adding outdoor light from interior outlet?

1867 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by joecaption, Jan 2, 2013

cbzdel

Discussion Starter · Jan 2, 2013

My neighbor had an electrician out and installed (2) outdoor night sensor/motion sensor lights lights on the back of their house. I asked my neighbor if it was much of a chore to do the wiring and he said the electrician just tapped into the outlets on the other side of the wall. Since the lights are motion/night sensor there is no reason to have a switch, so they are always on. I asked what he paid and he said $500 for (2) lights plus install. Which seems reasonable in my book but I am DIY kinda person.

I wanted to come on here and ask, does that sound about right, just install a old work box on the outside of the house, right next to an internal outlet, and then tap into it. Sounds easy enough to me, if I am understanding it correctly.

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Oso954

· #2 · Jan 2, 2013

I prefer to put the lights on switches so I have control over them.
Particularly in a backyard deck or patio situation, I want to be able to use the switch to over-ride the motion sensor, so the light will stay on.

If you are sitting around talking, do you want to wave at the light to turn it back on every few minutes ?
There may be other times when you want to turn the lights off, without killing everything else that is on the circuit you tapped into.

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eastcoastsparky

· #3 · Jan 2, 2013

Its always good to have a kill switch or in others cases a overide

Sent from my iPhone using DIY Forum

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joecaption

· #4 · Jan 2, 2013

Concider do it with one of these covers.
That way you have an outlet outside and switch for the lights.
What I've done is replace the outlet inside with a GFI so the outside line and the lights are protected and there's no chance of moisture causing a false trip.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...8E6858C958A385E5A126335E5D83B&selectedIndex=1

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