Security Light after power cuts

[yottie]

I have security lights which are powered by time switches. When there are power cuts etc. the timers are all wrong. I was thinking of linking the timers to a dawn/dusk sensor, which would activate the lighting at dusk until the timer switched them off. There is no problem doing this for one activation but is there a way this system could continue without having to reset the timer after each power cut ?
I feel sure there is but am baffled !

 

[dave.m]

As the timers are electrically powered:
No power = no timer, so the answer to your question, with the timers that you have, is No.

 

[yottie]

OK, thanks Dave, are we saying then that there is no way that this can be done ?

 

[bernardgreen]

OK, thanks Dave, are we saying then that there is no way that this can be done ?

There is a way.

You will need to replace the existing timers with a type with a built in battery that will keep the timer running during a power cut. Depending on the type of timer you have it may be there is an identical unit ( as regards size, shape and operation ) but with the battery support included.

 

[dave.m]

What you need to ask yourself is, how often does that area of Cumbria have power cuts.
If it is like the major part of England, it is very infrequently and so, does having to reset the timers maybe once or twice a year, warrant paying a lot extra for battery powered backup in new timers.
As you say they are security lights, in a power cut they will not work anyway and so they will be of no use, even with a backed-up timer.

dave

 

[yottie]

Thanks again for your replies. The problem is really that the system is likely to be hours out if I were away, say for a week.
My idea was to have an auto reset to restore the original times.
Lights coming on at silly times are a sure signal to villains. You can tell after a power cut at some places who is away by looking across the fields for outside lights that have been triggered and now stay on.