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I am fed up of trying to get everyone in my house to turn off lights. I came home last night and 3 were on upstairs and everybody was downstairs!
What I would like is something that switches on like an ordinary light, but if no movement is detected within a time period (would be great if period is adjustable) then they switch off.
Anyone able to recommend anything?
Could go down the smart lights route and turn them off at times or put sensors up would require some wiring though.
Or they will make lamps with pir sensors built in probably the cheaper route.
Just get an adjustable time lag switch. They should be a direct replacement for your current light switches so no wiring involved.
Phillips Hue can do that. I have motion sensors in my hall, kitchen and downstairs loo (!!) and they all work as advertised.
I've been thinking the same for some of our lights; I looked at smart lights but by eck they're expensive, especially with rooms with downlights. I think a cheap PIR sensor from Screwfix and a bit of wiring is top of the list at the moment.
Plenty on sensor bulbs available or even better adaptors that sit between socket and bulb so you can use any bulb and save when a bulb goes.
What I can find is a dusk dawn light with a sensor. I.e. stay on for 2 hours before dawn and after dusk.
They have some in a building I work in - the sensor must be set to something like 30 minutes without detecting movement and they switch off. They are really annoying if you are doing something relatively inactive like working on a computer, reading paperwork, or on a conference call. They don't switch back on just by moving - you have to get up and stumble across the room in the dark to the light switch (fine when there is enough "daylight" through the crappy skylight to see by - but in winter its dark by 3pm). Whilst that is probably good for encouraging a bit of movement in the workforce it would be infuriating at home and you would extend the timeout on the sensor which probably defeats the purpose.
Philips hue will do exactly what you want. We have a selection of lights set up on timers in the alexa app and a motion sensor in the loo. It does add up, but you could just get the cheapest white only version pfurely for the lights that bother you the most. Easy to set up, easy to change the settings, no wiring involved.
Philips hue will do what I want but the cost is so high I might as well leave the bulbs on 24/7 for the next 5 years as it'll still cost less.
Cost of running LEDs is so low it's not worth worrying about
I just discovered you can get white hue bulbs for £15 a piece in b+q.
But £35 for a Hue motion sensor. Not cheap, if you need a few of them.
You can buy a basic PIR sensor for less than £10. Maybe a bit fiddly to wire up, but you can connect it to whatever bulbs you like. They let you adjust the time the light stays on for.
I have just fitted one in my shed, connected to an LED tube. Very handy for getting my bike out, better than trying to find the light switch in the dark
Google “in ceilling pir light switch”
‘buy them from a tenner, should be simple to wire in*
*iamae no warranty implied or given.
Thanks for all of the suggestions, plenty to look at there. I quite like the sound of the Hue system
I went for the Ikea setup eventually and am pretty happy with it (it is also compatible with Hue).
Whilst I have Hue lights in all my rooms the price of the motion sensor is a joke but if you hook them up to an Echo or something it's simple enough to just tell the lights to turn off (you can set a group like "Upstairs" to so you can turn them all off at once). Although with kids about they may mess around with turning off bathroom lights whilst you're up there etc :p
In my entrance hallway I just have a cheap plug-in PIR night light as to do it with a Hue sensor seemed a waste of money.
I've got a few motion-sensitive lights, mostly due to the poor wiring choices in the house (eg a stair light with one switch, kitchen light with switch at far end). They work well, I like them. About 25 quid I think. They can be adjusted for sensitivity, persistence, also level of ambient light so they don't come on in daytime. You can also get bulbs that have this sort of ability built in but I wanted new light fittings anyway.
They have some in a building I work in ...They are really annoying if you are doing something relatively inactive like working on a computer, reading paperwork, or on a conference call.
They had them in my previous office, for really annoying try when they go off because your not moving enough whilst doing intervals on a set of rollers in a gym with no windows or daylight!!
Does anyone know of a black lamp holder PIR sensor or a small black PIR sensor that could be used in an existing light? Indoor for a small room. Can't find much that isn't huge and looks very obvious.
phillips hue standby power draw is about 0.5W, that would pretty much balance out any benefit from being 'off' for more time.