Automating Property Lighting From Dusk Till Dawn

I ran across these Dusk-Till-Dawn light bulbs when I was doing research on how to solve a specific problem at Loudoun Escape.

I wanted the ability to leave the external lights so the entrances would be well lit for guests accessing the property at night, and for security purposes.

Most good security systems have the ability to monitor at night. However, to have the best visibility externally, you want to make sure lights are on at night. The challenge I faced with traditional light bulbs, was that they would stay on all day if I kept the light switch on inside. I wanted to work toward the goal of automating property lighting to do the heavy lifting in saving me time and electricity.

I was impressed with these Dusk-Till-Dawn lights the more I read up on them. They automatically turn on at dusk and off at dawn. In theory, they have the ability to adjust for longer and shorter days and nights because they sense natural light (or lack thereof) and turn on or off accordingly.

For these light bulbs to work, the light switch has to always be in the “ON” position. If someone accidentally switches the light switch off, these Dusk-Till-Dawn lights will not go on.

Tips on automating property lighting

There are two ways you can solve this problem:

1. Get a light switch cover. These often have small magnets that attach to the light switch screws to keep them up on the wall. There are many varieties and styles of these. I personally liked the ones that are closed on all sides and had a simple look to them. The ones I used can be found here.
2. Hard-wire your dusk-till-dawn lights directly to power. This approach bypasses the light switch and will give constant power to your lights. Make sure you have a handyman who is a licensed electrician do this. If you go with this approach, you can get a different face-plate for your wall that closes this light off entirely OR do a combination of option 2 with option 1 above. This allows you to revert easily if you ever needed to.

We have done both options above at Loudoun Escape. These light bulbs have operated perfectly and were the easiest solution to solve the external lighting problem faced at the property.