Add Security to Your Home With Security Lights
Security lights can scare off burglars and other unwanted intruders. They can also help prevent accidents like tripping over a watering can or tripping into an open door.
Besides hard-wiring options that use your home’s electricity, there are solar and battery-powered security lights that work well for the same purpose.
Floodlights
Floodlights are often used to illuminate large sports fields, but they also work well as security lights. They can be battery-operated or connected to the electricity, and they come in a variety of sizes and power options. Some are suspended on gantries (which allows for easy access for maintenance), while led surface panel light others are fixed to walls, poles or fences. They’re available with various bulbs, including LED, which produces a natural-looking light that’s good for the eyes.
When a floodlight is positioned at a height that’s difficult for criminals to reach, it serves as a strong deterrent. These lights can be fitted with motion sensors that activate the illumination when they sense movement, and they can emit a bright, wide-angle beam of up to 120 degrees. They’re ideal for lighting driveways, front and back porches, office entrances, walkways and parking lots.
A lot of people prefer the wider beam of a floodlight over a spotlight, which is narrower and harder to point and control. Many people also like that floodlights are cheaper than halogen lights, and that they last longer. This is especially true for LED floodlights, which have a ten-year lifespan advantage over non-LED fixtures. This can save time, money and effort on replacements. You can also opt for dusk to dawn floodlights, which have photocell sensors that turn them on when they detect a drop in daylight and switch them off at sunrise.
Motion Sensor Lights
Motion sensor lights are a great way to add security and light up dark spaces around your home. They can serve as a deterrent against unwanted activity, especially criminals intent on property damage and burglary. When placed properly, they will turn on when someone approaches the area, lighting up their path and scaring them away.
When no movement is detected, they will stay off, saving you money on energy bills. You can place them by entrance doors or other areas of the house that you want to be lit in the evening, such as the backyard pool and patio, or the garage.
Many variations of this type of light include modes that you can adjust, such as timers and sensitivity settings. They can also be programmed to remain on from dusk until dawn or to turn off after a certain amount of time.
Installation of these lights is relatively easy for anyone who is comfortable working with electrical wiring and switches. Just make sure to disconnect the power to the existing fixture and use a voltage tester before you begin any work, particularly around live wires. Then simply swap out the existing fixture, following the directions that came with your new light, to complete the job. When finished, remember to seal any openings in the junction box with outdoor-rated silicone caulk to keep water from leaking in and causing electrical problems.
Wall Light Fixtures
The right lighting can prevent break-ins at your home or business. Motion-activated lights are one option since crooks don’t want to be seen, and you can even get ones with timers and other features that make it difficult for them to tamper or disable. Another good idea is to keep your security lights out of reach. This makes it harder for them to be tampered with or pushed off, and also keeps your lights from being accidentally turned on by people outside your property.
If you need a more affordable solution, wall sconces can be used to light dim hallways or stairwells. These fixtures are available in a range of styles so you can find the perfect fit for your space. Sconces can even add a decorative touch to any room.
LED parking lot lights are designed to add extra lighting where you need it most. This is a slender fixture that can be placed in a variety of locations for commercial and safety reasons. Some of these lighting fixtures come with a dusk-to-dawn feature so that they turn on and off automatically for your convenience.
You can also get rotatable LED wall pack lights that can provide up-lighting, down-lighting or both in different areas. This is a handy way to brighten spaces that are otherwise hard to reach without having to use extension ladders or other tools. These lighting fixtures also come in several options for wattage, light spread and scope.
Battery-Powered or Solar-Powered
If you have areas where there is no electrical wiring for a security light, consider battery-operated or solar-powered LED motion-sensor lights. They are easy to install and provide bright, motion-activated lighting for walkways, sheds, garages, fences, backyards and security lights more. One option is the HMcity 120 LED light which is easy to mount and provides a high lumen output. Its 270-degree illumination is ideal for illuminating dark corners and pathways that hardwired fixtures may miss.
You can also choose a solar-powered floodlight or spotlight that is part of a larger smart home system. These can be controlled through your smartphone or tablet with the Swann Smart Home app. They can be combined with door and window alarm sensors, PIR motion detectors, water leak sirens and indoor and outdoor sirens to create a powerful home security deterrent.
Most security lights use light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs that consume less energy and last longer than incandescent bulbs. They are safer as well, because they don’t overheat.
Most outdoor security lights switch on automatically at dusk and turn off at dawn, but some allow you to line up how long you want them to stay lit. They can also come with different light modes, which determine the intensity of the light and when it activates. Some models even have the option to only activate when it senses movement and not continuously.
