Exterior Lights

I live in the townhouses just off of Village Dr. in Southern Walk, and have a light post out front that is supposed to be a dusk to dawn light. I recently changed the three bulbs, they had been out a while , and am now noticing that they stay on ALL THE TIME!! Anyone have any idea how I can get them to turn off at the appropriate time?

 

Your photocell has most likely gone bad. Some are mounted on the lamp post, some are at the exterior electrical supply. It is a relatively easy fix. The part is available at home supply stores or an electrician can replace it for you.

 

I live in the same area with the same lamp post and my photo cell went bad too. Here's how to fix:

1) Verify that it is actually the photo cell that is the problem. Make sure power is on to the lamp post by checking the GFI in the garage near the closet with the HVAC unit. Mine is wired through that GFI, not the circuit breaker box in the basement. Then tape a piece of cardboard tightly over the photo cell (small round plastic thing sticking out of the lamp pole) and leave it there for 5-10 mins to verify that the lamp does not turn on. Sometimes it takes those cells a few mins to work.

2) If it is still not turning on, then it's time to replace the photo cell. Turn off the power at the GFI!!! Remove the whole top of the lamp post and you should be able to reach down into the pole and fish the photo cell out. Disconnect all the wires and note which ones hooked up to which other ones. (I remember mine was odd because I had a red one connecting to a black one for some reason...) Take the photo cell to Home Depot and show it to someone in the electrical department. I think new ones are like $8.

3) Install new photo cell in the same way you removed the old one. Turn power back on at GFI and repeat cardboard/tape test to verify that it's working.

 

Thank you for your responses. Turns out one of my lovely children pushed the photo cell all the way into the pole so it always thought it was dark out.

 

With all of us trying to go "green" I wonder why we have to have these lights on all night. If we all could shut them off think of all the electricity we could save.

 

These are the LED I use in my light post and all three lights combined are 9W

http://www.needabulb.com/EarthLED-DesignoLux-C-Candelabra-E12-3W-Warm-White-3000K-P566425.aspx