Your electrician can install an indoor or outdoor switch, or both. It is only a matter of cost. I am surprised that a switch was not included from the start. (I bought a house with a photocell-controlled outdoor light circuit and I did not find the switch for a couple of years!)

Do you live in a particularly dangerous neighborhood that you need to light up the night? I am a dark skies kind of guy myself.

Thanks for the info. The electrician did install a switch but it only turns the lights off. They only work as motion dectectors or dusk/dawn lights. The switch turns off the the dusk/dawn. The switch does not turn on the lights!

We are older and when we hear noises in the dark yard, we'd like to be able to turn on the lights. We also have a cat and a dog and don't like them out in the pitch dark.

My husband went to HD today and told them the lights were not what we wanted and we'd have to pay, again, to have them removed. They said the electrician was at fault.

This is not what we understand. No where in the instructions does it state that the switch can turn on the lights. It only says you can shut them off. I called the electricial company and left a message but haven't heard back yet. I'll try again Monday.

I'm not sure what to do about these lights. Is it the fault of the electrician or the lights?

Thanks again,
Jane

How do you want these lights to work?

Light up when motion is detected
Stay lit dusk to dawn
Only work with light switch
Combination of the above

What is the model number of these lights? A link would be good.

We want light we can manually turn on by wall switch. Having motion detection is a plus but not if that means we cannot turn the lights on and off when we want. We have no interest in dusk/dawn feature.

I'm looking at the box and cannot figure out which is the model #.

I looked on line and this looks like it but I'm not positive.

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: Defiant Motion Security LED Light

The wall switch is kept in the on position in order for the motion detection to work. Have you tried switching it off for a few seconds and then turning it back on? That should put in to a manual operation so it will stay on until you turn it off. Double switching it again should put it back to working as a motion detector.

If that doesn't work, I suggest you call the manufacturer for information on how to use the light in manual mode.

I installed the Lutron remote dimmers on my outside lights, (LED's). I can turn them on from inside the house by aiming the remote control thru a window and at the remote dimmer outside.

I also installed the Lutron remote dimmers in the master bedroom, that way we can turn the lights of/off from the bed or dim them, if we wish.

Home Depot stocks these Lutron Remote dimmers.

We are older too, (70's) and these remote dimmers make life a lot easier for us!

Gary

Thank you dekeoboe! Why didn't I think to call the # on the boxes. I did and here's what I found out.

These LED lights cannot be set to work manually unless you do the double switching on/off twice. Then the lights stay lit for 1 minute. They then reset to auto.

Anyway, too complicated for us. I tried it and the lights shut off after a minute, I was trying to get our cat back inside and the yard went black.

The man I spoke with was very nice. I was surprised to find out Defiant is a Home Depot brand but I was told they would not work manually. He said with what I paid to install them, the electrician should come back and take them off. He said I should buy a standard flood fixture and buy LED bulbs to screw in. He said I should then return the Defiant fixtures/bulbs back to HD for a refund.

Hubby went to HD and bought the fixtures but was told there are no screw in LED outdoor bulbs. So he bought standard outdoor bulbs.

At this point, I don't care. I just hope the electrician will change out the fixtures without charging us.

Thanks for your info, Gary. Using remotes wouldn't work well in this house. Half the time the TV remotes are missing. I just want to turn the outside lights on and off.

Jane

There should be a nationwide ordinance forbiding lights to glare outside owner's property line. It should not be possible to see the light bulb from neighboring property,including upstairs window of next door homes. That would usualy require mounting lights on yard fenceline glaring into owners windows and patio. People would be far more carful not to buy the brightest lights on the shelf if they were going to be looking into them while sitting on their patio attempting to injoy the moon and stars.