Cheap Leviton PR150-1LW 500W, Single Pole, 150 Degrees, 350 sq. ft

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I have installed a couple of these switches, and they are not just plug-in and forget. The mini-manual the comes with them gives details, but in chinese-english that is hard to understand.

(1) Setup There are two small thumb-wheel controls beside the motion-sensor. The one is for setting the length of time the switch is ON, and is obvious. The other one is quite delicate and compensates for ambient lighting and the lighting of the moving object. This is especially tricky when the motion sensor has a window in its view, and the ambient light it sees changes from day to night. If you have a window facing the switch, it would be best to put a blind in it to filter out some of the ambient light changes. With patience, I was able to get the switch to work well even though it faced a window. But it takes trial-and-error to compensate for motion during both day and dusk (it doesn't work at night).

(2) Flickering fluorescents With the widespread conversion to fluorescent lighting, there is a new problem. The small screw-in spiral bulbs that replace incandescent lights have electronic "ballasts", which are totally different from those on the long fluorescent tubes. This motion-sensing light switch does not go completely OFF when there is no motion. A sensitive VOM will measure about 30+ volts on the hot line. However, there is little current available. The 30+ volts is enough to trigger the ballast on the spiral fluorescents, and it tries to light the lamp, however there is not enough current available and the light tries to go on, drains the minimal charge on the line, and then goes out. This repeats and you get a flicker. ---You can solve this by replacing one of your lights with an incandescent lamp. This will constantly drain the charge trickle through the switch and prevent the voltage building up to trigger the ballast. I have used 45W and 60W bulbs, and both work. They just go in parallel with your spiral fluorescents. And you should no longer have any flicker.

**** With careful installation, these switches work quite well. My wife expecially appreciates the one in our laundry room which goes on automatically when she comes in with piles of laundry (we have a traditional marriage).

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There are not too many readily available Occupancy Sensors.

So this is about the only product I could find for a reasonable price at the local hardware store or online.

My main gripe is that like advertised here, it says it works with fluorescent and Incandescent. But thats certainly misleading as it only works with magnetic ballast fluorescent lights.

Not the newer, fast on, electronic balast lights.

(Magnetics are usually the long ones that flicker before turning on.)

So if your like me and looking to add to the savings by using with a typical screw in flurecent bulb, you will be out of luck.

As it will either flicker when turned off, or not turn on at all.

Leviton apparently has a sensor which will work with electronic ballast lights, but its way way way more expensive, and nearly impossible to find to say the least.

im just disapointed.

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If you use flourescent lighting, be sure you only use a magnetic ballast, not electronic. This switch causes the lights to flicker continuously when it is OFF, and causes the lights to buzz when it is ON. Yes, so the package does say it supports up to 400W MAGNETIC flourescents, but it does not explicitly say you can't use ELECTRONIC flourescents on the outside; only in the manual (after you have ripped open the plastic packaging.

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I have the PR180, which is the expanded 180 degree sensor. The only thing that seems to work consistently on this is the manual switch at the bottom. It does indeed turn it permanently off or permanently on. The problems begin when you set it to the middle Auto setting.

After playing with the Time setting, I found that turning it all the way up to ALMOST the maximum kept it on for 30 seconds. One more click adjustment and it immediately went up to 15 minutes, as it advertises. I couldn't find any setting between 30 seconds and 15 minutes after repeated trials. I left it at 30 seconds and tested it about five times, then gave up. I left the room. Ten minutes later, the light was still on. It can't seem to make up its mind.

The other downside is, about 3 out of 4 times, the light will go off while you're still in the room (in this case, it's a bathroom). When the light goes off, you can sit there and flail your arms and body and the sensor will not detect motion and turn the light back on. I've sat there for upwards of two minutes trying to get it to go back on and it never does, until I reset it with the manual switch at the bottom. All of this is with the Light Level Adjustment setting turned all the way to the maximum setting. If I turn it down at all, the sensor never detects anything, ever.

Everyone in our family has gotten so frustrated with it, we all just use the manual switch on the bottom to turn the light on and off. I do NOT recommend this switch at all. It was the cheapest motion detection light switch in the store, and it's clear why. It's a poor product.

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I'm not saying all the reviews are incorrect, but this switch is not all that bad.

Typically, whether you are working with z-wave, motion sensors and such flourescent is just a bad idea in general. I read all these bad reviews on all these devices and whether the manufacturer tells you it's o.k. or not you just need to accept the good ol' incadescent.

Also, with some of the reviews I don't think some realized that there are dials behind the decorative plate that can control the time and sensitivity to existing light levels.

They will not work in pitch black unless you are right in front of it. If you need that spend much more on an infrared one.

They do only sense motion at or above the location of the sensor. It's not good if you have children shorter than the switch, but it is good if you have pets.

Those aren't negative points, they are just things to take into consideration.

I've found they work great for walk-in closets, laundry rooms, bathrooms, stairways and garages. When used in the right environment I've found them much more reliable than the competion. Their timers react the same length everytime and don't get hung up. There is a green light on the front that flashes whenever it senses activity and I've had no problem with distance in any normal sized room.