electric wiring (lights, building, electricity, circuit)

[gdy_all]

just bought a house and there is a set of light in the back yard that don't come on at all. I changed the light bulb and still no light. there no switch anywhere that can turn them on. how do i go about finding the switch?thank you in advance

[Barking Spider]

Ask the person you bought the house from? Second would be to hire an electrician to come and trace the circuit for you.

[greglovesoldtrucks]

Asking the PO is a great idea.

If they cannot be found, maybe try these....Look for a photocell on any of the light posts/poles/fixtures that may control the dusk to dawn feature the PO liked, that may have failed now.

Look for any wall switch on a wall inside the home that is not turning anything on or off. Check your breaker box labels, someone may have been nice and written on the label index what circuit the light(s) are on. If they did, this can be a starting point for circuit tracing.

If there is a outbuilding that has electricity in it, they may have powered the fixtures from it also, and have the photocell for the outdoor lights mounted on the building itself.

[gdy_all]

Originally Posted by greglovesoldtrucks

Asking the PO is a great idea.

If they cannot be found, maybe try these....Look for a photocell on any of the light posts/poles/fixtures that may control the dusk to dawn feature the PO liked, that may have failed now.

Look for any wall switch on a wall inside the home that is not turning anything on or off. Check your breaker box labels, someone may have been nice and written on the label index what circuit the light(s) are on. If they did, this can be a starting point for circuit tracing.

If there is a outbuilding that has electricity in it, they may have powered the fixtures from it also, and have the photocell for the outdoor lights mounted on the building itself.

You are right, there is a photocell in the attic that control the back yard lights and they working now.
Thanks for you.

[greglovesoldtrucks]

Originally Posted by gdy_all

You are right, there is a photocell in the attic that control the back yard lights and they working now.
Thanks for you.

Great ! Good to read you have them working now.

On Edit: If the photocell is actually located inside the attic, it will not be operating very well. As the light inside of a enclosed attic will be a lot different, that the light changes outside from dawn to dusk. The photocell needs to be located on the outside of the house wall while not facing any other light sources, to work its best during the night hours.