I ordered a motion sensor relay switch from Amazon last week. When it arrived, I noticed the instructions were a painful translation salad. The title of this post is the name of a section of the instructions that we would call “Troubleshooting.”
Anyway, I have added this sensor to the garage overhead lights. These lights are bare-bulb type fixtures and they have strings hanging down that you can pull to turn on the light. Typically, you walk into the dark garage and feel around in space for the string to pull. I know this doesn’t necessarily call for a motion switch, but there’s more.
Earlier this year, we installed a motion-sensing shop light over the workbench. It turns out to be an excellent feature, the kind you quickly take for granted. The problem is that it can’t see all the way to the door. It was never intended to see that far, but at night, when you walk into the garage, it can *almost* see you. You might have to swing your arms around in the air, before the light comes on.
I could probably wire up a wall switch by the door which would serve a similar purpose, but for some reason, the motion sensor idea has captured my imagination and so I gave it a shot and it worked pretty much as planned.
Now as you step into the garage, you trip the motion sensor and two lights come on. So far, there is no waving and dancing. Now I am walking into the garage every 20 minutes or so just to turn on those lights.