Why place outdoor lighting so close to the main enrty door?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

Many people seem to have a outside entry way lamp in close proximity to their main entry door. This does not work well, particularly during insect season where you can’t use the light without having a swarm of something around it - EVEN if you use a bug lamp - yes it helps, but not 100%. So if you do open the door you get some of that swarm inside the house. Also having a lamp at apx eye level in the general area you are traveling does not help night vision at all.

Placing the lamp significantly higher then the door or off to one side provides plenty of light and does not create the situation where you are staring in the direction of the bright source of light, but lights up the area more evenly and also keeps insects away from the door.

Once the electrical wiring is in however it becomes so impractical to get the lamp moved. Perhaps this is different in a area where there are street lamps and people normally have that light off, but some areas it gets pitch black at night and some source of lighting is very welcome, but it is almost unusable at times.

#2

What about motion activated lights? While the light is off there are no bugs. And you reduce power usage.

#3

This is what I used to solve the bug problem around my front door. I like to have the light on at night but it was attracting tons of bugs. With the motion detector the light snaps on as soon as someone starts to come up the walk and it also turns on as soon as the storm door opens if someone is leaving.

#4

I deduce that the main reasons for having the light close to the door are:
You want to see the face of whomever is at your door in the middle of the night - the closer light fixture, the more light is on their face.
You want the light to find your house key - see above re: proximity and brightness.

#5

I guess a motion sensor would be a reasonable answer, I just don’t like them, especially the times they pop on for a passing leaf or something, it sometimes gets a bit unnerving at night.

Also the light itself is 3.5 watt LED would is rated to be about a 25w equivalent, so I’m OK with the energy draw.