Yard light - or not?

We are putting up motion detector lights, since we will not be at our property 24/7... and am also thinking about putting in the little malibu lights that sit at ground level, along the driveway... they are solar.. and charge during the day and come on at dusk... We have no one really close to us as far as bright lights go... so I dont want to be the one to start that... and I wont, that is why I am leaving the city..

but a big pole light, that I had not control of and yet have to pay for.. I think I would be willing to see it leave and put up my own lights else where.

Lynn in Texas

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When we moved in we had a light on our power poll. It lit up the house, the yard and the whole area. $10/month from the utility. What annoyed me the most was the fact that i couldn't turn it off. About half the houses here have 1 or more mercury vapor lights, so I figured we could try with out it.

I haven't missed it yet. We have a porch light we can turn on when we want. It's not as bright, but I don't need much light to shovel the driveway or walk to the barns. If I need something brighter for a few days of the year I can turn on some flood lamps. I have my own power poll that I can put a light on if need be though.

I'm not sure if it provides any security, it depends what your scared of I guess. You can always find horror stories around, but out here the crime rate is low, and if someone want to TP the house, stuff hay in the mail box, or soap the windows I'm not sure the light will help. Maybe it would stop the idiots from riding their 4 wheeler/snow mobile over my front lawn??? arg....I'll get those kids!! :yeeha:

You've convinced me to get rid of the light. Hope they don't ruin my honeysuckle in the process. I have porch lights, motion detector lights, switched lights in the wood shed and have run a line out to the barn and found a coach lamp at Walmart for under $20 - complete with stand - I can pick the whole thing up and move it where ever I want and turn it on from the house.

Besides, if I want it back they will put it back for free as long as it has been one year.

None of my neighbors have these lights and while they are probably used to mine, wouldn't matter much anyhow - we are all very isolated from each other as far as line of sight.

My place had the Malibu lights along the driveway also when I moved in. They turned out to be a mess! The tops popped off and I can't take a wheelbarrow through the sides of the driveway. I replaced them with rope lights, but found I didn't need them so I put the rope lights up in the barn. Now when I switch on the lights from the house the entire inside of the barn lights up!

With all of that I am convinced I don't need the big yard light. Just don't like not having a choice about turning it off! Maybe I can convince them that they would still get there pole fee if they would just put a switch on the pole.

I know this place was broken into once before I moved in. That is probably why the elderly lady who lived here had all these lights. But the breakin was during the day!

Thanks for your input, glad to see I'm not alone in dealing with this.

Debbie

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Well, we've never had a pole light, but I have to say I really hate the ones the neighbors have. The lights are so bright at night that they actually light up my bedroom wall even though they are about 10 acres away!

Our 1865 house came with an old barn light mounted on the wall about 5 ft. above the back door. It uses a regular 60 watt bulb and has a switch inside the boor door. It gives off plenty of light to unload groceries or feed the chickens after dark. We turn off the light when we don't need it. The former owners of this property pretty much ruined the barn, but if we can ever afford to re-do it we would consider putting a smaller light (with an on/off switch) above the barn door as well.

I don't really see the need for a big pole light for us since we don't feel safer leaving on our little back door light. I actually feel that the big lights might attract attention. We previously rented an old farm house on a working cattle farm. There was a big sodium light on "our" garage which we felt obligated to leave on since our landlord sometimes would check on her cattle at night. The house was set about 1000' from the road and the driveway was unpaved, but the sodium light seemed to attract cars to it. Sometimes the drivers were lost and thought our wide gravel driveway was the next road, sometimes it was just folks who stared at the old house & barn then slowly turned around and left. We never had any cars come cruising down the driveway on the few nights we FORGOT to turn on the sodium light on.

soap

I HATE those big lights. Not only do they pollute the night sky with artifical light, they make irritating noises!!! The bzzzz drives me batty (or battier depending on who you talk to). I have a porch light at each door, motion lights in the driveway for when I come home late and little solar lights by the pathways....when I get the barn ready for livestock I'll put a light on the front of it-probably a motion detector as well-for late feedings and night time check-ups. I love the dark and with dogs to bark I'm not worried about being out here alone...betty

Deberosa,
unless your honeysuckle is weaker than that around here, you can't get rid of it unless you chop it to the ground, poison it, burn it, and extract all the root fragments...If they do have to cut it down, if the roots aren't disturbed too much, it should climb like crazy back up that pole or another.

One of my brushpile fires got out last year, burned about an acres worth of underbrush on a cul de sac going out into the pond...within a week the honeysuckle was resprouting and recovered completely.

I grew up with a mercury light on the meter pole behind our house in the 70's it was great to go out after dark as a kid and see how far we could still read by that light..... even across a ten or 15 acre feild that old light shown bright.... and after a long day hunting in the woods its beacon showed us the way to the house.... and a snow strom or two i remember it was barely visible out 100 yards to the barn...... the lectric company replaced it witha sodium light in the early 80's that you couldnt read under if you tried..... dad had them take it out after a few months cause it did not use as much 'lectricity and they upped the price to have it.

When i bought the place im on now i put up a mercury light on the end of the barn, I wired it in with regualr romex, and placed a plug on the end of it, this allows me to have it on when i know im gonna be gettin home later than usual, and to mess with the neighbors i leave it plugged in irregular days..... it is a nice thing to have when you need extra visibility..... and yes i was easily amused in my youth.

My nieghbor complained one day to my wife that he moved away from Kalifornia to here in Idaho to get away from those lights and it bugged him i put one in..... told him there was a way to get me to leave that light off..... buy me out.... im still here and so is my light. Kinda funny the way city slickers ideas of light runs as opposed to those of us who grew up in the country doing chores after dark and having the welcome beacon of light guide us home on those extra long nights.

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Disadvantages:
(1) Costs quite a bit. My two cost $96/year.
(2) Bad for stargazing.
(3) Unatural.

Advantages:
(1) I have seen some nice bucks eating in the yard.
(2) Wife feels safer at night.
(3) If you have to go outside at night you probably want need a flashlight.
They are useless when you have dead batteries which is almost always the case.
(4) They discourage gas thieves. That is the reason we got them 30 years ago.


If it was just me I would not have them, but since it is not just me and I prefer food with my meals I have them.

I've got NO use for those lights ... for most of the above-stated reasons.

Do they discourage predators? Not that I can tell.
Last year we had a cougar carry off all our chickens, ducks, and geese (allowed to free-range) over several months in spite of a light being 50' from the chicken house ... and the chicken house 100' from my bedroom window ... and without a sound from the birds.
We used to have coyotes wander through the yard as well ... until I started letting my dog loose. He keeps the place fairly quiet.

Well, we had one when we moved here and when it went out, the neighbors asked if we were going to replace it (they paid for it but it was on our property -one family used to own this area). We said no and have never missed it.

We have enough lights to look like a hotel when we want to, or when the young college kids watch the house for us and we travel. They light it all up- every side of the house-to feel safe.

Meantime, I have learned to like the darkness and being able to turn a light on or off. Makes all the difference.

Oh, and if I am going out in the snow at night or to do chores, I turn them on. this way I only pay when I am using them. Now that makes sense.

IMHO , motion detector lights are the way to go.....
1. Only on when ya need em , saves elec.
2. Since they're on so infrequently , you can afford higher wattage.
3. They announce visitors/intruders
4. They startle intruders.
5. Hands free operation.
6. Aren't accidently left on all night and part of the next day till ya notice they're on.

I've got em on all sides of my house. Can even tell which way "intruder" is going by the sequence in which they come on. I do have one MV light on an X10 remote if I want constant light.........

I have my own (switchable) mercury vapor light on my own pole with a low light sensor so it switches itself on in the evening. And I also have a switchable motion detector light on my shop and switchable flood lights on the deck of my house. I usually just leave the mercury vapor light on, and switch the others on as needed. I live right in the woods, and it makes it easier to see the critters (four-legged, or otherwise) who should venture into my yard at night.

My neighbor was never able to get his motion sensor light to ignore rabbits/deer/dogs. The alarm went off all the time--he disconnected it.

One reason why I do not have a motion sensor driveway alarm on 24/7.

Yard lights are great, but I only want one that I control the on-off switch to. I'll turn it on when I want & pay for the elect.

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Freedom isn't Free

Good Neighbors are considerate about smoke from burning affecting others, also noise from from any source at late or very early hours disturbing neighbors peace and rest. Bright lights can be an similar rude intrusion and will be managed with thought and consideration by good people. Cheap, current technology allows us to employ outdoor lighting to do any job we need without bothering others. It's the American way....Glen

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On the other hand, if your neighbor's light extends into your yard, giving you light to see by (and light to see prowlers, unwelcome critters, etc.), isn't it nice that they're paying for it and not you?