Motion Detector with Dusk to Dawn Barn Light

[W. Watson]

I have a neighbor with one of those large 500W+ barn lights. I do a fair
amount of astronomy from my property and it can loom quite large at night.
He seems interested in helping but yet has not taken any steps about
reducing the light. I would happily pay for a motion detector. I looked in
the local h/w store and about the only thing I could find is one of those
three socket ones that takes two flood lamps. One socket has a motion
detector and the other is used for the sensor. It seems like it might be
adequate but is it? Are there better choices? I think all we need do is put
in the line that goes up his tree some 20'.

 

[Charles Schuler]

I have a neighbor with one of those large 500W+ barn lights. I do a fair
amount of astronomy from my property and it can loom quite large at night.
He seems interested in helping but yet has not taken any steps about
reducing the light. I would happily pay for a motion detector. I looked in
the local h/w store and about the only thing I could find is one of those
three socket ones that takes two flood lamps. One socket has a motion
detector and the other is used for the sensor. It seems like it might be
adequate but is it? Are there better choices? I think all we need do is put
in the line that goes up his tree some 20'.

500W might be a problem. You could buy a solid-state relay rated at 1kW and
use the motion detector to control the relay which would control the
lighting ... but that is probably too much hassle.

I'd search for a motion controlled lighting system which handles that power
level.

 

[Yukio YANO]

I have a neighbor with one of those large 500W+ barn lights. I do a fair
amount of astronomy from my property and it can loom quite large at
night. He seems interested in helping but yet has not taken any steps
about reducing the light. I would happily pay for a motion detector. I
looked in the local h/w store and about the only thing I could find is
one of those three socket ones that takes two flood lamps. One socket
has a motion detector and the other is used for the sensor. It seems
like it might be adequate but is it? Are there better choices? I think
all we need do is put in the line that goes up his tree some 20'.

I think @10 cents/ KWH it costs him about $15.00/ month to run 500
Watts of lighting !

I don't think most motion sensors can handle even 250 watts !
You might find it cheaper to run 2 Sensor/lamps rather than one sensor
and a switched relay via the motion Sensor to increase the Power
handling capability.

You might be able to rig a small (10/20) watt light next to the light
sensor to over-ride the NIGHT sensor during observation times.

I think however telling him its costing him a couple hundred dollars a
year to run the lights without the motion sensor will probably get his
attention more than anything else !!!

Yukio YANO

 

[W. Watson]

Your $ estimate is about right, and there are many people in our rural area
that do have barn lights and run them all night. In fact, a local church has
about 20 in their lot and they are on all year, and often well before dusk
in the summer. Many people really don't care. Exactly how this light is
helping my neighbor is questionable. The sad story is that when he moved in
3 years ago, he tore down the skycap I had placed on it as agreed upon with
the former owner. It was my misfortune that the bulb burned out after he
moved in. He climbed up the ladder to change it and had trouble adjusting
it, so took it down. I'm a member of the IDA.

 

[W. Watson]

See my most recent post before this one. I think the only way this might fly
is to get a timer, which really isn't going to help me. If I get too
complicated, he won't go for it. I think I'll contact a buddy with the IDA
and see if they've handled this issue before. People around here think of
these lights as security. Any burglar would probably love to have all that
light to work in.

 

[W. Watson]

Thanks. That might work, especially since on direction he has is blocked by
a tree. That is, he's less likely to argue that it doesn't illuminate 360
degrees in the sense that it's hanging 10' away from the tree.