Best Outdoor Motion Sensor Lights – Buyer’s Guide

Motion detecting lights are not very expensive yet extremely useful if you want to guarantee the complete protection of various areas around your home or business. They will allow you to navigate in the dark easier without any fears or concerns. However, due to a wide variety of different brands and products on the market, it may be tricky to choose the best LED lights of this category for your needs.

Are you wondering which motion sensor lights to pick for your budget and demands? Check out the characteristics and features of different types of motion detecting lights to narrow down your choice a little.

Things to Consider when Choosing Motion Sensor LEDs

There are lots of ways to improve security around your property but perhaps the best way to do it is to install motion sensor LEDs that would cover a large enough area for your complete protection. However, choosing the right light bulb for this purpose may not be very easy so here is what you need to know before making your final choice.

As a rule, for a motion sensor light to provide sufficient home security, it needs to meet the following characteristics. It should be:

•         Sufficiently bright for you to see any threats around your home;
•         Able to cover a wide enough area to guarantee absolute protection of the space around your property;
•         Able to switch on when it is triggered by someone who moves within its detection angle;
•         Installed higher than other types of light bulbs to cover a much wider space and, thus, ensure better protection;
•         Completely waterproof and resistant to severe weather conditions so that it can last longer when installed outside your property.

So, what should you look for when selecting the right bulb for your personal needs?

#1. Look for the Right Fixtures

You need to pick the ones that suit the purpose and place of their installation. Thus, these lights can be high-mounted or low-level ones. The latter ones are suitable for making walking around the yard or sidewalk secure when it is dark outside. The high-level ones are more oriented at such needs as climbing the stairs or other similar purposes when you require extra security after it gets dark. In this way, you should select what meets your needs the most. Lights that are intended to be put near the doorway are supposed to serve three roles at once:

•         To light the area around;
•         To be a decorative illumination;
•         To protect you and your family from any possible threats by minimizing the risks when you come out in the dark.

#2. Look for Weather-Resistant Ones

All lights and their components are supposed to be mounted outside buildings. As such, if they are fixed somewhere outside the house, they need to be able to sustain harsh weather conditions like dampness or wet weather at the very least. Lights that are attached to the walls outside the building without a roof over them like the yard should be sufficiently long-lasting, weather-resistant and secure.

#3. Consider the Time When You Need Extra Light

When we are talking about choosing the right motion detecting lights, it is necessary to consider at what time you want them to be on. Such lights are supposed to be on at one time and off at the other. For instance, you may pick the lights that will switch on only after the sunset. In some models, there is a special timer that makes their on and off function pretty much automatic. The brightness of certain LEDs can also be regulated.

#4. Pick the Right Style

Just because motion detecting lights are supposed to be placed in the exposed areas, they will be visible to everyone around so their design also matters. Their overall style should be compatible with that of your house so it’s up to you which design to choose. Luckily, there are multiple options in this industry, and you’ll have a myriad of variants to pick from.

#5. Choose the Settings

Certain lights have automatic on/off features which is especially beneficial for the purpose of your home’s security. If you go away from home for the night, the lights outside the building will keep turning on and off regularly which will give the feeling that you are at home. Besides, motion detecting LEDs are supposed to turn on the light when there is someone moving in the vicinity and turn it off a couple of minutes after the movement is not detected anymore. But there are many combined control features that will also be very useful so make sure you pick the one that suits your needs the most.

#6. Pay Attention to How Energy-Efficient They Are

Some types of motion detector lights are not added with an automated control feature. That’s why it might be best to install dimmable lights to make them more energy-saving. Such lights will provide the necessary light only when it is necessary.

Benefits of Using Motion Sensor LEDs

Basically, the major role of motion detector LEDs is to sense any intruder that walks into the areas covered by these lights, after which it will immediately send an alert to the control display so that you know about it. Such LEDs can be used virtually anywhere inside and outside your house. Motion sensing LED technology has numerous merits and will be useful for everyone who is conscious about the security of their home. Here are the top 5 major benefits of using motion detectors:

#1. Power and Cost Efficiency

If you have a LED-based motion sensor technology in your home, it means you’ll not just protect your home from unwelcomed intruders but will also be able to save energy costs. That’s because they will not let you leave the light on accidentally. Many owners of houses choose to install these sensors inside their homes too, and this also makes them an eco-friendly solution. As a result, your electricity bills will no longer leave you disappointed as there will be no redundant use of power.

#2. Switch Is Not Necessary

Many of us faced situations when we entered a dark room and tried to switch on the lights but ended up hurting ourselves. With the use of motion detector technology, you will no longer need to switch the lights on and off manually because everything will be done automatically. This is extremely convenient for everyone who has switches placed inside the rooms, not outside which may prevent you from entering the dark room securely. If you install LED-based motion sensing lighting, you won’t face any of such situations anymore.

#3. Great Option against Burglars

LED motion sensing lighting is great to have around if you are afraid of burglars entering your home or the area around it. It is a lot harder to break into a home or remain not noticed inside the house if you have motion sensor lighting installed in the areas around your property. This appears to be a very effective and useful way to enhance the security of your home without the need to spend a big fortune on elaborate alarms or some special anti-burglar lighting mechanisms.

#4. LED Detectors Can Be Installed Anywhere

The best thing about LED-based motion detecting lights is that you can install these systems anywhere you like, be it the driveway, backyard or the area near your garage. This adds greater practicality and versatility to this kind of lights because you won’t need to check whether or not there are any lights left on inside or outside the house. It may be very inconvenient and even overwhelming to do this every so often, particularly if you want to have a rest or go to bed early. With LED sensors, you’ll completely forget about this problem, and your life will become easier.

#5. Motion Sensor Innovation

The motion detector technology is a very trustworthy and reliable mechanism that allows detecting whether there is any movement around the area covered by the lights. But this is not all. Some LEDs of this type will allow you to regulate the degree of sensitivity so that they remain not sensitive to bugs or flies crossing the path to your home. After all, it would be very unrealistic if such sensors were activated at the smallest motion detected near them. Be that as it may, the motion sensing technology will give you the peace of mind in relation to your and your family’s protection in all areas around your home.

Types of Motion Sensor LEDs

If to discuss the types of motion sensor LED lights, it needs to be admitted that this technology is not new so the variety of options is really diverse. The following types of these lights are the most widespread ones:

Space Measuring Type

This type of lights is based on the emission of infrared rays from the LED light. With the help of this reflection, it becomes possible for the detector to evaluate the distance to some person who is standing within the boundaries of the designated space.

Ultrasonic Lights

These lights work by sending ultrasonic waves in order to measure the moving person’s reflection. This allows such sensors to detect anyone around the designated area and sending an alert to the homeowner.

MicroWave (MW) Lights

These lights work by transmitting microwave pulses which allows them to evaluate whether there is any moving person or object around the area. They are more useful for those homeowners who wish to cover larger spaces by motion sensor lights. That’s because these LEDs can be used in much wider spaces than infrared detectors. However, they also have a few drawbacks such as the fact that they are more sensitive to electrical interference. What’s more, they are way more expensive and will not be suitable for those who are low on a budget.

Passive Infrared Sensors

Passive infrared lights work by sensing the body heat or, in other words, infrared energy. This type of detectors is the most popular option for home protection systems. When the security system turns on, these sensors are going to be activated too. As soon as they warm up, they will be able to sense heat and motion in the spaces around them which will protect your home from unwanted intruders. If the object that moves around the place blocks too many of the “grid” areas, while the rates of infrared energy start changing too quickly, the light detectors will be activated and send the warnings to your control panel.

Dual Innovation Sensors

Some of the motion sensors may have a combination of different features with the view to minimizing the number of false warnings. For instance, the passive infrared system could be used in conjunction with a microwave detector. Just because each of them operates in diverse areas and spaces and because one of them is active while the other is not, motion sensors based on dual innovation are less likely to provoke false alarms. That’s because both of them have to be activated simultaneously to trigger the alarm. Nonetheless, even such technology does not mean that there will be absolutely no false alarms.

Wireless Type

Nowadays, the majority of motion detectors are wireless which means you will not have to use any extra instruments to install them. They will not require any drilling either because they are supposed to collaborate with other safety systems remotely.

Tomographic Type

This type of sensors works by emitting radio waves which allows them to sense when these waves are somehow disturbed. Basically, this means that they can “see” through the things like walls or objects, and they are often installed in a way that allows creating a whole net of radio waves with the aim to cover a larger area around your home. These sensors are very costly, and they are usually used in warehouses or some commercial storage facilities. In this way, they are more oriented at commercial use or situations that require very good security at all times.