in my garden.

 

[ericmark]

I use an old 70W metal halide lamp on house wall, really a bit of over kill, far too bright, it is on a simple switch, as if triggered by a PIR it would likely wake neighbours. I would not call it a security light, it's a flood lamp, great for the BBQ now the days are getting shorter.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

To light up an area outside of an outbuilding in my garden.

So buy suitable light(s) and switch it/them on when you need the area lit up

Sorted.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

it's a flood lamp, great for the BBQ

If not the most pleasant way to light up the area.