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Yea, I understand that. That's why I asked if you guys were talking about being inside or being outside. If you're outside, absolutely. If you're inside with the lights on, having the lights off outside will make no difference since you will need several minutes with all the lights off inside to actually see in the dark outside. That's where my source of confusion is.
Another thing to note here is the potential burglar's night vision. Really, having all your lights off will enable his night vision as well and it will be better than yours if you're sitting in the house with the lights on. Also, part of the reason I'm questioning this is because I have one light on in front of the house, and nothing on in the back. When I'm sitting at my computer here on CD at night I can at least see something outside out front. If that light were off, I wouldn't be able to see anything because I'm sitting here with the lights on in my living room. It's like being in a fish bowl if you don't have heavy drapes.
When my dog barks in the family room, in the back of the house, I'll go check it out and be sure to turn all the lights off. I usually can't see anything when I look out the window in the family room at night because my eyes aren't adjusted for it and it's not like a person back there would remain in the same position for several minutes. Once the motion sensor lights come on, again, usually due to an animal, which is why my dog is barking, then I can see.
Your ability to see the outside of your house from the inside isn't a big deterrent. It just makes you "feel" safer.
A big part of home security is your neighbors' ability to see what's happening near your house.
Most houses are broken into when homeowner's aren't home.
Plus, you can look outside a window, even with a light on, and the burgler could be crouched down below the window.
That's why it's more important for your neighbors to see your house than your ability see outside while the lights are on inside.
Your ability to see the outside of your house from the inside isn't a big deterrent. It just makes you "feel" safer.
Well, it's being able to see something vs nothing. And one thing this thread has shown me is that by having some lights on outside is going to mess with a person's night vision outside. That's a good thing and is actually an argument to keep the lights on. Of course, I'm not going to do that because it's a waste of energy and we're in a pretty safe neighborhood.
Quote:
A big part of home security is your neighbors' ability to see what's happening near your house.
Most houses are broken into when homeowner's aren't home.
Plus, you can look outside a window, even with a light on, and the burgler could be crouched down below the window.
That's why it's more important for your neighbors to see your house than your ability see outside while the lights are on inside.
We all don't have neighbors that close. I don't at least. There is nobody in the front of my home. And the crouching under the window comment is gonna freak me out tonight! lol I'm glad the front of my house is raised up.
I agree with the fishbowl comment made a little earlier. I like to have my lights on at night inside because...wait for it...I'm 100% scared of the dark. I ALWAYS have at least a couple of lamps on in my house during the overnight hours. Nothing scares me more than opening my bedroom door and being faced with a pitch black house if I get up during the night. If I hear something outside during the night my inside lights will still be on so If I go to the window and look to the dark yard, I can't see anything at all. That's why I leave my porch lights on at night. If your inside lights are on and the outside lights are off, somebody could be staring right into the window and you would never be able to see him.
We have brick cape cod style house - we have electric candles permanently installed in the windows - they are on a timer and stay on all night. Our porch has large black iron lantern-style porch lights that are on from dark until we go to bed - our house just glows at night and looks very inviting. We have no safety issues - we just like the ambience.
My lights (porch and balcony) will only go on if I'm outside. I don't feel it's necessary to waste electricity if I'm not outdoors using it. There are just a few exceptions to leaving them on all night: 4th of July, Halloween, or any other occassion when the neighbors are out.
Are you putting that flood light in the middle of an open field? Surely, the house is an obstruction, unless you're planning to fully flood light your house from all angles. I guarantee the neighbors will hate you if you did that!
On one side of my house is an older man who was tickled pink when I started installing flood lights around my house. 90* the next direction is a school. 90* further is a daycare facility also surrounded by very bright flood lights at night. A further 90* brings you an apartment building whose windows facing my house have all had curtains drawn since about the time we bought the house, and is also blocked partially by the garage (Which, when I run power to it before the end of the summer, will be getting a few of its own motion-activated flood lights.). Additionally, the apartment building has... lights on all around it at night.
I have very little concern for bothering any of my neighbors, based on the fact that I'm simply joining in on the night time lighting.
It's not a particularly great neighborhood, but we haven't had any trouble with the neighbors, or people coming in to it, though we've only been here a few months.
In fact, since we moved in and added all our flood lights, there's been a marked decrease in night time foot traffic around us, and a lot less groups of teenagers hanging about.
I guess, in short, if my lights are bothering someone, it's probably for the best.
Anyone here have any concern about light pollution? (The comment about "just joining in on the night time lighting" brought this to mind again, sort of like "just joining in on throwing trash on the ground" or "just joining in blowing cigarette smoke directly into other people's houses" or "just jumping off a cliff because everybody's doing it" or other similar activities.
If not, you might want to check this out (http://www.darksky.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=56422 - broken link), as you can mitigate your contribution to light pollution (which impacts a lot more than just your immediate neighbors) simply by the kind of fixtures and bulbs you choose to use, if you must light up the night.
I have a post light with a 40W bulb (required in my neighborhood) and 3 landscape lights (1 20W spot for my American flag and 2 10W along my front walkway). I only use my porch light if Im expecting guests. I also have flood lights mounted on the 2nd story in the back yard, I used to use them to let the dog out at nite before bed.
My house pretty much looks the same ..lighting wise.. when Im home or away, including inside,inside lights are on timers in several rooms through the house.
Well, lots of people aren't concerned about throwing trash out of their car windows for the rest of us to have to look at/deal with, either. So it doesn't much surprise me that some folks aren't concerned about light pollution or any of the other kinds of pollution out there.
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