remote sensers

[alan40]

Just put up a motion detection flood light with a remote sensor powered by 2 AA batteries. Five days later the lights come on and stay on indicating batteries are low. Has anyone had any experiance with this style of remote in cold weather? Talked to the sales people and they say the batteries will last between 2-3 months in the winter.
The reason for using the remote is that I have trees near the garage,live on top of a hill with alot of wind in the summer and I thought they would constantly set off the lights in the summer. So I put the remote lower and it worked really well for a while. Along with being a sucker for trying something new I may have to purchase a old reliable motion light.
I'll try another set of batteries and see what happens.
Thanks for any input.

 

[Inspector507]

Al,
If they were the batteries supplied with the unit, they may be a year or so old when you open the carton.

Jerry

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

I have X10 remote motion sensors and get good battery life from them. They have two AAA batteries. New, the batteries measure open circuit 1.58 Volts(duracell). An alkaline battery that measures 1.38 volts (open circuit) is near the end of life. Check the battery open circuit voltage maybe there is something else going on.

The 1.38 volts above is bad advice, Here is a link with discharge voltage vs life Battery life
sorry.

 

[GaryM]

You might want to try lithium cells. They are recommended for use in my remote temperature sensor in cold weather.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

You might want to try an infared detector. The motion of the trees, and none animal or humans won't set them off. They will only detect the heat changes in the area, and turn them on. You can usually get them in infared, and motion with the option of turning off motion.