Help me find the right security lighting

[Bushman]

I have super bright white lights outside my house already, ranging from 800 lumens to 2,700 lumens depending on the area.

Trouble is if away the lights being on during the day are a dead giveaway. So I'm trying to replace some of the bulbs with those auto on/off dusk to dawn bulbs. I would buy the sensor that the bulbs screw into, but there isn't enough room in the housing to get the cover back on with those. Plus it's cheaper to just buy the auto on/off bulbs rather than a bulb and a sensor.

Looking for something in BRIGHT white (not soft white) at least 700 lumens that has good reviews. I've filled my cart with bulbs on amazon for comparison, this one meets the requirements, but has poor reliability, and everything else I've found is soft white or 600 lumens.

Amazon.com : Outdoor Dusk to Dawn LED Security Light/floodlight 9W 810 Lumens E27 LED Area and Wall Light Super Bright Bulb (4, Cool White 6000K) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

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[MasterChief]

7 Watt LED Infrared Motion Sensor PIR LED Light Bulb Lamp, 120volt 700lumens 5000K Daylight White Dusk TO Dawn Auto Switch LED Sensor Bulb E26 Base LED PIR Motion Sensor Bulb(10 pack) - - Amazon.com

Amazon.com: Sunforce 82080 80-LED Solar Motion Light: Home Improvement

 

[Bushman]

7 Watt LED Infrared Motion Sensor PIR LED Light Bulb Lamp, 120volt 700lumens 5000K Daylight White Dusk TO Dawn Auto Switch LED Sensor Bulb E26 Base LED PIR Motion Sensor Bulb(10 pack) - - Amazon.com

Amazon.com: Sunforce 82080 80-LED Solar Motion Light: Home Improvement

Thanks for looking, the first one looked like a potential winner until I realized the light is designed to direct light down, not outward. Second option requires me to remove and reinstall 6 light fixtures.

 

[Bushman]

Looks like I might have to come up with another solution, possible replacing the frosted glass housings on some of the light fixtures. Some of the reviews say the frosted glass works fine, others say it doesn't and the lights stay on all day. UGH!

 

[L84Cabo]

How about a fully automated light/bulb that you can control from your phone? Don't know if it would fit your unit though.

Philips Hue | Meet Hue

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

About 30 years ago I installed a couple of security lights on a house that belonged to a friend's sister and her husband. They had never been burglarized in the 25 years prior. That night feeling safer they went out. They came home a few hours later only to find the house burglarized. Their comment was they just lit up the path for the burglars. My opinion of security lighting has never been very high since. Double deadbolts( 1\3rd down and up on the door, makes them like locking lugs on a safe) and reinforced doors and windows are better IMO.

 

[etrain16]

From this electrician's point of view, having installed many light controls over the years, I find the old standy's are the best - hard wired light sensors or hard wired timers (can be put in place of the light switch fairly easily). If all your lights happened to be on the same circuit, a single sensor mounted facing north up near your roof or a single timer installed on the circuit would be a great way to go. Yes, it's a bit more work, but I think you'd be happier with the end result.

 

[Bushman]

How about a fully automated light/bulb that you can control from your phone? Don't know if it would fit your unit though.

Philips Hue | Meet Hue

I have this, the bulbs aren't bright enough for my large yard.

 

[Bushman]

About 30 years ago I installed a couple of security lights on a house that belonged to a friend's sister and her husband. They had never been burglarized in the 25 years prior. That night feeling safer they went out. They came home a few hours later only to find the house burglarizes. Their comment was they just lit up the path for the burglars. My opinion of security lighting has never been very high since. Double deadbolts( 1\3rd down and up on the door, makes them like locking lugs on a safe) and reinforced doors and windows are better IMO.

Wow, that's amazing! Their house burglarizes other peoples homes after they go out, who would have thought that for 25 years they were living with a house that burglarizes!

 

[The Heretic]

I have been stocking up on outdoor lights from Costco - LEDs, wide aimable flood lights, most with three sections each independent of the other. About half of them run on batteries recharged with solar panels, the rest are AC powered - those will be attached to the house or the shop where it is easy to run power to them. The battery powered solar lights are up about 15 feet on trees to light up the driveway.

But the key thing is, they are all motion sensor lights - they are not on constantly. Burglars do not like those - because the lights signal their presence and they cannot be sure that someone has not taken notice.

I live on a mountain out in the boonies. When it is dark, it is dark. I live on a private road, but it is not gated and anyone can drive up and down the road. I do not leave outside lights on. Generally my house is difficult to see from the road.

My neighbors on the other hand, most of their houses are visible from the road and they leave at least some of their lights on all night long as if they don't the bogeyman will get them. Anyone who desires to burglarize or attack their home, knows it is there and exactly where their lights are and how to approach the house without being lit up by the lights (there are usually shadows and gaps in the lighting).

Moreover, in any kind of SHTF, the lighting stands out to anyone driving by, and some of the houses here on the mountain can be seen miles away at night (I see them from the valley - 7 miles away - when driving home) in part because they have cleared a view so they can see the valley/etc. - not caring that others can see them. Two of the houses - very high end (one was sold last year for $1.5M) - have automatic power backup, so they will stand out even more when the power goes out (like it did this last winter).

My place OTOH - cannot be seen from the valley or any public road, and not easy to see from my private road. It is not lit up, and except for a driveway that leads to who knows where, you wouldn't really know there is a house there (the shop is visible). In the future there will be more and more vegetation blocking all buildings from view from the road.

Thing is, as I said, neighbors leave their outside lights on all the time (most of the time), whether they are home or not, but usually do not leave their inside lights on if they are not home, or they leave a few on - not like when they are there (or for some, like they are going to bed). It is fairly easy to guess whether someone is home or not - interior lights turned way down well before bedtime - supposedly to save money/power?

I on the other hand - being single - don't have very many lights on when I am home - which I am most of the time. If I go out after dark, I leave the interior lights on. Often in the summer I go to bed before the lights are needed, otherwise might stay up late with the lights on. So might be hard to tell if I am home.

Another thing, there are always vehicles here - I own three. "Studies" have shown that burglars are spooked by vehicles at a residence, especially if they get moved around and don't sit in the same place all the time (which mine usually do since I use only one for my daily driver) - during the summer I move them around somewhat by using them on the property. Either way, while my trucks are near the shop and visible from the road, my daily driver is near the house and not visible from the road, so a person has to approach the house to see if someone is home - assuming they know my daily driver, where I park it, and I am not home at the time.

Since it is a private road, someone casing my house would have to regularly drive up and down the road to know my habits (or hide in the woods, and know how to get to my house by walking a mile or more through the woods, probably giving themselves away by various neighborhood dogs hearing them).

The neighbors on the other hand, have much nicer houses and are much easier to discern whether they are home or not (IMO).

Finally, I am putting up some surveillance cams - most of which will be hidden.