One of the most affordable and effective components of any home security system is motion detecting outdoor lighting. Installed by a professional electrician, these lights can give you years of reliable service and peace of mind.

But like any part of your household electrical system, problems can arise from time to time. If your outdoor security lights are staying on all the time, not coming on at all or otherwise performing poorly, you can try these simple DIY fixes before calling an electrician.

Most motion detecting light fixtures allow the motion detector to be aimed at a specific area. If your lights are coming on too often, it could be that the sensor is aimed at a nearby street or an area where wildlife roam around at night. If the lights aren't coming on at all, the sensor might be aimed directly at the ground or into the side of the house. Experiment with different sensor positions after dark and walk around in the areas you want to secure to fine-tune your aim.

Motion detectors also typically come equipped with sensitivity settings. Too sensitive, and something as small as a fly could set it off. Not sensitive enough, and a prowler could come within a few feet of the fixture before it lights up. Locate this setting and fine-tune it to your liking.

Another common setting for motion detector lights is a light duration time. This can be as long as 30 minutes, and if your lights are unwittingly set this way, it could give the impression that they stay on all night. A good duration for most security light applications is one to two minutes.

A dirty sensor can’t detect movement properly. If dirt and dust have accumulated on your motion detector, use a wet rag to wipe it clean, then re-test your lights.

Security lights can get off-kilter if there are interruptions in the electrical supply, such as power outages, power surges and accidentally flipping light switches or breakers. Sometimes this can result in lights that stay on or off all the time. To reset most motion detecting lights, shut off the power supply at the switch for at least 30 seconds, making sure there’s no motion in front of the sensor during this time. Then turn the light back on and test it to ensure proper function. If there was motion in front of the sensor while the power was off, this may need to be repeated.

Not all motion detector problems can be fixed this easily. If you have persistent problems, storm damage or faulty installation, it’s important to call in your local licensed electricians for a professional evaluation and repair.

We had a call today from a customer. They were looking to retrofit their existing fixtures with LED. The competitor did a quote for them, and had recommended LED Post Tops as the retrofit bulb of choice for them. And this would have been a terrific solution if all their fixtures were acorn style pole mounted lights. But they weren’t, they were high bays, parking lot lights and show room lights. Yes. They are LED. Yes. They will save you money. But if you are trying to plow a field, you don’t buy a Porsche. You buy a tractor. The right vehicle for the job. And the same applies to LED.

First, let’s make sure we set the score right. We sell both. We sell LED Post Tops and we sell LED Retrofit Kits. We are not Post Top biased or Retrofit Kit biased. We even sell new fixtures. We have no biases! We want what is right for you!

contact our team and we’ll get back to you.

Have you recently had a new shop built on your property? Maybe you are thinking of having a pole building erected to keep your car or other outdoor equipment in it throughout the winter. Did you know that the electrical portion of the building is a separate job altogether in most cases? If you were hoping to have lights, use electrical equipment or plug in your iPod dock, you need to have electricity run to the building. This is typically a job you will have to hire out yourself. Meaning, it is up to you to find the right Los Angeles electrician to complete the job. Customers from around the area have been counting on The Electric Connection to handle their electrical needs and have been very satisfied.

When you are choosing the right electrician in Los Angeles to handle the job, you will want to have a conversation about what is needed for your shop. The size of the building and what kind of equipment you plan on using in the building are going to play a role in what you need. Typically, a separate structure like a shop will require its own electrical box. This is something that will absolutely require the experience and expertise of a certified electrician. Los Angeles homeowners will need to hire a certified professional in order to obtain the proper permits and sign-offs that make the new building legal and up to code.

Your shop or new garage won’t be complete without electricity. Talk with a qualified electrician today to learn more about your options as well as the expected cost. The investment will be well worth it and you will appreciate the flexibility a shop with electricity gives you versus one without it. Give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your consultation.

I mean, this is crazy, right?! You can almost FEEL the presence of these weird light dudes as they approach you at a murderously slow pace. Are they astronauts on our own planet? Is this our planet? I was unable to locate a larger version of this photograph, but I still put it at the top because it is incredibly evocative. And that’s not even the real kicker. If you’ve read my other posts on light painting, you know that incredibly long exposure times are necessary for shots like this. So homegirl or homeboy was out in the snow, in the dark, making this thing. And she/he had the wherewithal, tromping through the icy powder, to render these human forms so very well, even making one look like he’s trudging knee-deep. So weirdly inhuman. So weirdly human. I love this photo.

2. Give Up the Ghost

I would never give you a photo of old shoes to look at unless there were something special going on in the picture. In this one, there’s a simple, appropriate message. Ready for it? LIGHT ENHANCES THINGS. Duh, right? This photo is aesthetically interesting, but more valuable to me is the way it shows the essential point of light painting: To have fun! To breathe some excitement into your photography. If your only subject is an old pair of Tims, don’t complain. Turn off the lights and bust out a “paintbrush.”

7. There Are ALMOST No Words for This

Isn’t this great? What I love most is how nonchalant and, well, normal the guy looks in this photo. See? It’s all about juxtaposition. Angel wings mixed with a loud sense of everydayness (he COULD be wearing white robes) make you take notice of the unspoken contradiction. You ask, Why this? And you are led to wonder if maybe this is saying something about how sometimes the people who are the most inconspicuous are the most angelic. See what I did there? That’s why I have chosen these photos from among the hundreds that are out there. They invite wonder and have the power to lead to new insights. I am a dork.

9. Do Not Anger Him/Her/It

* Note: I found these photos on Pinterest and was unable to confirm all of their original sources. So, if you have any information about the original sources for any of these photos, please let us know in the comments sections. We want to give credit for these fantastic light painting photos where it is very much due! Thanks!

When you think of caring for your home, you don’t often think about the electrical system unless something is going wrong. With an electrical system, when things go wrong, they often go very wrong. You don’t want to lose your home to an electrical fire or even a life due to not having the knowledge you need to safely complete an electrical project or upgrade. That’s why you need your local electrician in Gladewater for any electrical projects you have around the house. But we truly cannot stress it enough that electrical work is not a do-it-yourself project, and to prove our point (and to keep you safe), keep reading in order to to learn the top five reasons that residential electrical work is not a do-it-yourself project.

While changing out things like light switches may seem like simple tasks around the house, and arguably they are, you’re still exposing yourself to bare wires that carry an electrical current. The average American home runs on 120 volts AC. While a quick zap from accidentally touching a bare wire will probably not be enough to kill you, you could easily be gravely injured. Low amperages can easily kill someone and amps vary widely. Additionally, if you accidentally hold onto a wire with a normal voltage, for any number of reasons, this could also kill you. The number one most important thing when dealing with electricity is safety. A professional electrician knows many of the proper techniques and processes in order to perform a variety of electrical services safely.

Like any other home project, there are some electrical projects that you can easily completed with a screwdriver or hammer, and there are others that require very specialized tools in order to complete the job properly. In fact, buying the tools to do the job may cost you substantially more than hiring a local electrician in order to complete it. Tools like a multimeter, insulated hand tools, wire striping or crimping tools, and fish poles or tapes are all essential tools for most electrical services. The costs can easily add up, especially if you just have a small project or two that you need completed.

Along with saving yourself the money associated with buying specialized tools you may only attempt to use once or twice, there are several other factors that can save you both time and money. You could spend hours trying to solve and repair a problem that would take a trained electrician a fraction of the time. Also, you may incorrectly estimate the amount of materials you need to complete the project, which can cause additional incurred costs. Lastly, you can’t get the same prices on materials that contractors can, which just increases your overall costs.

You may be great at following a manual, step-by-step guide, or YouTube video for a standard electrical repair or upgrade, but in older homes, standard is rarely the case. In fact, many older homes have wiring layouts that are anything but standard. Trying to find where wiring runs for an outlet that connects to a lightswitch may not be as easy as it sounds. This creative wiring will be tackled the quickest by a professional with the right level of experience, not by yourself when you don’t know what to expect.

Electrical work also involves keeping your home up to code for safety and for resale value. Most everyday individuals don’t have a clue what building codes are and what is required in order to keep home wiring adherent to code. That’s where your local, licensed electrician comes in. They are educated in how to keep your home up to code and the most affordable, safe ways in which to do so. If you own an older home, you may run into a situation where you need to upgrade the wiring to keep your home up to code. This can easily get expensive and complicated, but is well worth the hassle in order to protect your home, family, and investment.