Motion activated lights, indoors - love or hate?

[ChickensMightFly]

I am planning my new lighting for the hallway of our house which is quite long (bungalow). The electrician has said that if we hardwire multi-way switches it will be a lot of cable (expensive) but if we use motion sensor the wiring will be much simpler (cheaper).
Maybe there are practical advantages of living with them as well as the cost he was talking about...?
My only experience of motion sensor lights were in open plan offices (stand up and wave every twenty minutes if you are last to go home), spaces not used often (creepy warehouses where the light pool follows you round as you walk) and one friend who put them in her kitchen and complained as they never came on / stayed off when she wanted (maybe just bad planning).
Does anyone have thoughts on the matter to help me decide? TIA

[Bluntness100]

I’m not a huge fan as they switch off quite easily, So for example if I’ve been in an office sith them, they can switch themselves off if you’re not active enough and you end up in the dark.

[ChickensMightFly]

True, that's been my only experience so far, good idea for the electricity bill in an office as people don't turn the lights off when they leave, irritating if you keep having to jiggle
In a home hallway where you would be passing through maybe not an issue?
I feel reluctant to do it but I think that is only because I don't have any positive experiences of use, but I can't think of a practical reason why they would be bad in a hallway? Are there occasions when you go down the hall when you would not want to be illuminated?

[Bluntness100]

I guess if you don’t have pets or intend to have them and ensure the sensitivity levels are set correctly and they come on without having to do a weird dance to make them, then it could work.

[PaulaSmith1]

Don't put them in the toilet

[ChickensMightFly]

Paula They aren't conducive to long contemplations eh?

[DespairingHomeowner]

I have some plug in ones in my hallway - love them!

[ChickensMightFly]

ah-ha! A lover of motion sensor lights.... do you mind me asking what makes them so great for you?

[Whoooootaminute]

Following.

Just had a full rewire so would be going for plug ins though.

[Lellochip]

I have my hallway light set up with a motion detector - it's only a small landing so I don't often spend much time on there hehe so it works well for nipping to the bathroom etc. The sensor doesn't pick me up till I'm almost at the top of the stairs though which is pretty annoying, but obviously not enough for me to buy another sensor for the bottom hallway

[ChickensMightFly]

Thanks! Sounds like a need to research sensors to get one that can look wide/far enough to catch sight of you / good position.

[DespairingHomeowner]

@ChickensMightFly

ah-ha! A lover of motion sensor lights.... do you mind me asking what makes them so great for you?

• cheap to buy (£10-20), plug in so no electrician costs (this is the main point), also double as a handy torch/worklight
• great for hallway/landing as don't need to turn on /off (hallway I always seem to be carrying things)
• they are at skirting board level so not blindingly bright to wake me up if eg nip to bathroom

• you can also set them to turn on at dusk & stay on all night eg if on holiday as security - not bad for an extra feature

I mainly bought them to light the hallway for guests so they don't trip down unfamiliar stairs. they are great for that, & mine also come on automatically if there is a power failure which I think is a brilliant safety feature. I liked mine so much I bought some for my mum's place and they were very handy when we tripped a switch there.

these are the ones I have, but there are loads of brands

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H72492O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?psc=1&ie=UTF8&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[BlackPuddingEggs]

We have lots of motion sensor lights and really like them. These mostly don’t turn on the main lights, but low level skirting lights or wall lights in some rooms. They are great in our utility room and boot room - places you tend to go into with arms full. In both cases we can override and turn on light with switch, so I do that if I know I’m going to be sorting a cupboard or something. Also useful in hallways. In bathrooms having low leave lights come on on either side of the loo at night is just enough to stop messy boys failing to aim.

The only one that hasn’t really worked out is in the living room - this is a big open plan space and the idea of low level light for moving about at night if you forget something is great. The problem is that somehow it’s not installed in the right sequence- we thought if we set the lights on the sensor wouldn’t work (we have lots of lights and might want different patterns for different things). But the sensor was never overriding. So we stuck a piece of card over it!

[ChickensMightFly]

Thank You, good to hear about real life domestic uses of motion sensor. I feel like I'm being dragged into the 21st Century.

[FannysSteadiedBuffs]

We had one for our hall light as the light switch is across the hallway from the front door. Was perfect. Then we had a power cut and found it would cost £75 to replace. So now I have a battery powered one to get me across the hallway to the actual switch

I would love one again - and upstairs. We have battery ones up and down the the stairs but I would love one for the upstairs hallway because, you know, teenagers.

[Fingermoose]

We've got one on the landing. It's great for kids' bathroom visits in the night and means we aren't woken up by light switches being turned on and off. Useful if you've got your arms full too, as PP said.

[ChickensMightFly]

"So now I have a battery powered one to get me across the hallway to the actual switch " hehehehe.

I am wondering why a power cut meant you needed to replace a motion sensor.

You are all making me think it is in fact a good idea. I'm really appreciating all the contributions.

[LadyEloise]

I have a battery one with a soft light in the ensuite - really handy so we don't fully wake up if we need to use the loo in the middle of the night.
I got it in Lidl or Aldi.

[FannysSteadiedBuffs]

I am wondering why a power cut meant you needed to replace a motion sensor.

Me too. I think the fuse in it blew. Then we got a £20 replacement, DH spent about 4 hours trying to fit it, so I looked for an exact replica of the one that had worked for 5 years which was £75 plus whatever a real electrician would have charged because according to DH the wires were "all wrong" and "didn't work."

[Handsnotwands]

we've got one in our bathroom, it's v annoying, i think it lacks some sort of override switch. it turns itself off when you're lounging in the bath, then just as you get used to the dark and peace, you move and it comes back on. i wouldn't do it again (without some sort of other control)

also switches on every time someone (or cat or dog) walks past, but i guess that's due to the location of the sensor

[Handsnotwands]

@FannysSteadiedBuffs

We had one for our hall light as the light switch is across the hallway from the front door. Was perfect. Then we had a power cut and found it would cost £75 to replace. So now I have a battery powered one to get me across the hallway to the actual switch

I would love one again - and upstairs. We have battery ones up and down the the stairs but I would love one for the upstairs hallway because, you know, teenagers.

we had this after a power cut but i had to do something or other to re set it (but can't remember what)

[ChickensMightFly]

Yes! I love a long soak... Think I will serve a bathroom one that sounds like a good way to spoil a lovely relaxing bath.

[didireallysaythat]

We have one in the downstairs loo - when we moved into the house I was grossed out by the colour of the string on the pull cord. We'll put one in the utility room when we get to it as we often walk in there with our hands full, and groping for the light switch isn't easy. We have plug in ones on the landing just to guide you to the loo....

[ASimpleLobsterHat]

We have one in the utility room as our electrician lost the cabling for the switch I find it annoying to be honest as if I’m loading the washing machine or tumble dryer I clearly don’t move enough so I have to wave my arms around every minute to get the light back on. You can increase the length it’s on for but then that’s feels wasteful as most of the time we pop in and out quickly. I don’t dare if it’s seen as old fashioned - I want a light switch.

[ASimpleLobsterHat]

Care

[MrsJamin]

We have them on the landing, hallway and utility room, so nowhere where people sit, just move through. They are brilliant and really make it easier to keep on top of lights being off.