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Who Left the Lights On?

August 14, 2013 By Rhoda 221 Comments

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{Giveaway is Closed}

The winners are:

#14 – Shirley

#27 – Joyce

#61 – Carolyn

#63 – Melissa

#82 – Sharon  – Congrats ladies, you’ve all been emailed!

What parent has never said those words?

Oh, I bet you have. That’s one of the things that happens in any family. Someone is always going to leave the lights on.

Well, there’s a way to avoid that in your high traffic/kid zone areas. Lutron has come out with a product, a motion sensitive sensor that automatically turns OFF the lights when it doesn’t detect motion in a room. You can set it from 1 minute to whatever and when that room is quiet and idle, the lights will automatically turn off.  And the light will automatically turn ON when you enter the room.

That’s pretty cool, don’t you think? It’s amazing all the new products out there and this is one that I love! Lutron asked me to try out one of their products and share it all with you, so let’s get started.

There’s a giveaway at the end, so don’t miss that!

Lutron sensor

The Lutron Occupancy Sensor switch is really very neat.  Once installed, you can set the timer to however many minutes you want to have it stay on before it automatically switches off.

And it’s all from motion in the room.  Those kids going in and out of the bathroom leaving the lights on?  Yeah, those days are over with this gadget!

Before switch

I decided to put mine in the laundry room. Sometimes we are in and out of there and forget to turn the lights off so this will come in handy.

lutron sensor switch installed
After 1 minute, the lights will go OFF automatically. Love that!

wiring lutron sensor

Here’s how easy it is and I’ve got a little video to share that too.  You remove the old switch, then hook up black to black and black to tan (my extra wire was tan, not sure if that is universal), but the green wire is the ground wire as is that silver wire that comes out of the Lutron.  Just wrap the silver and green wires around the grounding screw, screw all of the screws back in and reconnect to the wall.

The sensor works with all light bulbs, including incandescent, halogens, fluorescents, and more.  It is also available in the occupancy sensor and dimmer switch as well.  I just chose the occupancy sensor.

That’s it!  Then you can set the timer to whatever length of time you want for your switch to go OFF when not in use.  I think this is great for families with  kids. Imagine all the arguments than can be saved with this?  You can find out more about the Maestro Occupancy Sensor at the Lutron site.

No more yelling, “Who left the lights on?”.

Check out the video below for installation ease.  Someone mentioned that I didn’t say to turn off the power to the light switch before installing, so YES, definitely DO turn off the breaker to that room before doing any electrical installation. 

Now, for some fun for all of you too, Lutron is offering up 5 of these Lutron Occupancy Sensor switches for 5 winners on my blog. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me the room you’d like to use it in.  You can chose the Occupancy sensor or Occupancy with dimmer too.  I’ll choose 5 winners in a few days and then they will get the chance to try out a switch too.  I really like how this works and I think ya’ll will too!

If you don’t win the giveaway, here’s a coupon code for you!

Offer

25% off Maestro occupancy/vacancy sensor dimmers and switches on LutronStore.com PLUS one free Claro single-gang wallplate ($4.90 suggested list price) with each qualifying item.

 

Promo Code

wholeftthelightson

 

Code expiration date

Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013

Note: This is a sponsored post by Lutron. I was compensated to try this product out and share it with all of you, my readers.  All opinions and how it was installed are all my own words. 

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Filed Under: Giveaway, Projects and How-To 221 Comments

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa says

    August 15, 2013 at 11:28 pm

    I would put one in my pantry, laundry room, bathroom and our closet – always forget to turn off. Thanks

    Reply
  2. Lori S. says

    August 16, 2013 at 12:51 am

    I am really excited about this product. I now have custody of my 2 grandchildren and they are constantly leaving the lights on. . .especially the bathroom light. My electric bill went up over $30 a month when they moved in. I need this product!!!!

    Reply
  3. Sue says

    August 16, 2013 at 2:04 am

    I’d put one on our laundry room as well. The pantry is also located in there with lots of traffic. And we all leave the light on. This is a great idea. Thanks, Rhoda!!

    Reply
  4. Susie says

    August 16, 2013 at 7:39 am

    This is the answer I’ve been looking for. We just bought a bay house. Upstairs is a game room, kids room, with 9 recessed lights! We have 5 grandchildren under the age of 10 and NO ONE turns the lights out up there EVER!

    Reply
  5. Crystal R says

    August 16, 2013 at 9:09 am

    I would put this in our bathroom. We have 4 kids who get up during the night & never turn the light off. They don’t like walking in the dark. With this product, they wouldn’t have to & I wouldn’t have to get up and turn it out during the night.

    Reply
  6. Naomi says

    August 16, 2013 at 7:14 pm

    I would put it in the kitchen…

    Reply
  7. Sue V. says

    August 17, 2013 at 7:50 am

    Love, love, this product!!! Never mind the kids, my husband is always reminding me to turn off the lights too! I’d have to put one in the laundry room first since I feel like I’m going in and out of that room all day long.

    Reply
  8. Phyllis says

    August 17, 2013 at 8:41 am

    Wow, I need one in my laundry room too, and how about the closet. Just love this idea.

    Reply
  9. Tanja Hancock says

    August 17, 2013 at 5:31 pm

    I don’t have a bevy of kids leaving lights on in the house, just me and Buddy, my cat. I’ll have a roommate very soon, too. Currently, the lights in my bathroom & closet are left on way too much. I’m guilty as charged! The Lutron sensor will solve my case and render my freedom with a lower utility bill.
    One Question.
    If the sensor works with movement, will Buddy chasing toys & cat ghosts trigger the Lutron sensor?
    I’ll check the website for details. Thank you for informing us, your fans, of great new products on the market. I’m off to tell my family about it on Facebook

    Reply
    • Rhoda says

      August 19, 2013 at 5:30 pm

      HI, Tanja, Lutron has a Maestro occupancy sensor that is available with vacancy mode, which can be used if there is a lot of pet activity in that area. When using vacancy mode, you manually turn lights on when entering a room and the sensor will turn lights off when the room is vacant. Additionally, the sensitivity of the sensor can be adjusted based on the expected level of activity in the room (slight or large motions). More information can be found here: http://www.lutron.com/en-US/general/Pages/OccupancySensorPromo/Overview.aspx?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=MaestroSensors_MaestroSaveEnergy&utm_campaign=SocialMedia.

  10. Laurie McClure says

    August 17, 2013 at 7:18 pm

    What a great idea! This would be perfect for my laundry/mud room.

    Reply
  11. Anny says

    August 17, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    Definitely in the laundry room! Who has time to turn off the lights AND carry their own body weight in clothing?

    Reply
  12. Betty says

    August 18, 2013 at 4:44 pm

    wow! I didn’t know that such a product existed. I would use it in my kitchen, laundry room and bathroom. I am in and out of these rooms so much and it would be nice for the lights to go on or off automatically.

    Reply
  13. Lori R. says

    August 19, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    I’d really like to use it in our bedroom but that wouldn’t work. My husband always leaves the light on in there. But the second place would be our master closet. That is another light that he leaves on quite often.

    Reply
  14. Claire says

    August 19, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    With teenage boys in the house taking showers all times of day and night, that’s where I would install my “who left the lights on!” – in the bathroom! I dare say, I could get used to that efficiency and want one in my laundry room too. I may be a bit of a culprit down there…..

    Reply
  15. Gina says

    August 19, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    Definitely the downstairs bathroom!

    Reply
  16. Shanen says

    August 20, 2013 at 11:11 am

    Building our home now and love this idea for most of the house especially with three little ones 🙂 thank you

    Reply
  17. Janet says

    August 20, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    I would put one in the hall for sure. Long house, long hall that connects all the rooms. I’m disabled and if I’m the last one up I have to navigate in the dark. I used to do that, but now–unh-uh. After the handicap access modifications are done, probably in the master bedroom, too.
    Janet

    Reply
  18. Christy Wilson says

    September 26, 2013 at 12:15 am

    Very cool! I would use it in my craft room!

    Reply
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Thanks for stopping by! I’m Rhoda, from Atlanta, GA and I love decorating and DIY projects. Decorating a home doesn’t have to cost a fortune and I’ve spent years thrifting at antiques markets and yard sales, finding those treasures that make a home unique. I’m here to inspire and encourage other women to find their own inner creativity. Won’t you join me?

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