Motion sensor light

[pikabike]

Call a tech rep at the manufacturer.

We installed the same model of MDL systems at this house and the previous one, ones that use halogen lamps. This company has been making them for a long time and has an excellent reputation which I think is deserved.

They do make a newer version that uses LED lamps. It costs more than twice what the “old” technology does. The reason is because LED lamps are not as long-lived as incandescents (halogens are one form of incandescents) when the application involves many, many short on and off cycles. The best systems use controls that are engineered specifically to mitigate whatever causes this problem. Swapping in LED lamps while using “brains” designed for incandescents apparently makes for little or no cost savings due to having to change bulbs so often.

As for the electrical consumption, we have MDL set to light up for only for a short time before automatically turning off again. All the lamps with both of us home and going back and forth in range of the detectors equal probably 40 minutes’ combined bulb time among them on a typical night (and less in summer, when daylight lasts longer). I doubt there is any noticeable change in our electrical bill for that. We never leave any light on all night except for one night light in one bathroom (yes, it is LED).

In a little under 4 years of using these identical systems at both places, I changed exactly one dead bulb (easy to do). I suspect it was just a bad bulb because it happened fairly early.

[Therblig]

I find this all pretty hilarious - vociferous arguing that LED lights "only last a few years" (which is not true for most recent manufacture; most of these stories seem to be about early-gen lamps) when the expected lifespan of an incandescent is about a year, during which it uses five times as much energy, at no real cost savings for flood-sized bulbs.



I guess we should all wait until perfection comes along, and in the meantime, the OP can park in the dark.

[victimofGM]

Bought an entire fixture at Lowe’s. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Secure-Home...-Light/3565438

The carport light is in the center of the ceiling of the carport. It originally had a square flush mount fixture which was replaced with a twin flood light motion sensor fixture that now isn’t working properly. Three reasons why I picked this fixture.
1. Flush mount like a traditional fixture.
2. 360 degree motion sensor to allow the light to turn on both when we drive in and when we walk out the home.
3. Does not have built in bulbs. This fixture uses four candelabra bulbs of no more than 25 watts each bulb. Bought 40 watt equivalent LED candle bulbs for a light equivalent of 160 watts. Will install on my day off work.

I live in south Louisiana. The air here is very humid. Not long ago the city replaced some of their traffic lights with LED versions. Within a year they began to burn out.

[victimofGM]

Installed the light today. No junction box above existing light fixture. Home built in the early 70s. Just a hole drilled in the wood for the cable to pass through. Used test setting to test sensor. Moved to 5 minutes for the timer. Has other settings such as longer and shorter timer, dusk till dawn, or a dual light setting that turns on lower power at dusk and then full brightness when motion is detected. We left that setting turned off.