LED sensor lights: the perfect solution for low use areas

LED sensor lights: the perfect solution for low use areas

LED sensor lights are an ideal option for exterior lighting and other low use areas.

February 22, 2019

As a rough rule, carparks and corridors are only occupied 20% of the time, while areas like fire stairs are occupied as little as 5% of the time. In low use areas like these, installing LED motion sensor lights will ensure you are not wasting money and power running lights when they aren’t needed.

LED motion sensor lights come in a variety of forms but, in general, there are two main types:

  1. Daylight sensors dim the light or switch it on/off depending on the amount of daylight available.
  2. Motion sensors dim or switch lights on/off when motion is/isn’t detected.

Outdoors, sensor lights will help increase security and aid visibility when exterior spaces are used at night. When you use an LED motion sensor light outdoors, you are warned if something, or someone, is moving around your grounds. Also, daylight sensor lights that turn on when the light fades can be a great assistance to people entering a building at night.

Most modern LED sensor lights have programmable settings. Depending on the quality of the product you can adjust the settings for:

  • Hold time: the amount of time the light stays on
  • Brightness: how low the lights dim when not needed or will it switch off completely
  • Staged dimming: for example, the light will dim to 50% brightness for 10 minutes, then switch off completely
  • Range: the area where motion will be detected, such as 15m or 2m away

What to look for in a motion sensor light

Good quality LED sensor lights will allow you to choose how easily your lights are triggered and how long they will stay on.

A remote control is essential if you are installing motion sensor lights on a high ceiling or hard-to-reach space. If you have LED sensor highbay lights in a warehouse, for example, a remote control can help you avoid having to get a scissor lift to adjust the settings.

Many LED security lights have inbuilt sensors. Alternatively, you can run a more complex system such as KNX home automation which uses external sensors.

As always, we recommend lights with modular parts, that way you can replace lamps or drivers without having to throw the whole fitting away and/or hire an electrician every time a light fails.

Austep’s top pick: LED sensor lights

One of our favourite LED sensor lights is the award-winning Chamaelon from EnLighten.  The Chamaeleon features:

  • 7-year warranty
  • Money & Power-Savings
  • Programmable motion and/or daylight sensor, can be used simultaneously
  • Adjustable brightness and wattage, via remote control
  • Time-Savings
  • Quick-fit fitting design saves time on install and replacement
  • Quick-fit battery design on emergency model saves time on battery replacement
  • Change program settings via remote control

Troubleshooting your LED sensor light

A frequent problem with LED security sensor lights is the light triggers too easily or stays on too long.

Good quality LED sensor lights usually have adjustable sensitivity settings to allow you to determine the level of motion required to turn the lights on. If the sensitivity setting is turned up too high, the light may be triggered easily. For example, if leaves blowing in the wind trigger the light it may never turn off.

Likewise, the adjustable time delay settings allow you to determine how long the light stays on once it has been triggered. If this is set too long, the light may stay on a long time then be triggered by movement again before it turns off.

All Austep Lighting’s motion sensor LED lights include detailed instructions and we recommend using lights with a remote control to make it easier to change the settings, especially if they are in a hard to reach locations.

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