security light or flood light recommendations

situation:

my mother will replace the old mercury-vapor (even before sodium) dusk-to-dawn security light on a pole in her backyard.
the HOA will allow Only ONE Light. ONE on that specific pole at that specific height with no other option. HOA’s are bad juju.

so…do you have some ideas about an LED replacement? if so, please post a link for evaluation.

requirements:

  1. dusk-to-dawn only.
  2. cool white. HOA again.
  3. link. have to send to HOA.

thanks.

Mercury Vapor is way nicer than LED.

It’s the 57 Chevy of outdoor lights.

I think I’d post the HOA’s email addy on every porn site I could find.

NICE!!! :smiling_imp: :+1:

“situation:”…….

Bless your heart.

The only good experience I’ve had with outdoor dusk to dawn lights is this one from Home Depot. Pricey, but it’s been lighting up my entire back yard for the past 2 years. It has selectable color temp.

HOA? What drive people to live in ghetto? Just curious, there is no such a thing.

Thinking too small my friend, post it along with the phone number in “craigslist” in multiple cities.

those were interesting ideas about spamming the HOA.

the Treasurer (i found out) is a retired DOJ forensic investigator.
i will not attempt anything which might interest her.

lots of good news …the original wood pole has been found defective.
age/termites/something. anyway, a new carbon fiber replacement
has been approved. the permanent location is yet to be determined.
the HOA will pay for all: pole, placement, and power connection.
all Mom does is pay the power bill….if she agrees to all that.

if you have some suggestions about a specific LED security light
please post a link to the manufacturer’s website.
thanks.

.

Everyone benefits from HOA rules. They prevent the complex from ending up looking like a trailer park. I don’t live in one and I hope I never will but the rules have a purpose. People tend to do foolish things when there are no rules.

I've not had to research pole mounted lights but I did see one of these TCP models in action and they're pretty nice. TCP is a large and often preferred manufacturer with electrical and lighting contractors and they make a very wide range of products...generally great quality and fair pricing. The company, 1000bulbs, is fantasic. Based in Texas, great customer service and knowledge. They don't seem to have much available in pole mount but here's a link with models to consider. We use them at work and have been extremely satisfied in every aspect, much more than the local suppliers we used to use (and especially big box stores). I will say that with TCP and Satco and even the 1000bulbs china house brand "PLT", the color temperatures seem to me to always be just a bit cooler than what we are used to with the same temps in single LED emitters, for what that's worth. You'll have to pick your own photo controller and there are lots of options there (and actually maybe your particular pole has one made to fit it well?).

https://www.1000bulbs.com/fil/categories/fixtures-led-post-top-lights (I don't have a direct TCP link but that's easy to find...or should be. Sometimes the model numbers are specific to channels and may appear on the mfr's site under a different one)

If you end up at Home Depot or Lowe's, remember that your warranty may only be as good as the time period that they actually carry the product in their stores. I can't recall the company name now but both have had past models/brands of household bulbs that they stopped carrying, stopped providing exchange or refunds, and then the bulb supplier failed the same or went away entirely, leaving customers stuck and short-changed. I've put up some wall mounted floods from Home Depot and frankly they're kinda junky but they work. Had one die after a few months, replacement has been going for about two years now...curious how long it will last. But the guts of them are certainly not well engineered or made to last (like many bulbs). Also, for what the big box stores sell, you can usually find the same product from some import brand name on Amazon for a lot less and be out less money if/when they fail. This is one of those cases where, all things considered, it often makes more sense to spend a bit more to go with a company who will be around in the future. Flip side...cheaper units...can have a spare and replace when necessary and it sounds like you can do that for her at zero labor cost...if the HOA allows unlicensed work for this.

I'd figure out what amount of light she has now, look for the equivalent in an LED model and err on the higher side of output to account for derating and weathering over time...if the HOA understands that and accepts it. I'd try really hard to get something a bit warmer temp, too. We all know what's nice, but the shift from sodium or halogen to "cold white" is severe...and we have options for crying out loud. :)

(Side note: HOAs are from the devil...often. Not my area of law but I have seen so many skirmishes involving HOAs and homeowners that ended up in court over the most incredibly ridiculous things. It all depends on the contract first and then the people who are the controlling voices in the group second, but personally I would never join one. Maybe under certain circumstances taking the region into account. There are so many that prohibit the simplest of things, even items or activities that you may think are constitutional rights and behaviors...like doing your own car repairs on your own property. True story, I saw a case that stopped in arbitration where a guy was warned and threatened for changing his oil in his driveway. No messes, no noises, just not allowed under their bylaws. So next time he parked his car in the street along the curb in front of his house and changed his oil there. The streets were municipal, not HOA, so they couldn't say a thing. Except they did, of course (and also of course, that is generally illegal anywhere on public streets/municipal property). He lost...had to stop but didn't sell his house. And another where a lady was not allowed to have a second clothes line in her backyard, which had 8' privacy fencing and couldn't have been seen by the neighbors anyway. But sometimes HOAs do serve a good purpose...just that the risk of Terrible Things can shift to the left or the right and still end up making people miserable.)

Translation for anyone unfamiliar with HOAs: an HOA can be a BLF or a CPF, only you can’t quit it unless you move. :laughing:

We live in a "housing community", but thankfully not a HOA.

(HOA's can be extremely annoying.)

I keep trying to copy and paste an Amazon link but it only says page can not be found. If I paste it in my browser it goes to the page. What the heck might that be?https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KMK8X3K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Look for one of the floodlights based on a chip-on-board LED array. You could even buy one and install it yourself in the existing light as long as you also use a fairly substantial heat sink. They are dirt cheap and come in various wattages. I bought a couple of 30W COBs just on a whim for $2 to see how they worked a few years back. They are bright but get hot as well.
Example 30 or 50W, 110V cool or warm white, $4.74 or $5.69 with free shipping from China

@pennzy:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KMK8X3K

The Simple Post Editor replaces "X" with "×".

I use the Advanced Post Editor.

Can you explain that to a non tech guy RC? I didn’t catch that. I usually just copy and paste a link.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KMK8X3K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ok . I have to change to advanced when copying and pasting?