Neighbour asking me to turn off outside security lights

[DLL1]

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?

I think everyone is being a bit unkind to OP on this thread. Maybe she is afraid of the dark? maybe she lives alone? It depends what kind of location her house is in as to how scarily dark it might be at night.
My neighbour installed a motion sensor light and it shines onto my back garden and I am really grateful for it because I am on my own. So as posters suggest perhaps OP can get one of those. Buy the neighbours some blindfolds/sleeping masks!

If she is afraid of the dark then she could always take a torch with her if she needs to go into her garden at 3am.

Just a suggestion.

Or alternatively she could just get a grip.

Why on earth do you want your garden lit up when you are asleep? That's seriously odd.

It is meant to be dark at night and it is very selfish to inflict your desire to have a lit up garden which you can't see when you are asleep onto someone else and disturb their sleep.

To say nothing of the detrimental effect light pollution has on the environment.

It's a total waste of electricity to leave lights on all night. If you don't like the dark, go and live in the middle of a housing estate with lots of street lamps, or get yourself a nightlight.

I live in a very rural area with no lights. It's a standing joke with us that every time a house is sold in the valley they light it up like a Xmas tree when they first move in. Thankfully, so far all of them have got brave after a week or two and managed to turn them off. One or two have has expensive up lighters installed, one of them got broken into - I'm sure it's because of the "all mod cons" lights!

If you turn lights out your eyes adjust more, lights just make shadowy corners that your eyes are blind to.

Is the OP actually serious?

This just seems so ridiculous.

Motion activated lights are the bit that actually genuinely improves security (and not a constant stream of lights...).

There's also absolutely no need to angle them in such a way. Or have particularly bright lights... Street lamps aren't and they're still quite illuminating.

There's obviously also the issue of light pollution and imo clearly excessive use of electricity...

I’m afraid I agree with the people who think it is very unreasonable to light up your garden all night, OP, but kudos to you for taking it on the chin, and saying you will switch it off at night from now on.

Why did you get them? Genuine question.

Now now OP, that's not how AIBU works! What should happen is that you come on and ask if you're being U, everyone says you are. So, you should, by rights, come back, have a strop, maybe a drip feed, and argue that you're not U at all.

Instead you come back and say "fair enough, I'll stop being U immediately."

You should know that spoils everyone's fun

I would imagine a motion detecting light would bother people more. We have a huge motion detecting farmyard light, like a lamp post, and it is triggered by owls, cats, deers, coyotes, tall grasses, shrubs blowing in the wind - everything. But it’s a good distance from the house so it’s not a big deal. It’s not for security, we just like it to come on when we’re over there do to something.

This would drive me to the brink of insanity. You are being insufferably selfish.

An old NDN of ours had motion sensor lights. They snapped on periodically as rural area with foxes, cats, badgers etc. It was like the guardhouse in Stalag 13.
He was very proud of them “ you can see the house from all the way down the hill”
It was awful, really naff and very disturbing. Spent hundreds of £ on thick heavy curtains to block it out. So inconsiderate.

If youre afraid of the dark then keep your indoor lights on. Then you can stay awake instead of your neighbours.

Why do you want the garden lit up when you're asleep?!

I hate it when my neighbours accidentally
Leave their garden lights on all night. Dark is wonderful and peaceful.

Illuminating the ourside at night is incredibly antisocial.

I used to live in rural norway with zero crime. My arsehole neighbour had security cameras... To the degree you couldn't see the northern lights. Dick.

Joining in with the YABVU.
I hate security lights but what the OP describes is even more stupid and wasteful. I have new neighbours at the side and back, both lots create hideous light pollution with newly installed outside lights. I now hate living in my house. Light pollution should be illegal.

Duh. Lights not cameras!

Wow, commending your response to turn them off OP!

If you’re still reading @DLL1 I think you’ve had a hard time.

Lots of reasons why people might feel safer with a light on outside, especially if there’s no nearby streetlights. Unless you live rurally I don’t think you can appreciate how dark it is with no light pollution at all.

I think a fair compromise would be for your neighbours to put up some blinds, and your lights to go off at bedtime.

Ahem. I grew up rurally (though even though the nearest town was 10 miles away over the hills you could see the glare of lighting).

I could see the stars, the moon bright enough to cast shadows, and yes, some nights of absolute dark. Because it's completely natural and I am well supplied with grips.

Sometimes it's actually ok to tell someone to woman up you know.

@eddielizzard yes you can do something about LED street lights.

The one across the road from us shone into our bathroom through the frosted glass and refracted in such a way it gave me a migraine everytime I walked in. I had blinds but if I'd forgotten to put them down it was BAM! I contacted the council who that week covered over part of the light with masking tape then as a permanent solution painted black paint over that part of the light. It's fine now.

This is anti-social behaviour, OP.

If I were your neighbours, I would be furious about selfish, inconsiderate and completely unreasonable people floodlighting their house.

Got a motion sensor and apologise, OP.

If its shining on their landing, or any part of their house it’s unreasonable.

Our neighbours shine their lights onto the side of our front bay window

.I even heard a relative of theirs, tell them to angle it downwards, and the husband said no.

I dislike them immensely.

Surely leaving the lights on all night just helps the burglars to see what they are doing, turn them off or just have motion sensors.