Posted: 1/19/2014 12:29:42 PM EDT
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I placed 5 Jouneyman motion sensing lights around the exterior of my house about 10 - 15 years ago. Each one has 2 - 250 W halogen bulbs. Similar to these.
They were the best I could find locally at the time. They were made in China and I was not overly impressed with the quality but I couldn't find anything better. They have worked pretty well, but I am starting to have some problems and need to at least replace some sensors. I am looking for new lights, or at least new sensors that can switch 1000 W. The lamp/reflector assemblies are still useable. Looking around on the internet, I have found some sensors and lights made by RAB Lighting. Does anyone have experience with RAB, or know of anything better? Thanks. |
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Having changed sensors on defective units in the past, I now find it cheaper just to swap out the whole light. Everything is from China, and the Harbor Fright lights are cheap enough to allow you to have spares on the shelf.
What are you using the 1000 watt units for, if I can ask?  Never mind, I opened one of the links and see the big flood lights you are using.
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At this time, I have 2 - 250 W Halogen lamps on each sensor and I want to be able to add more if needed, so I thought that I should stay with 1000 W.
My present system has each lamp and the sensor individually connected to a junction box. So, it would probably be almost as easy to just replace the sensor, rather than the whole system. I could go either way, depending on what I find. |
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Quoted:
Personally, I'd switch to LED floods. I am considering that. RAB has a wide selection, up to 150W, 14,440 Lumens. LED Flood light. My present 250W T3 Halogen bulbs are rated at 4,000 Lumen each. RAB makes a 39 Watt LED floodlight rated at 4,596 Lumen. Amazon price is $259 each. Ouch! |
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A few years ago I searched for the best and everything I found said RAB was the best. In the past I have had a shitload of fucked up Lowes/HD Chinese POS lights. I am 100% happy with my RAB Lights which are Made in U.S.A. (at least the ones I bought).
ETA: Yes they were more but the quality is worth the difference IMHO. |
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Quoted:
A few years ago I searched for the best and everything I found said RAB was the best. In the past I have had a shitload of fucked up Lowes/HD Chinese POS lights. I am 100% happy with my RAB Lights which are Made in U.S.A. (at least the ones I bought). ETA: Yes they were more but the quality is worth the difference IMHO. Thanks. That is useful information. |
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I have been using motion sensor lights for 20+ years. I have been through multiple brands and types. If you are going to use them, it is best to shield the sensors from rain and sun as much as possible. The ones mounted under a long eave of a house last much longer than those mounted where they are not shielded. That being said, on average the sensors go out in a few years. The last time that happened to me, I got tired of it and took the sensor off the light, wired around it, and plugged the hole left from the sensors stalk, then went to these light timers that replace the switch the light is on: These are not your normal timers. They work off a real calendar and have dusk and dark times already programmed into them for your area. They automatically update for Daylight Savings Time if you are in an area that observes it. You can also set them to come on and off when you want it you don't want them to come on at dusk/dark. There is also a random setting that varies the times they go on and off everyday. Oh, and they have a built in switch so you can still turn the light on and off anytime you need it. I am running dual 120 watt equivalent cfls that only pull 23 watts each, on each of my fixtures. We have decently priced electricity here from our Electric Cooperative and it costs me less than $20 to run each fixture per year... There is no security like having lights that come on, and stay on by themselves every night and go back off the next day. No one knows if we are here or not. As always, YMMV. |
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Sorry I'm a bit late to the party. When we built our house, the builder installed some crappy $25 flood lights in the back of our house on the corners. They had long since died. On the advice of ARFCom, I purchased a RAB STL360. I just finished installing it, not 1 hour ago. It doesn't come with bulbs, so factor that in. I bought a pair of PAR 38 base, 120Watt equivalent LED floods. I bought them off Ebay for about $30/ea. First, the STL360 is built like a tank. It is heavy and solid. You'll get a workout if you try to hold it up while you wire it. Fortunately, they include a wire hook to hang the light to the mounting bracket while you wire it. By comparison, the light I replaced felt like it was made of tin foil. Second, the STL360 can point almost any angle and direction. Very easy to adjust. Third, the unit has two motion sensors. Mine is mounted about 12' up, under the eves. There is a down-pointing sensor that monitors in a 360 degree pattern. There's a second sensor that monitors in a 180 degree pattern, pointed out horizontally from the sensor. I've tried sneaking up on it from every position, and it activates every time. Fourth, you can set it to always come on at night (via a photocell) or to activate at night, or both day and night. Once activated, the lights stay on from 5 seconds to 12 minutes (configurable). I'm very impressed with it. They're not cheap (about $125 on eBay), plus another $60 for the LED bulbs. I'm planning to buy two more and replace my other crappy old lights. ETA: spelling |
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Quoted:
Sorry I'm a bit late to the party. When we built our house, the builder installed somed crappy $25 flood lights in the back of our house on the corners. They had long since died. On the advice of ARFCom, I purchased a RAB STL360. I just finished installing it, not 1 hour ago. It doesn't come with bulbs, so factor that in. I bought a pair of PAR 38 base, 120Watt equivalent LED floods. I bought them off Ebay for about $30/ea. First, the STL360 is built like a tank. It is heavy and solid. You'll get a workout if you try to hold it up while you wire it. Fortunately, they include a wire hook to hang the light to the mounting bracket while you wire it. By comparison, the light I replaced felt like it was made of tin foil. Second, the STL360 can point almost any angle and direction. Very easy to adjust. Third, the unit has two motion sensors. Mine is mounted about 12' up, under the eves. There is a down-pointing sensor that monitors in a 360 degree pattern. There's a second sensor that monitors in a 180 degree pattern, pointed out horizontally from the sensor. I've tried sneaking up on it from every position, and it activates every time. Fourth, you can set it to always come on at night (via a photocell) or to activate at night, or both day and night. Once activated, the lights stay on from 5 seconds to 12 minutes (configurable). I'm very impressed with it. They're not cheap (about $125 on eBay), plus another $60 for the LED bulbs. I'm planning to buy two more and replace my other crappy old lights. I only her good things about RAB. |
| I've been happy with the RAB stuff. I did have one sensor die about 2 months after I installed it so I gave them a call and after a 5 min phone call I had a new one 3 days later via FEDEX and didn't even have to send the old one back. I use to have to replace the cheap one at my parents place every year and I finally put a RAB up probably 7 years ago and haven't had one problem with it. |