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The previous post has the wall switch replacements you need for the lights. I use item "F" and put them everywhere for outside lights. The only problem is to change them with the season as the time for darness changes. Like all the clocks in the house, they need to be changed with the switch from standard time to daylight savings. Small price to pay to me to have the outside lights come on and go off on a regular bases.
I have several of these wall switch timers too for my outside lights. They weren't hard to install...you simply replace your toggle switch with the timer. In addition to a couple of lamp timers, they give my house that "lived in" look when I'm away from home.
You don't have to change them on Daylight Saving Time weekend as you would with your clocks. Rather, you have to adjust for the gradually shorter periods of daylight in fall/winter, and longer periods in spring/summer.
Two words - flood lights. I have one that covers my entire 18K square foot lawn, to a great extent. Other than that, I have several motion detectors. Oh, and install them high.
Flood lights will illuminate a large area, but it was my understanding that the OP wanted lights for a path.
I will try to take a photo of my solar lights tonight, and post it here tomorrow. Not sure how it will work being its dark and all.
Right, I DON'T want flood lights. And I have outdoor motion-detector lights already, but they don't light up the area I need lit. They're great for alerting me that a deer or coyote is wandering through the yard, though.
Well, a quick follow-up. The solar lights have been in the yard for 2 days now, and still haven't gathered enough sunlight to light up. The days are pretty short up here, and in winter it can be quite overcast. They probably work great in the summer, but it stays light until 10 then, so I don't really need them that time of the year. So, I scratched those off my solutions list.
My builder talked to his electrician who recommended a remote light switch, probably something similar to what hcgCali is talking about, only it has no photocell, so I can just flip the outdoor lights on from inside the house wirelessly. They have a remote switch and a special base that goes between the socket and light that receives the transmission. The garage is detached, but not very far from the house, so most of the ones I've looked at online have enough range. I think I'll try this, because then I can control when the lights are on. If for some reason the range is an issue and they don't quite cut it, the photocell type is my next choice. Again, thanks for all the help!
Thought I would report back in about my solution. I got a replacement switch for the existing garage light switch, and it communicates with a remote that worked even about 100' away when we tested it this morning. The remote is about half the size of a TV remote. It works perfectly! I can turn the outside garage door lights on from anywhere in the house before I go outside. If I want to go somewhere during the day and know I won't be home until dark, I can take the remote in the car with me to turn the lights on so I can see to walk into the house.
I decided against the photo-sensitive lights because I really don't want them on all the time. I do have house lights on timers so that when I go away, it appears that someone is home.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm glad I have something brighter than solar lights, and cheaper than hard-wiring a switch in the house, which would have involved much more labor.
i loved my stainless steel and glass solar lights so much that I retrofitted them low voltage leds. the front of my house faces north and doesnt get great light exposure. Wired them up to a 12v 40 watt transformer and they look great. Store grade solar lights are made with crappy thin film photovolactic cells that trickle charge batteries. Some of those lights use much of that energy up in about 3-4 hours leaving you with never getting a full charge onthose batteries.
It is now 2015 and solar lights are still a joke. If anybody is satisfied with them then they just don't expect much out of life.
Look at the lumen ratings, and you will see why they are so dim. I am looking at an add for a 2 light set, it says the 2 light set puts out a total of 60 lumens. Now here is what an electric light bulb puts out. 40-watt incandescent bulb = 450 lumens
60-watt incandescent bulb = 800 lumens
100-watt incandescent bulb = 1600 lumens.
Don't be fooled by the cheap price and beautiful styling of these stick in the ground lights. They all end up in the landfill.
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