I was worried about the cost too, but ended up grabbing some budget-friendly motion sensors online. Honestly, setup wasn't as intimidating as I expected—just took a bit of trial and error to get the sensitivity right. Had to tweak it a few times to avoid lights flicking on when the cat wandered by at night...but overall, pretty manageable even for someone not super techy. The convenience is definitely worth it if you find a good deal.
Totally agree on the motion sensors—picked some up myself recently and had similar issues dialing in the sensitivity. A few quick thoughts from my experience:
- Definitely worth spending a bit extra on adjustable sensors. The cheaper ones I got initially had limited settings, so I ended up upgrading to ones with more granular sensitivity adjustments. Big difference in avoiding false triggers (my dog was setting them off constantly at first...).
- Consider pairing motion sensors with dimmable LEDs. I swapped out my older bulbs for dimmable ones, and now the lights ramp up gently rather than blasting full brightness instantly—much easier on the eyes late at night.
- If you're comfortable with a bit of wiring, hardwired sensors tend to be more reliable than battery-operated ones. Batteries seemed convenient initially, but replacing them every few months got old fast.
Overall, motion sensors have been a game changer for convenience and energy savings. Just takes some patience upfront to dial everything in.
Good call on dimmable LEDs, hadn't thought about pairing them with motion sensors. Personally though, I'd skip the hardwired route—battery tech has improved a lot lately, and swapping them once or twice a year isn't too bad... especially compared to crawling around in my attic again.
"battery tech has improved a lot lately, and swapping them once or twice a year isn't too bad..."
True, battery tech has come a long way, but personally I'd still lean toward hardwired. Just finished installing under-cabinet LEDs in my kitchen reno, and while fishing wires through walls was definitely a pain (and dusty!), the peace of mind knowing I won't have to swap batteries mid-cooking session is worth it. Plus, I like the cleaner look without battery compartments visible. Guess it depends on your tolerance for attic crawling... mine's apparently pretty high.
Hardwired does have its perks, especially if you're already tearing things apart anyway. But honestly, after dealing with a rental property where tenants kept calling me about flickering lights (turned out to be shoddy wiring from a previous owner), I'm starting to think batteries aren't such a bad compromise. Sure, swapping them out once or twice a year might be mildly annoying, but compared to troubleshooting mystery wiring issues behind drywall...I'll happily take a few minutes on a step ladder.
