How do I get me garage lights to come automatically?

Question

I bought 6 fluorescent lights to hang from the ceiling of my garage. The lights are not hardwired; they plug into outlets in the ceiling which I will be installing this weekend. I want 2 of them to come on when the garage door opens; the light on the door motor is way to dim.

Is there some sort of motion sensor that I can plug into the outlet and then plug the lights into so that the cars will turn on the lights when they pull in? Anything you can think will help! I do not want to plug them into the motor socket with one of those adapters though, the wattage of the 4 bulbs is too high for the socket.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Clap on - Clap off - The Clapper!

Answer 2

You could get a box extension with 1/2 inch knockouts and install it in the outlet the lights plug into with a small motion detector. Point it at the garage door.



Or, if the door motor has a 12V output signal to indicate when it is opening, you could use that to wire a contactor (basically a switch that uses a low voltage signal to turn on)

Answer 3

I have a similar arrangement except I have a wall switch which controls the sockets where my lamps are plugged into. I got a "motion sensor" light switch at a local big box hardware store. It fits into an electrical box exactly as the regular toggle switch does, which it replaced. It has 3 modes, ON-OFF-AUTO. It uses passive infra-red (PIR) motion sensing to see heat in motion. This might work for you. When I got the switch, I remember I saw other types, designed to fit into a regular socket in a lamp or ceiling fixture which does the same thing to sense heat in motion. Check out the big box hardware store near you.

Answer 4

I would use a motion sensor to detect the door opening or the car approaching. Install a regular switch ahead of the motion detector for over riding it and for doing maintenance on the fixtures later on.

Answer 5

Dave beat me to it.



Stop clapping off up there!