Driveway Dusk to Dawn Light

looney2ns said:
Much better solution is this>>>> See here
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Thanks for sharing that. It's an interesting product, but not sure it can be integrated for all applications. In my case I have five coach lights in the front on a shared circuit controlled by a wall switch inside the front door. The switch is currently an older model programmable timer that I want to upgrade to include a dusk to dawn option. Not sure how you can add a photocell option to existing construction in this case. The photocell solution looks really good for single light construction where the junction box is surface mounted or you can break the connection and install in a separate j-box.
 
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crw030 said:
So far no issue with battery, but most of those posts refer to a year or slightly more. So I'll have to wait at least another 6 months!
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Thanks - sounds good. I really like this model except for the battery issue. It can't be replaced.
One reviewer complained about the battery and suggested to get a Honeywell model instead, which is very similar to the Leviton model. One reviewer of the Honeywell model complained about the battery issue and suggested getting the Leviton model. I take reviews with a grain of salt.

I checked the timer I have in storage and it's an Intermatic EJ500. It uses a north-central-south zone for the initial dusk/dawn setting and then lets you enter your sunrise and sunset times to fine tune it. Only problem is that it's not recommend for CFL and LED bulbs (what I have). The timer needs a 40w min load and even then reviewers said that with the timer switch off, the LED lights can flicker. I'm not going to bother with this unit and move on to a newer model.

I checked out the four models below. The common complaint with the units that don't have a replaceable battery is that the backup battery fails. The complaint with the one with a battery is that the battery doesn't last long and it's hard to program. Mixed reviews on all the models so it's a roll of the dice. Maybe it's just whiny reviewers or companies that make crap products or a combination of the two. Difficult to find a decent reliable product these days.

Leviton VPT24-1PZ Vizia
Astronomic Clock (lat/lon setting)
Internal battery not replaceable
Neutral wire required
$28 on Amazon


Honeywell Home RPLS740B1008 Econoswitch
Astronomic Clock (lat/lon setting)
Internal battery (super cap) not replaceable
Neutral wire required
$35 on Amazon


Intermatic ST01
Astronomic Clock (zone setting)
Internal battery replaceable - CR2 lithium
Neutral wire not required
$43 on Amazon


Intermatic EJ600
Astronomic Clock (zone setting)
Internal battery not replaceable - built-in lithium (4-day backup power)
Neutral wire required
$43 on Amazon

 
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Normally "Super Capacitor" is instead of a battery, but some descriptions talk about the Honeywell using NiMH so looks like it could be a battery instead. Maybe they have a super capacitor version, if so that would be a solid choice (capacitors fail, but over a long period of time). I also like the other one that has a replaceable Lithium battery, I probably didn't encounter it in my searching, so never knew it existed.
 
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@crw030 - you may be right about how the Honeywell backup works. The biggest complaint about that is if you are traveling and you lose power for more than four hours, your timer will lose the time and not control the lights properly. Other settings are retained, but not time, which is critical. That's not a good scenario.
 
Corrected my sums. Made very early morning and got it wrong. Run time would be probably around 30 mins continuous on the assumptions I made. That might sound a lot but it depends on the length of time the light stays on and the number of false alarm switches eg wind, animals etc. eg. 5 mins stay on time = approx 6 switches on before the battery is depleted (on the assumptions I made and assuming my maths not to be wrong again. Obviously, if they are higher powered led's than my assumption = less run time, lower powered = more although I think lower than 0.1 Watt is unlikely.)
 
Hello tward392, I was going to brag on these guys lasting all night long but just checked and they are out.
I have a couple of sets pointed up into a tree and even though they are tiny, they do well with light reflecting off the leaves. They are not near a camera to see how they do offsetting the cameras IRs. Secondly, and I should have picked up on this in your original post. "Taking my longest ladder and going up a telephone (power) post" is never a good idea. I know we are all smart folks here but a safety disclaimer is never unwelcome.
Good luck!
 
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