I have an electric garage door opener that has, as is typical, two lights attached. These lights are inadequate; I would like to rig it to provide much more lighting when I am pulling in at night.
So here’s my bright (get it?) idea. I want to install a fluorescent light fixture and attach it to one of the opener’s light sockets using one of these. Then, the fluorescent fixture would light whenever the door opened.
Is there any reason that this is a bad idea?
Thanks,
mmm
Power-wise, it shouldn’t be a problem. The opener probably allows 60 watt bulbs, so replacing two bulbs with one fixture containing two 40 or 32 watt tubes would be OK. To some extent, the power limit is more of a heat issue so you don’t melt the sockets or the bulb cover than an actual maximum number of amps that the unit can switch on and off.
Have you tried using larger CFL bulbs? 55 watt CFLs are roughly equivalent to 250 watts incandescent.
Most fluorescent fixtures need a ground, and those screw in adapters don’t have a ground. Also, depending on how your opener controls the lights, you may find the lights flicker feebly when they’re supposed to be off - if it uses a relay, they’ll turn off OK, but if it uses an
SCR or triac, you probably won’t like the result. Try a screw-in CFL first to see how the thing behaves with fluorescents.
If you have the outlets you can add some motion sensitive lights in the garage. Then you’ll have the light even if you don’t open the door.
I actually have CFLs already in place, did it hoping to boost the amount of light. They seem to behave fine.
Not a bad idea, but I’m not sure how I’d attach a motion sensor to a tubed florescent fixture. I already have a safety eye that turns on the opener light when someone walks into the garage when the door is already up.
mmm
Motion sensor outlets: http://www.amazon.com/SensorPlug-Motion-Activated-Electrical-Outlet/dp/B000A3CIUW
motion sensor fixtures accept screw in bulbs, just use incandescent bulbs, the on time is short and they will work in cold weather.
Here is what I did. I screwed one of those adaptors into the light socket. I made up a box with a relay in it. On the relay coil’s coil mounting screws I connected a two wire cord. On the other end of the cord I put in a plug, and pluged it into the opener’s outlet. In the relay box I mounted a outlet. Wired the outlet to the relay and a three wire cord with a plug on one end. Pluged the relay box cord into an power outlet. Now my garage door opener operates the light and the light is grounded. And there is no posibalility of any feed back to the opener’s board.
When my door is obstructed, it flashes the lights. Can’t think that would be good for CFLs. IIRC there’s a sticker in the opener saying as much.
I was assuming regular bulbs. Fixtures for outdoor lighting can handle high wattage bulbs, and since they’re only on briefly the power consumption will be low and the bulbs will last a long time. But CFLs will work fine, I have those on motion sensors inside our house (it’s a log cabin, running wires for light switches is a pain).
Thanks, this hadn’t even occurred to me.
I’ll probably just mount and hardwire a separate motion-detector fixture inside the garage. It will see the garage door move and illuminate the inside of the garage.
Are these available without the light-goes-on-at-dark feature (or can this be disabled)? In other words on with motion only, not on with motion and/or darkness.
mmm
Yes. It’s usually the default mode. There will be a switch for the automatic on at dark mode.
if there is a photoeye then it can be covered with a dab of paint or electrical tape and it will always be in the dark.
Yeah, but then the light would always be on, no?
mmm
the security motion lights will come on with both motion and dark.
He doesn’t want them to come on when it’s dark. But he could paint the bulbs also to keep that from being a problem.
Replace regular toggle switch for garage lights with motion sensor switch. When you drive or walk into garage, lights come on and stay on for a few (adjustable) minutes. Many have photocells built in so lights don’t come on if enough daylight. Simple, no major rewiring.
If you live in a climate where it gets extremely cold and have an unheated garage, some florescent lights will be very dim for a few minutes until the warm up, others may not start at all, and some will have short bulb life. So you may have to experiment some to find fixtures that work well. It might also be a good idea to have one incandescent bulb in the mix for cold snaps.
I did exactly that in my uninsulated, detached garage in the Chicago suburbs. I’ve had that setup for over 2 years now. Never had a problem with it even with the flashing the few times the sensors were blocked.
I mounted the cheap, garage type fluorescent fixture from Menard’s a couple feet behind the opener. It provides great light all year round and is in a perfect position if I want to take a look under the hood of either car.
The wall mounted opener also has a button for turning the opener’s lights on indefinitely (at least until the garage door is used again) and I really appreciate the amount of light that it gives off when I’m putzing around the garage.
