pendennis

My garage outdoor light is getting long in the tooth. While it has a motion sensor, the entire unit is just getting long in the tooth, about 20 years old.

My thoughts are running to a solar powered LED unit, with two-three heads. Home Depot, etc., have a lot from which to choose.

Anyone have any strong opinions as to brands, whether solar panels included work good, etc.???

Thanks.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I'd buy the one made by Nikon!

Ollieboy

Solar panel lights are only good if they work with a motion sensor. If they are designed to stay on all night they are barely adequate in the winter due to short daylight hours for charging and longer nights. In my opinion powered LED is the way to go, especially if you already have power there. I have 3 powered LED lights on my property and they work great.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

I'm going with Ring motion detection and video monitor. Several options.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

I bought two different ones from Harbor Freight earlier this year for different parts of the backyard, very satisfied, both very good, Bob.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

I replaced a non-functioning flood light on my garage with a motion sensing LED light. The lights were so bright my neighbor across the street was complaining it was shining in their bedroom. I had to aim the lights down and change the timer to 5 seconds on and decrease the sensitivity.
Sensitivity should be decreased because leaves blowing past the sensor will set it off.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Toby

my experience with solar devices is that the plastic covering fogs over in a few years and no longer lets sufficient light pass to maintain the charge. For something that you want long term an LED light set uses little power and will last many years

dougbev3 Loc: Pueblo, Colorado

These "Smart switches " along with the "Smart Lights" , work really well. might want to look into them.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

Even though the current system is old, if it's still fully functional why replace it now? By all means do some research now, to figure out what to replace it with when (if) it does finally start to fail, but if it puts light where and when you want it, be glad you bought a good one back when it was installed.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Using a solar cell to power it implies that (a) you have adequate sun exposure to fully charge the battery (b) that you’re willing to replace the battery every few years, and (c) that it doesn’t need to be on for long periods at night. The net-net is if you have 120 VAC power available at the location, that’s the preferred solution as it prevents any of the above issues.

Abo

I bought one of these solar powered jobs : https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/solar-powered-motion-sensor-led-flood-light-120-led-400-lumens/ with motion sensor. It's running as strongly as when I installed it 5 APRIL 2019.


It adjusts for motion sensitivity, for ambient light sensitivity and
the duration the light stays on.... absolutely
all exactly how you want it to the enth degree.

The solar panel is a separate module on a long lead.

I have the solar panel mounted on the carport roof and the light under the
carport roof aimed straight down about 4 metres from the front door.

When I drive in the driveway the light comes on
illuminating the general area, and importantly the front door
with its 400 lumen flood so there's no hassle finding the front door key and lock.

400 lumens is not terribly bright when it's a spread flood,
but there's plenty of light to see what your doing
and to welcome you home at night.

A well engineered unit that makes the most of the sum of its parts imho.

If you need to illuminate an area larger than a double carport
I'd get something else... or at $30 Australian, multiple units would
not break the bank.

pendennis

To all, thanks for the great information. I inspected the fixture itself, and it's in great condition; no weathering to speak of, the sensor still works great, and it's firmly affixed to the front of my detached garage, with no weather leakage.

For the interim, I'm going to replace the existing incandescent bulbs with a couple of LED floods with about 3K lumen and 25v usage.

You've given some wonderful suggestions, and I'll save this conversation for the future.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

I have one that turns on at dusk when the light is low but is activated to bright when someone triggers it. It stay on for quite a time does not sign off and have to be reactivated. as long there is someone there giving them motion. Some turn off and have to be reactivated. But that one is not solar.