How To Make A Motion Sensor Light Stay On

The simplest way to keep your motion sensor light stay on is to move around it every couple of seconds. But sometimes that may not be convenient either. So, you can use some other tricks to make the motion sensor light stay on or install a hardware switch to bypass the connection to get control of it entirely.

However, if you haven’t yet bought one but are planning to do so, then you should choose one that comes with the additional switch.

It may save you a lot of upcoming troubles and irritations. Besides, motion sensor lights with manual sensor switches are versatile to  use anywhere. 

Why Might You Want The Light To Stay On

The main reason for installing a motion sensor light is to turn on the lights for a short time, usually between 30 seconds to 20 minutes, whenever any movements happen around it. But, there might be situations where we may need the lights to stay on for a longer time constantly. 

For example, you may decide to read a book at night sitting in your cozy patio corner but the light keeps going off every once in a while. That even sounds irritating right?

You may have installed motion sensor lights for illuminating your dark stairs. Sometimes you may have spilled coffee or a shattered glass bottle on the stairs. And now you need to clean it up in the middle of the night, so you need the lights to stay on. What are you going to do then?

How To Make The Motion Sensor Light Stay On? 

1. Use The Built-in Motion Sensor Switch 

Some of the modern models of motion sensor lights come with a built-in manual switch somewhere behind the light itself. Check for it. 

If your light has a built-in switch then you can turn the sensor off and operate it like a regular light. Some models are operated with remote control and allow you to set the timer and even turn the sensor on and off. 

Look whether you have those options available. If you have then the chore is much easier for you. But if you don’t have it, move forward to the next tips to make your motion sensor light stay on. 

2. Rewire With A Hardware Switch To Bypass the Sensor

If you have no manual built-in switch for the light sensor, you can always install one manually. All you need is to rewire the switch to power up the light and the sensor individually from each other. 

You can install a bypass switch with three position points. The middle point is the common terminal position to turn off both the light and the sensor.

The top position is for the live terminal on the sensor which allows it to work as an ideal motion sensor light. And when turned down to the lower position the light will allow you to leave the light on and disable the motion. 

But if a three-position switch doesn’t excite you that much you can also install two switches individually. The first one to operate the PIR sensor and the other one for the light. 

Wiring is a tricky task. But, if you have a little patience to learn with a little courage, then often it requires no electrician to fix little tasks like these. 

3. Trick The PIR Sensor To Stay the Light On

Now, suppose you don’t often need your motion-sensored lights to stay on for longer. Or you are not interested in taking the hassle of rewiring a bypass switch. What can you do now?

Here we have a quick trick for you. 

Some older models of PIR motion-sensored lights come with a built-in override that allows the light to stay on. It’s basically fooling the motion sensor.

To do this trick you need to turn off the wall switch and then immediately turn it back on. And repeat this again for once or twice in the interval of 10 seconds. This trick will confuse the sensor and disable it, leaving the light on for a while.

Remember, this is not a permanent solution though. It’s just a trick to keep your motion sensor light stay on for a little longer occasionally. However, this trick may not work with modern models sometimes. 

Conclusion

Motion sensor lights are meant to be convenient for use. But, sometimes your convenience may need the lights to leave on. 

So, it’s best if you could buy a motion-sensor light that comes with a built-in switch to control the sensor. You wouldn’t need to make any changes then.

But, if you already have one and need to change the operating system, hopefully, our solutions have helped you out by now.