Do you leave your porch light on/off at night? (windows, curtains)
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I wouldn't leave the outside lights on just for the cost of the electricity. I don't think it will make you any safer because if its only lighting the front of house that still leaves sides and back dark where a burglar could easily enter if he wanted to.
I like the motion lights that come on only when something moves...not just prowlers but skunks whom you also don't want to run into when you leave or enter the house at night.
What you learn if you leave lights off is that your night vision improves the longer you're in the dark. Lights at night damage your night vision because your eyes have to adjust to the dark from the light and that makes it harder, not easier, to see in the dark.
Try it sometime. It's amazing.
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Originally Posted by Braunwyn
IIRC, it takes around 20 minutes for the rods in our eyes to full adapt for night vision. So, if you're sitting in your home with the lights on, it's going to take a while to see outside if it's dark. And you'll have to turn the lights off in your house for this to work, of course. If you're in the dark inside, then you should already have night vision and that won't be affected if the lights are on outside.
Or are the posters here talking about being outside with the lights off?
What I'm talking about is how flood lights make it harder to see what's in the shaddows of the bright lights.
Burglers can hide more easily around homes that have flood liights.
It seems like they would be able to hide just as well with no lights, tho, maybe I'm missing something.
Eyes see movement in the dark. Add a bright light in front and the eyes can't see what's behind the bright light.
The following picture might help you understand. If there was no bright light glaring in your eyes, you would be able to see movement beside the house. But the bright light has made it impossible to see past the light. Any natural light from the moon or nearby street lights are overshaddowed by the bright flood light creating a very dark area that is difficult to see. While people might feel safe with the front of their house lit up at night, they are creating very comfortable dark areas on other sides of their houses.
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Originally Posted by Aran
A house surrounded by flood lights with no nearby obstructions will be a hard place for a burglar to hide.
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!
Eyes see movement in the dark. Add a bright light in front and the eyes can't see what's behind the bright light.
The following picture might help you understand. If there was no bright light glaring in your eyes, you would be able to see movement beside the house. But the bright light has made it impossible to see past the light. Any natural light from the moon or nearby street lights are overshaddowed by the bright flood light creating a very dark area that is difficult to see.
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.
Quote:
While people might feel safe with the front of their house lit up at night, they are creating very comfortable dark areas on other sides of their houses.
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.
Here are other pictures. One with flood lights shining up at the house. The other with various outdoor lights around the exterior.
Notice how the sides of the house are overly darkened by the brightness of the lights.
Again, I don't understand why your perspective is from the outside. What is the perspective from the inside? Ahh...unless you're talking about neighbors being able to see? Ok, that makes sense, but if their lights are on inside they won't have night vision either. Any way, for me, I don't have neighbors that could see my home. I only have one house close to mine on the right, and the property lines is flanked with trees.
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why light up their way???
