My dad had to start by running electric from an outlet in the storage area to the far corner of the storage area where the light would be placed. He set up an electric box for it and installed the light... I don't have many details here because I was off doing schoolwork. Anyway, somehow he went through the wall and siding because the light on (obviously) on the exterior wall of the storage area... He wired it through a light switch so that we can turn it off it we would like. Apparently, he initially installed the switch upside-down and was confused as to why the switch was in the "on" position but the light wouldn't come on! He figured it out, flipped the light switch around, and all was good.
Our New Motion Lights
At first, it was too sensitive and everything was setting it off; in other words, it never seemed to go off. We lowered the motion detector so it wouldn't detect people or cars in the alley. However, now it's too low because I can walk almost all the way up to the light (when I park in the alley and walk through the backyard to get to the house) before it comes on. We still need to adjust it a bit until we find the "happy medium" - we'll get there though! Aaron also had to fiddle with it to get the dimmer setting turned off; it had been doing this thing where it would turn on for set amount of time, then dim down and stay on for quite a while. I can see why some people might want that, but, to me, that's a waste of electricity because if there is someone still in the area, the lights would continue to be activated by the motion detector!
Anyway, I'm happy to have the light in, even if we still need to adjust it a bit. Why did I want motion lights? Well, I had several reasons... One reason is for safety and security - they are a deterrent to a theft or vandal. Another reason is because we park in the alley and had to walk through a dark backyard to get to the house (who knew what you would step in?!). But the biggest reason is for the dogs - when we let the dogs out to go potty at night, we weren't able to really see them because the yard was dark! I like to watch the dogs from the windows rather than go out in the cold and you just couldn't see anything at night - now the lights make the yard clearly visible and I can keep an eye on the pups!
While I'm mentioning the motion lights... We already had motion lights on the side patio; however, one of the lights was burnt out so we replaced that while we were at it... Anyway, here's some pictures of the existing lights (just in case you care):
The Old/Existing Motion Lights
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