How to choose a security Light for your Home - Hardwired Security Light

Background

Nowadays, more and more people choose to install outdoor wall lights on patios and porches. Outdoor wall lights can be installed to improve aesthetics as well as provide daily lighting. Security light plays an important role in home security - when it illuminates a dark driveway, sidewalk or yard, it will provide peace of mind and  make you feel safety. Have lights stay on overnight is not an economical way to scare intruder or anmials.Motion-activated security lights can catch intruders off guard, surprise them and make them think twice about approaching your home. 

If you are choosing security light for your home, you may be overwhelmed by the wide range of options available to you. Having a clear understanding of your lighting goals and a thorough knowledge of the various products on the market will contribute to choosing the right security light for your home.

This article will mainly talks about the wired security light.

Why we choose hardwired security light

We all know that battery or solar security light are convenient. But you cannot count on their brightness and stability.

• Brightness issue

Because the power limitation of the battery or solar battery, the brightness of a solar/battery security light is low. (remember not to trust the advertising power for a solar light) If we really need a high brightness security, for example, 3000lumens. Choose a wired light.

• Stability issue

you might encounter the long-time bad weather or getting a battery-eater. In some place or some time, solar power is shaky. When It works they are good, but when they stop working, it’s always frustrating.

How to choose a security Light

Fist of all, list what you need: installation; Brightness; coverage; lighting angle; adjustment; waterproof and settings. Yeah, you might find there’re a lot of factors need to be considered and some sound complicated. But after reading this article, you’ll have a knowledge about it.

Installation

Normally it’s a job of electrician but you still need to know where to install it. Most of people choose to mount the light to a junction box to wall or a eave. If you install it to a eave, the lighting angle and motion sensor angle might be limited. So take this into consideration if you want to mount the light to eave.

Brightness

700-1000 lumen could meet the basic demand as a security light. 3000 lumen light is brightness enough for a big yard. “the brighter, the better” is not right in terms or yard lighting. You need to care more about the other factors like color temperature (4000-5000 kelvin is proper for human eyes, if you have to use it every day. Think about the phototoxicity.) and whether the brightness could be adjusted. 

Waterproof

When we talk about the waterproof performance. We mainly refers to IP rating. IP rating basically tells you how well the fixture protects against moisture and dust. When purchasing a fixture for your yard or other outdoor place, the minimum IP rating you should look for is IPX4 (IP44), which will protect your fixture from rain or spray water. But if you want to expose the light in place like a bare wall, the IP rating should be over IP65. 

Lighting angle

Security light are very bright and may interfere with some people's sleep patterns if not installed in a proper location. A Motion-activated light with wider adjusted angle can help you direct the beam to avoid lighting up your or your neighbor's windows at night. 

Settings

Last but no least, setting is also an important part of a security light. You need to know what it could do. I list below some common used settings for a security light here, please have a look and see if you really want this setting

• Sensitivity - this determines how far the sensor works and turn on the light. It’s recommended to choose a distance that could cover your yard.
• Dusk to Dawn - D2D mode, the light works as a dusk-to-dawn light in this mode.
• Lighting Duration - how long the lights will be on when it’s triggered.
• Override - some light could be override to work as a floodlight. They often call it manual mode, please check if they advertise this. Normally they will provide some lighting duration for this mode.(3Hours/6Hours)
• Test - these light are normally being install in the daytime, you need this mode to block the photocell to test if it could work. Remember to switch to auto mode after testing.

Conclusion

In order to use energy more efficiently, choosing the right lighting fixtures will make many changes to the impact on your life. The above factors are mainly about the performance. To choose a proper security light, you also need to consider the common factors like brand, warranty and price. Hope my article help you in choosing a proper hardwired security light.  

P.S. If you want to learn about how to choose a solar security light, please read this article - "How to choose a Solar Security Light?"