How To Your Fool Motion Sensor Light To Stay On All The Time!

It may go against what motion sensors were designed for but sometimes you might want your light to be on all of the time. Whether you’re working on something and you need the light or maybe you’re even having a party. Sometimes it’s handy to know how to do it.

If you're looking for a new Motion Sensor Light, we've compiled the best here!

So how do you keep your motion sensor light on all the time?

This can be done within minutes! 

Having said that when it comes to switching them back to sensor mode, you will need to reset it...but that’s a quick job too!

Keeping Your Motion Sensor Light On All The Time

A lot of motion sensors these days have a built-in override and this is a good thing for you!

The switch is usually switched on all the time. This means that the motion detector will monitor the light and only activate when it’s dark enough and motion is detected.

One way to change this is to switch off the light and back on within seconds. What this does is switch the light on and the motion detection is overridden, and so keeping the light on all the time.

It may take a few goes to catch it just right (or you may get lucky), but once it happens, you’ll feel like an electrician!

Some lights actually have a ‘manual’ mode and you can choose to select that the light is always on. If that’s the case, you simply need to get a ladder and change the settings on the light. 

It might be worth reading the manual first to see if that’s doable - save yourself going up a ladder!

When it comes to switching it off, just pop the switch back into the position it was in. Nice and easy!

Resetting Your Motion Sensor Light

When you no longer want your light to be on all of the time and want it to work as a motion sensor light again, you will need to reset it. 

It’s very simple to do!

Switch it off again. Wait around 30 seconds. Switch it back on again.

That should reset your light. Sometimes it can take a little while for it to come back on and may not work again until the sunlight comes back up so don’t be surprised if you don’t get any light from it straight away. 

Disadvantages Of Motion Sensor Lights

On the whole, I’m a fan of motion sensor light...except when they keep flashing on and off over the course of a night and give me a disco I wasn’t wanting but that’s another story.

There are some other disadvantages to motion sensor lights:

When you’re unloading the car in the dark, ideally you want to be able to see what you’re doing. With a motion sensor light, you may only get the light in bursts and that can become quite frustrating, especially if it’s late and you’re tired.

Having said that it’s better than no light and if you’re confident enough to play around with the setting, you will find that your light probably has a duration setting. This will allow you to have your light on for longer periods so no more unloading the car in the dark! 

Garden parties are great, aren’t they? 

When it comes to motion sensor lights and garden parties, they don’t mix terribly well. As guests pass the light, it gets triggered, it’s not ideal.

It’s times like that when switching it so it stays on or off permanently could be the right approach.

There are some lights out there where the automatic mode can’t be deactivated. Obviously, this gives you little choice when it comes to being able to have it on permanently by using the above method.

If this is the case, then there is always the solution of bypassing the motion sensor…

How To Bypass A Motion Sensor

Initially, this may seem like a tough task...it’s not! 

A lot of motion sensor lights can be bypassed without a great deal of effort.

You might want to change your light so that you can turn it into a permanent light and operate it using a light switch. 

If that’s the case, then a bypass could your best bet.

How Does Bypassing A Motion Sensor Work?

The circuit itself is quite straightforward.

A light switch is made up of two contacts.

When the switch is in the off position, the flow is interrupted. When the switch is in the on position, the flow is able to pass through. 

A motion sensor output works in much the same way. A switch with similar functionality. 

So if you connect them in parallel, you will find that the open switch will be overridden by the closed switch.

In a lot of cases, a motion sensor light can become annoying, rather than useful so being able to bypass the sensor and have it so that you can switch it on all the time is a good option and one you shouldn’t be afraid to do - it’s a simple task!