Motion lighting can be a fantastic option for residential properties and apartment buildings. From stair lighting to external lighting, motion lighting works by responding to movement. This can help keep your tenants and residents safe in hallways and shared areas during the night. It also means that lights wont be left on unnecessarily overnight, as the motion light will shut off when motion is no longer detected.
Although motion lighting is fantastic, it does sometimes encounter problems. These will require professional help and support from a qualified electrician. Here at Walker Electrical, we are Preston’s leading electrical experts. As a result, we have produced this guide to residential motion lighting problems.
What are residential motion lighting problems?
Motion lighting problems usually exhibit one of two behaviours:
- There is a problem switching on, or
- There is a problem switching off
Either of these problems may be caused by a multitude of reasons,but the most common are:
- weather damage
- incorrect or faulty wiring
- an issue with the settings
Motion light not switching on?
This is a common problem that could be one of two things.
Firstly, if your motion light wont turn on, check your sensitivity settings. Sometimes they are set by default to be extremely low which means that they wont respond to anything. Simply switch your settings, then turn the system off and back on after a cool down period, and this should enable the lights to react to motion.
However, if this is not the case, you may have some faulty wiring at some part of your motion lighting set up. Any tiny fault will cause problems. As a result, you should contact a qualified electrician to take a look.
Motion light not switching off?
As there are essentially two options for a motion light, off or on, the other problem tends to be that it is not switching off. A motion light that is permanently on is not only irritating during the day, but also wastes electricity.
Again, the problem could be down to the sensitivity settings. If they are too high, they will be triggered to come on for almost anything, and will continue to be triggered for no real reason. Altering your settings is the first place to start.
However, a power surge, storm damage or freezing can all influence the behaviour of motion lighting, and as a result, you should have a professional electrician check it out if adjusting the settings doesnt work.