Southwire Woods Outdoor Conduit Lighting Control - Hardwired Photocell Sensor - Swivel Mount Base Light - Energy-Saving Light Controller - Weatherproof Design - Black

I have ordered about four of these light control units. First of all they work great. The problem, half of them have been broken out of the package. The part that is broken is where the angle adjustment screw is located. The plastic is broken that the screw attaches to. I have returned one of the electric eyes for a replacement and the second one I was able to find a different screw to use and not have to return the device . Again the unit works great but somewhere between manufacturing and delivery 50% of them have been broken the same way. My advice check the unit out once you get it. Update August 2020 I had to purchase a new electric eye due to someone trying to change the angle of the sensor without loosening the adjusting screw . It looks like the company has heard the complaints about the weak breaking point, that is where the screw that adjusts the angle of the sensor is located. That part of the electric eye has been redesigned and strengthened. This is a major improvement to this device in my opinion.

Very easy to install. Now my light comes on at dusk, and goes off at dawn. I no longer need to remember to turn it on or turn if off. Should save me money and electricity too. This has 3 wires, so you need a white wire too. Directions are very detailed.

I have these lights on each side of the garage that have the photo electric sensors. After some time the plastic shielding on the sensors break. Having already replaced two pairs, I was thinking that there's got to be a better way. I bought a pair of the standard lights and wired in a switch to turn them on and off. Well, after a few times forgetting to turn off the lights in the morning, I had to come up with something better. And I didn't want to go back to the original style lights. This is when I came up with wiring in a stand alone photo electric sensor. Everything works great and the way I wanted it to. No more forgetting to flip on or off a light switch.

Worked for my front lights. To test, don't use white LEDs to shine on it. Use yellowish lights. I thought it got a bad unit until I tried yellow LED lights. It turned off as expected. It takes a minute to avoid false signals.

This little device has allowed me to leave the porch and garage lights "on" at the switch. Now, they come on at dusk and turn off at dawn. Installation was simple: I just used a hole saw in the body of the first light fixture in the string of three outside fixtures, inserted the control and tightened the nut. Wiring was also simple. When I applied power the control didn't seem to work when I covered the photocell. I found by experience that it does not react immediately to changes in light level. The design works well for the application: I was able to aim the photocell away from the lighted area to minimize the chance of accidental turn on / off. It's a great little device!

Ordered two of these - neither would open when light hit it (turn off the light). Checked them both with a multi meter, both had zero resistance through the photocell with a bright light directly on the cell. Applied voltage and the same thing. I read the reviews and ordered them anyway - should have used the twenty bucks and ordered the grey brand. Never had a problem with those. I’m not going to bother returning these, they aren’t worth it. Going right in the trash. I even went so far as to wire a 56 ohm resistor between switched leg (red) and neutral (white) to simulate a load on the cell when checking resistance and still zero ohms when bright light hit it. The switch should close when dark, operating the light, and open (OL or minimum >1 megohm on resistance check) to turn off the light(s) when light hits the cell. I can’t even comment on the other issues such as water intrusion into the body because these don’t work. Do yourself a favor and don’t take a chance on throwing away your hard earned money on these. They have cheap ccp components. It’s hit or miss, and I missed on not one, but two of these. Pretty bad QC Woods. Ordering the grey brand. **Update** 4/20/23- I had to test these out in sunlight/night and they finally worked, but the delay time for the switch to close is about 2 minutes. This is what threw me on the original testing. I had one installed outside but it only lasted a few weeks until water intrusion killed it. I stand by my original review- don’t putchase these.

Two years now and still working perfectly for LED fixtures. I have mine mounted unprotected from rain and it controls 3 LED fixtures for a total of 50-60W. No complaints.

excellent

Funciona muy bien, realiza los cortes en forma adecuada.

Traditional security lights have a built-in weakness in the time-lapsed photo sensor (2-3-5-10 minutes of light, then off) that usually lasts only a couple years. When the photo sensor / timer unit fails, people often discard the whole otherwise perfectly well working security light set. We rebuild them with this dusk-dawn sensor as we really don't like the new LED security lights and prefer an old fashioned, repairable aluminum light fixture. This photo sensor works well with LED light bulbs on E26 socket (the classic light bulb) and controls LED lights on/off well. This purchase is my second Woods photo sensor in 2022 and perhaps 10th + in the last couple years.

I previously installed a photo cell control for a light over garden gate. It never worked 100% of the time, then not at all. I have used a Woods pho electric switch for our Christmas lights, and it was always reliable over the 4 years we have had it. I purchased this unit based on our experience with the Wood’s photocell switch. It installed easily and has worked reliably since it was installed.

Works as intended, the 30 second time delay is a nice feature and keeps the lights on in the case of auto headlights. I am using the sensor to turn on lights behind an outdoor stained glass panel at night. Seems well built and designed. If you are testing it and your wiring keep in mind it will always make it's contact and bring the lights on for 30 seconds when power is turned on to the sensor even in a bright light. It has another unintended benefit, in that it looks like a security camera.

This basic thermal photocell works fine. It does have a long delay (at least 3 mins) before your light will turn off when first powered up in daylight. I didn’t like all the white safety stickers all over it making it ugly. I understand these are required but should be easier to peel off after reading the warnings