Exterior Lighting Continued From Page 19
photocell was in a shadier location which turned that building's lights on sooner. If residents and see lights in other buildings come on as those areas darkened.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION » Photocells are usually located close to a house power meter and house power circuit breaker.
» When photocells fail, they tend to fail in the on position. » To check photocell light systems in the community during the day, place black electrical tape over the photocell and trick it into thinking it's nighttime.
To test this system, place black tape over the photocell, simulating nighttime.
Mechanical Timers
One of the oldest control systems, operating like a clock. PROS – Pretty simple and very robust. Consist of
at the desired on and off times and locked down with a pair of pliers.
− CONS – The correct time needs to be reset every time the power goes out. If the power goes out for two hours, the clock is going to be off by two hours. The on and off times also need to decreases due to the seasons. Mechanical timers should be installed by licensed electricians.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION » They are usually found in a small gray metal cabinet,
» check the community lights during the daytime.
Digital Timers
These are most often found in an electrical closet. Generally,
in an area that is protected from the elements. PROS – Digital timers have battery backup so that they can remember their settings if the power goes out.
− CONS – The display and buttons for programming the timers tend to be very small and hard to
20 Community Associations Journal | February 2024
read. It can take a little bit of time to review the instruction manual and program these units correctly. The on and off times will need to be outside. The internal battery has to be replaced from time to time so that it can continue to remember the settings if the power goes out. They should be installed by licensed electricians.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION » There is a button on the face that can be pressed to check the community lights during the daytime.
The on and off settings need gets lighter or darker outside.
Astronomic Digital Timers
the on and off times seasonally based on the longitude and latitude coordinates programmed into them. These tend to be found in the same gray metal cabinets that mechanical
timers are found in. They seem to be a popular upgrade. PROS you can leave them alone. Tend to have larger displays and buttons making them easier to program. They have a battery backup so that if the power goes out programming is retained.
− CONS – Can be a little trickier for the technically challenged due to the amount of information needed to program them correctly. Earlier models seem to have a little higher failure rate. They should be installed by licensed electricians.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION » There is a button on the face that can be pressed to check the community lights during the daytime
Dawn and dusk times adjust automatically to the season using global coordinates.
Summing Up Controls Each system has its own merits. Photocells are still probably the simplest and are fairly bulletproof. Astronomic timers are pretty cool too. They can be a little tricky on initial setup,
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
