Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Neighbour asking me to turn off outside security lights

196 replies

DLL1 · 03/09/2018 14:33

New neighbours have moved in next door to me and asked that I turn my security lights off at the night time. This is because they are (supposedly) shining into their landing and they sleep with the bedroom doors open and don't have a blind so it is going through into the bedroom.

They haven't said they will get a blind or curtain or shut their bedroom doors but want me to turn my lights off instead.

We have nothing but trees behind us so it's very dark without them on.

We have had the lights for 1 year and the family who have just moved out of that house never complained about the lights.

I turned them off last night when they asked but don't want to keep doing so as I paid a lot of money for them and like the garden to be lit up at night.

Am I being unreasonable if I refuse to turn them off during the night?

OP posts:
Joe66 · 03/09/2018 14:34

They need to get a blind or shut their bedroom door. Security lights are just that . . .

TheWinterofOurDiscountTentsMk2 · 03/09/2018 14:35

YABVU. We has this issue with neighbours, their bloody security lights shining into our bedrooms at night, it was horrible. You like you garden lit up at night so everyone else has to suffer?
Why does your garden need lighting up overnight? They don't shine into your bedrooms do they?

LemonBreeland · 03/09/2018 14:36

Are they shining all night? Or just with movement. If they are shining all night that seems a bit much to me.

Can they be angled away from the neighbours house?

jay55 · 03/09/2018 14:36

Are they on all the time rather than coming on when something crosses their path?
If so you are being unreasonable.

Plumsofwrath · 03/09/2018 14:37

Can you angle them away from their bedrooms?

Streetlamps have dim lighting and point downwards. They still illuminate enough to act as deterrents.

Basecamp65 · 03/09/2018 14:39

YABU - you have the right to light up your garden but not anywhere belonging to other people without their permission.

Can you try and angle them away, maybe turn off the one that is causing the problem or maybe offer to buy blinds etc.

But when all said and done it is the same as noise nuisance.

WhirlyGigWhirlyGig · 03/09/2018 14:40

Are they not PIR lights. We have them but have them set for as short a time as possible so they act as a deterrent but don't annoy people. We also bought the led warm white ones rather than cool white on advice that cool white could aggravate neighbours.

Trethew · 03/09/2018 14:40

My neighbors motion activated security light shone against my window. Absolutely infuriating. Still aware of it going on and off through heavy curtains. Had to put bacofoil over the Velux. Eventually it broke and was replaced with a less bright version which was not like a floodlight in my windows.

Could you not compromise on the brightness and direction?

Original poster
DLL1 · 03/09/2018 14:41

They are the up/down lights that sit on the side of the house they are on all night but only shine up and down so not directly into their house and are not near any of their bedroom windows only their landing window.

Maybe I am being unreasonable I just thought if they were that much of a problem the previous neighbours would have said so

OP posts:
Abra1de · 03/09/2018 14:41

You need to change the bulb to make them less glaring and turn them to movement only not on all the time. Otherwise you are creating unnecessary light pollution.

kaytee87 · 03/09/2018 14:42

Yabu. Motion sensors would be fine. I'd hate there to be bright lights on next to me all night

Imsorrylhaventaclue · 03/09/2018 14:42

YABU to want your garden to be lit all night - it’s supposed to be dark, it’s night time! Having a bright light shining into your house all night sounds awful, I’m not surprised they complained.

Abra1de · 03/09/2018 14:42

Why do you need them on all the time? Even very large and expensive mansions don’t have that.

Original poster
DLL1 · 03/09/2018 14:42

I'm going to buy lower wattage bulbs see if that helps

OP posts:
MrsStrowman · 03/09/2018 14:42

Our behind neighbours' were like this shining straight at our back bedroom window, there are lots of foxes and cats in our area so they were on and off like a disco every night, went and spoke to them nicely, recognised I was being a pain but was there any way of angling them down a bit (compared it to car headlight dazzle) , they very kindly did, they now still have their security lights but they don't flash at our window anymore. However we both have gardens of around 100ft so the lights are quite far away, it really was just that they were angled up instead of down, but it could work in your situation too

Hissy · 03/09/2018 14:44

We have had the lights for 1 year and the family who have just moved out of that house never complained about the lights.

Erm, perhaps the floodlights were the reason they moved?

I turned them off last night when they asked but don't want to keep doing so as I paid a lot of money for them and like the garden to be lit up at night.

You paid a lot of money to illuminate your garden to the level that it lights up somones HOUSE? You paid a lot of money doing something STUPID tbh. That's intrusive.

Are you lighting up your whole garden at night? not motion sensitive?

YABU. VVU

It's not on. not on at all! get them motion sensitive and angled down so that not a bit of your light illuminates someone elses property.

WhirlyGigWhirlyGig · 03/09/2018 14:45

Also f they're motion sensor ones, we've set a very short distance on ours so that a cat trotting past 7m away doesn't set them off. We've had to fiddle with ours to get the settings just right.

Pickleypickles · 03/09/2018 14:45

YABU yo have them on all night, get a motion sensor fitted on them.

dentie · 03/09/2018 14:46

How are they security lights if they are on all the time?

CatsGalore · 03/09/2018 14:46

YABU why should your house be lit up all night whilst you are in bed? I assume you don’t see the lights from your bedroom so why should your neighbours have to?

Stormzyandme · 03/09/2018 14:47

Maybe your old neighbours had blinds up?

TheWinterofOurDiscountTentsMk2 · 03/09/2018 14:47

Maybe I am being unreasonable I just thought if they were that much of a problem the previous neighbours would have said so

If your partner said you shouldn't complain about anything he does because his last girlfriend didn't, would that be ok?

I'm going to buy lower wattage bulbs see if that helps

that doesn't make it ok, you will still be shining your lights into theie house. Move them away or turn them off.

MrsStrowman · 03/09/2018 14:47

Yours don't seem to be security lights, YABU for illuminating your house all night

HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone · 03/09/2018 14:48

The people at the back of us have similar lights which after several complaints (not just from us) they turned onto a motion sensor setting. I really don't understand why they or you need lights on all night?

In all honesty they shouldn't need to get a blind or close the door its night time it should be dark. They shouldn't need to change what they do just because you want your house to be lit up like it is still daytime.

I don't think changing to a lower watt bulb will help in this situation you really need to consider making them motion activated rather than a little less bright.

yunalis · 03/09/2018 14:49

Someone that lived across the road got new security lights and kept half the street awake. Fortunately one of the other neighbours talked to him and he turned them off.

Can you get a baffle like the new LED streetlights use?

It seems like a waste of electricity though. How bright does your back garden need to be if you're asleep? Would better door/window security make you feel better?