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Not very green. I'm a fan of the motion-sensor variety.

I do. My boyfriend doesn't. We live in kind of iffy area next to a park so I just like to leave it on for safety. Terrible I know.

motion sensor light here.

I turn mine on if I am going to be gone during the evening hours or if I have company coming over.

solar motion sensor over here

i don't have a motion sensor light. we turn off our porch light at night. it is green, and it saves money. our former roommate used to leave it on all night long, pretty much every night (he usually came in long after we went to bed, and no amount of assertiveness on our part would change his habits). now that he's out, and we're still in the same place, the electric bill has decreased, even though all our other usage has stayed more or less the same.

There are no lights on our street so we do keep the porch light on with a compact fluorescent bulb.

solar/motion/half power here. When it gets dark, mine turns on at 1/2 the power level (and 1/2 the brightness) for an hour, then turns itself off unless it detects motion at which point it pops up to full brightness.

Only drawback is that the 1/2 power doesn't work with a CFL, so I have an old fashioned incandescent in there.

ditto solar motion sensor

No lights on our street either. Our porch is also our carport and I'm freaked about property theft. In northern CA and even in my city of Davis, people are stealing anything that isn't tied down. The big thing is to steal the cataletic converter - ever price a replacement? ouch! So the light stays on but I made sure it's a CFL.

We have motion sensor lights on the driveway, and also a porch light and a lamp post. I almost always forget about the porch light, but I do turn on the lamp post most evenings in winter. Now, not so much - it still gets dark pretty late.

CFLs are great for this. i agree that it can feel like an energy waster, but as someone whose commute includes a several-block walk through a rather dark residential neighborhood (ok, not in the summer at least!), i REALLY appreciate the houses that have theirs on in the evenings. it definitely makes me feel safer - like there are more eyes and ears on the street and i am not so completely alone and vulnerable. it would be great to have a timer to turn it off at midnight or something, though.

No lights on our street. The only time our outside light is on is when we're out of the house or expecting visitors.

People, a lot of times it just looks nice to have a light on. Use a low wattage one if you are really green. Turn it off at midnight. If you are on this website you are probably concerned with aesthetics. And there is nothing aesthetic about solar lights or motion detectors.

front is motion sensor, back is regular. really should look into having that changed. or get little solar pathway lights so I don't kill myself on the stairs!

I_heart_the_Eastide - solar lights and motion detectors can be hidden. There is no reason a person can't have both!

We have a pretty dense tree canopy that blocks most of the streetlight, so we leave ours on. But it is a CFL. Our neigbors had their front door kicked in one night last month, so we're more worried about safety than the environment in this particular case!

I like when they're left on, but I also like to conserve energy. I'll leave it on if I'm home alone, or if I'm expecting guests. I usually turn it off when I go to bed though.

This is one time where sustainability trumps the environment. The additional energy consumed by leaving a CFL on at night pales in comparison to the social and community benefits (above and beyond crime deterrence) of having porch lights on.

If you are really an enviro-nut -- use solar light sensitive fixtures.

Porch lights are common where I live. Safety first! (I assume.)

You've heard of guerilla gardeners who plant vegetables along highways and wildflowers in abandoned lots? A band of guerilla energy savers recently went around replacing traditional porch light bulbs with CFL bulbs in my neighborhood and others nearby - whether people wanted them or not.

I_Heart_The_Eastside - I totally agree. Solar lights give off a hideous bluish cast...not inviting. Ditto flourescents (although they're getting better at making them emit warmer light).

And timers don't address the whole idea of leaving the porchlight on...they're on, they're off. Seems commercial.

A low-wattage porchlight left on until late in the evening is a beautiful thing that makes neighborhoods more...well...neighborhoody. Hooray for porchlights!

we have the porch light on from dusk till dawn, as my neighborhood is iffy with drug deals round the corner all the time. the neighborhood association encourages us to leave the light on as the bad guys usually avoid lighted area.

also because the light is on a dimmer, i had to use regular incandescent.

unfortunately.

I leave the front an back lights on 24/7. I should get the solar sensors to turn them off during the day but I haven't yet. In the summer I could probably remember to turn them on and off but in the winter I leave in the dark and come home in the dark.

I leave them on for safety reasons and because I think houses with no light on in the evening look terribly unfriendly - plus it helps emergency personnel see your house numbers.

You also have the option of using rope light, you know:

"Seventy-five feet of our LED rope light uses a little less energy than a 60-watt incandescent light bulb, which makes it very energy-efficient."

http://www.pegasusassociates.com/products/RopeLights/RopeLights.html

And as you probably won't be doing the whole home, it's not too expensive.

I did see a home with rope light all the way around at the eaves. It looks great. It looks like it's all dressed up for holidays or some incredible party.

And what it does is put light exactly where you want it for safety, all the way around the perimeter where you would easily be able to see someone sneaking about, from inside or outside.

As the light is done under the eaves, there's a bit less light pollution. It does not shine up.

The bulbs cannot be replaced, so if you get a dim bulb in ten years, you have a dim bulb...BUT, that is when you can replace that section of the rope (if it bothers you) with a new one, and start using the dim bulb one elsewhere. Garage. In trees or bushes.

And the rope light is infinitely more appealing than "security" lighting. It looks fun and festive and inviting and a bit magical.

It isn't a suspicious "HALT! Who goes there?" motion detector light that makes everyone who triggers it feel like a criminal.

Hi guys - our building needs additional lighting along the narrow corridor that runs between our building and our neighbor's. We need it primariy to improve the safety of the corridor.

Ideally this lighting would be:
1) Not super-expensive, say $75 or less per light, or the condo assn. won't buy into it
2) I like ChzPlz's 1/2 power concept until motion makes it go full brightness, otherwise it will be on a timer to be on all night
3) Energy efficient
4) Doesn't look completely nasty (I'd like to avoid the regular motion-sensor flood lights if possible, but I'm afraid the assn is going to go with that unless I find a reasonable alternative)

Any specific recommendations? Thanks!

I leave my porch light on because, believe it or not, the light has only been off for maybe five nights since I moved in three months ago, and both my car and my wifes car has been broken into twice each! My iPod was taken and my wifes GPS device (she needs it bad) was taken twice. My car was broken into and I woke up and chased them away. Supposedly my area is safe, and the police think that I am being targeted because I am the only one in the neighborhood that has any problems. Go figure, our house has a constant grey cloud over it and it is not because I leave my porch light on all the time.

Front porch-not a chance. The Master Bedroom is at the front of the house which means the light would be 10 feet from my head at night.
Back porch-most definitly. Anything to deter the car theives.

A couple more things on the rope lighting for those who might be interested. Not finding the images I wanted to find, but here's one using the lights low on a deck:
http://www.whitelightledbulb.com/Led-rope-lights.jpg

A how-to on indoor lighting, using rope lights and a bunch of other stuff:
http://www.rd.com/familyhandyman/content/17643/

Someone's bar, which uses rope light (scroll down):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=640633

Another low use display, along the base of a railing:
http://www.rope-lighting.org/index.php?action=recent;start=70

Indoor accent lighting:
http://affordablequality-lighting.com/

Scroll down here to see it used under the eaves right NEXT to a building:
http://www.freedomfarm.com/news/index.html

And this should work for Bumblebeechicago's condo area too.

I am too cheap to leave the light on.

Although I live on the 2nd floor I leave the porch light on my balcony on for security (CFL). The first floor is actually garden-level so if someone wanted to climb on my balcony and break in or just vandalize something it wouldn't be hard to do. I keep it on a timer so it comes on well after dark, but stays on at least an hour past when the bars close (there are 2 just down the street). I try and prevent some drunk from making a questionable decision at 2 AM and try to vandalize something just for fun.

Admittedly I am pretty security conscious having once been held at knife point in my car and just a year later coming home to a house that had been totally ransacked and everything I had of any value was stolen. Fortunately both these events were in 1987 but you never forget once it happens to you.

True Blue - your rope light idea would be fantastic for the porches up in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood! Unfortunately, both buildings along our corridor are 3 stories high, so there are no eaves close enough to the ground to hang the lights under. Maybe I can use it on my little porch though. Hmmmm. A new project, perhaps?!

I hate motion sensor lights. They make a neighborhood feel less safe and friendly. I have to walk several blocks from the bus stop to my building and several of the houses along my path have motion sensor lights that turn on as I'm walking along the sidewalk . I don't know if they're miscalibrated or intentional, but it's not comfortable. There's a moment of alarm each time as I instinctively wait for the dogs to be set loose or an alarm to sound. Then I continue along my way. Porchlights that are simply left on are much better if you want to encourage a community that's friendly to pedestrian travel.

My boyfriend and I have conflict over lights. While I try to be green by turning lights off, I take lighting very seriously and like my main floor to be gorgeously lit at night. Nothing satisfies me more than a well-lit room. I also like leaving a lamp or two on if we're away. My boyfriend is always turning off my lights! My justification, whether it's right or wrong, is that I use 25W bulbs in all my lamps - A well-lit serial killer's den.

Our front porch light is on during evening hours until we go to bed. It's one of our rituals, turning off the front light, then up to bed.

Last year when I was 7 months pregnant my house alarm went off at 3am. My husband was away on a business trip and I did not have a single light on in the house. I was completely terrified and I couldn't see if there was anyone outside or inside. I now leave the front and back porch lights on, a light in my foyer and the stove light in my kitchen. All CFL's of course!

I leave mine on all night, every night. But in my transitional neighborhood it helps to keep the drug dealers and hookers away.

I don't have control over my porch light, weirdly. I spent about 20 minutes looking for the switch when I moved into my apartment. But my porch light is on every night, apparently all night. Bummer for the neighbor whose bedroom window is at a 90 degree angle to our porch.

Bumblebeechicago:

I don't know the style of the buildings, or what windows might face that corridor...but there is the option of a simple wood molding, that runs the length of the corridor. Painted the same color as the wall, doesn't have to be fancy, onto which the clips or hooks can be mounted for the lights.

They could be mounted up high enough so they are not messed with, but low enough to shed light on the area.

They have so many advantages, they don't stick out, you don't need to wire anything along that corridor, other than having a place to plug in the one end. They could probably be set on a timer, or coordinated with an "on at dusk, off a dawn" thing.

Because if they decide to put in separate lights, they are going to have to run the electrical somewhere...and that means they either have to tear up the exterior (expensive) or run an electrical pipe along the corridor between lights (unsightly to ugly).

Also, as you saw, it does not have to be above, it can be below, like along the base of the corridor.

If the area is narrow, really narrow, they could do something like HANDRAILS!!! And light up below the handrails on each side.

If you do a project, Bumblebeechicago, we want to see before and after!!! I LOVE projects (er, when they are done by someone else).

ours is on... low-wattage CFL (7W or so... ikea is great for low-wattage CFLs) for the reasons mentioned above: safety, aesthetics, neighborhoodiness, etc... considering what could be lost while not having it on, it's not a hard sell for us. other neighbors, however, have installed ginormous metal-halide lights -- the kind that should be hung 50 feet in the air -- in the same place as their old incandescent bulbs... not good. really, a porch light looks and works best when not overpowering.

wait so CFL are the coiled bulbs? are they really a lot better than regular bulbs? and why?

we leave ours on, especially if we are going to be gone. The tiny amount of energy does not make me feel guilty since I am using a CFL.

It's on only if I'm expecting someone (myself included).

Reducing my electric bill and reducing my impact on the environment are part of it.

But another part of it is that I just don't like the light pollution. I REALLY can't stand it when my closest neighbors leave their outdoor lights on all night.

Also, leaving the porch light on attracts bugs.

CFL = Compact Fluorescent Lamp/Light (or Canadian Football League)

Snopes on the true and false questions for CFLs:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

I'd highly recommend that everyone read that section.

Broken CFLs require special handling and disposal. They should not be disposed of with household trash.

Which is one reason my dead CFLs are still in the socket. I don't know what to do with them.

Solar lights up the path to the door for safety (they don't really illuminate the stairs much, but they remind me where they begin and end). If I'm expecting someone (housemates and/or guests) or forget, the front porch CFL stays on.

On, but on a timer. On at sundown, off at bedtime.

I have a back-lit address light that I leave on all night in case there's an emergency and the ambulance/firetruck/police have to find my house in a hurry. I leave it on from dusk to dawn.

as an animal control officer that works nights, I really appreciate it when people leave their porch lights on, or have back lit address numbers like the one above! I hate not being able to find addresses when there is an injured animal waiting for me.

Tomahto, you mean animals that don't belong to the people AT the house? Otherwise they should be taking it to a vet, if it's theirs.

One of the skunks got hit and killed late Wed or early Thu. I'm kind of hoping it wasn't one of the mama skunks. I'm not sure the babies are quite old enough to have learned what they need to know to fend for themselves.

Last year one of the mama raccoons was hit. It was awful. I found her in the middle of the road, at night, on the unlit part of our street. I stop to make sure they are dead. As I can't think of a more horrible way to die...slowly, painfully, with the cars and trucks barreling towards you on both sides.

She was still alive.

And I wasn't going to leave her there.

So I picked her up and carried her to the side of the road as gently as possible. And I am ashamed to say that I did NOT call animal control right away.

Because the last time I sat with another dying raccoon, they took HOURS and HOURS to get there, while this little animal writhed in pain and agony.

I picked up that one when the officer came and scooted it carefully into the carrier contraption he had brought. He wanted to know how much wildlife training I had. None. I think it was too far gone anyway, or maybe it knew I wouldn't hurt it.

I went out early the next day and found that she had made it through the night, and that is when I called it in. THIS time animal control came out real fast.

They would not let me pick her up again, they used that rope-on-a-pole thing.

And later that day, my heart was broken again, when I heard her babies trilling for her. And there was nothing that could be done. No way of explaining to them that mama wasn't coming back.

I have motion sensor lights with CFLs at the front and back of my house. It's all about safety.

The switch for my building's front porch light is in our flat and we have been advised by the HOA that it must stay on 24/7. Fine with me but still funny. It was taped on when we bought the place and we got an email immediately when it was thought we had turned it off but it had actually burned out.

I live in a very dark area and for some reason my city does not have adequate street lighting. For safety reasons I keep the lights on. I feel very strongly that all residents should be required to keep their front porch lights on or have sensor lights installed around their property. There have been numerous situations where lack of lighting have brought about real safety concerns for the neighborhood. A properly lit neighborhood has less crime, less accidents and less problems overall - period.

Where have all the stars gone?

Our neighbour's light floods our bedroom all night, but we haven't got the guts up to mention it yet. I'd be happy to buy her a new fixture that directs the light downwards.

Our lights go on occasionally for an hour or so of evening friendliness, but that's it. And they're CFLs.

PERFECT timing for me--my partner left yesterday for a month and I've been wondering whether I should leave the light on outside for safety. I also love the soft light it sheds--but felt I should turn it off to save if I'm asleep. What the heck--I'm leaving it on, for safety and beauty/neighborliness.

we use to have a motion sensor one (not solar) when we first moved here but there are always cats, dogs, cars, birds, ect that pass by its range that the light was constantly flicking on and off and it got annoying really fast. we changed it and only turn it on when the pets go out at night to do their business.

I'm in an apartment and the light on our landing is pretty much always on.

I have a light sensor. I leave the light on as a service to my neighbors.

We have a motion sensor light over the garage and a porch light with a CFL bulb. We turn the porch light on when it gets dark (and leave it on until we go to bed) because it attracts the June bugs and keeps them from tap-tap-tapping against our living room windows.

I despise motion sensor lights. Probably because they are usually hooked up to blinding horrid floodlights that completely eliminate any night-vision and they don't adequately light so that night-vision isn't needed.
I use a CFL and it is on all night. I like knowing that no matter what time I get home there will be a light on. It just says "home" to me.

I live in a rural area and only turn on outside lights if I'm expecting company. So . . . make sure you call first!!

My husband and I used to turn the lights off right before bedtime, but that was before we started living in our present location.

We live along a mountainside and in my neighborhood there are NO street lights (thanks to L.A. and Sherman Oaks) and NO SIDEWALKS. The neighborhood is fairly well to do, minimal car traffic and no buses. And yet there are burglaries here and there all the time. If you go out for a walk during the evening, without street lights and if there were no outdoor lights on in the private homes, it would be pitch black. And with no sidewalks you are forced to take your evening stroll right along moving cars. I have almost hit some idiots while driving more then once, because they were wearing dark clothes and were not carrying a flashlight during their evening strolls. In the six years I have lived in our home we were burglarized (as was the house a few doors down) and my car was broken into (the passenger window was shattered all for a crappy 4yr old cell phone). All this in one of the largest metropolises in the U.S. with one of the biggest populations, in a very well populated and developed area of L.A.

So YEAH we leave our lights on the entire night. We use CFL's and don't think twice about it. Safety for my husband, my kids and me comes first. I agree with H.B. in one of the previous posts, all of my neighbors should be required to leave their lights on at night, since the city doesn't provide this safety feature to the residents.

7watt cfl, turned off at midnight or bedtime, whichever comes first.

we have a little rope light up around the inside of the front porch (not visible unless you are standing on the porch) but it creates a friendly glow.

otherwise we just flip the light on the way out in the evening, and turn it off when we get in.

CFLs on all night front and back. Iffy neighborhood. Christmas Day drive bys and strange men urinating on the porch.