I have a set of lights at the end of my driveway that are turned On/Off from the Photo Electric Cell that is attached to the house. The outlet box is in the front of the house (which faces South). Over the years, the landscape has matured quite well such that it creates a rather nice shade for the Photo Cell. Occasionally, the lights will stay on well past sunrise even close to Noon. I was wondering if I could replace the Photo Cell with the Insteon Micro On-Off (2443-222) device which would be part of a Scene in my eisy that would turn on the lights at Sunset (or some time after) and turn them off at Sunrise?

 

Thanks

Possibly.  It would depend on:

1. Distance from your house to the photocell (wire length or RF distance).
2. Size of the enclosure for your photocell (will the Micro On/Off fit).
3. Temperatures at the enclosure.  You're in Texas so cold probably isn't a problem.  How about heat?

I'll be the first to admit that it's nice to have all your outside lights operate in unison.  It's rather classy. 

I had a similar situation with a post lamp that I fought for years,  After numerous photocells, Insteon bulbs, and inlinelincs I finally wound up with Dusk to Dawn bulbs

Cheap and stupid simple - Just the way I like it: Amazon Basics Dusk to Dawn Bulb

Edit: Another thought would be to find where the circuit enters your house.  It likely originates at a GFCI outlet, possibly in your garage.  If so, you might be able to install the Micro On/Off module in the box with the GFCI.  That would put it in a protected environment.  You would need to bypass the Photocell. 

Edited August 24, 20241 yr by IndyMike

18 hours ago, j.rieff said:

I have a set of lights at the end of my driveway that are turned On/Off from the Photo Electric Cell that is attached to the house. The outlet box is in the front of the house (which faces South). Over the years, the landscape has matured quite well such that it creates a rather nice shade for the Photo Cell. Occasionally, the lights will stay on well past sunrise even close to Noon. I was wondering if I could replace the Photo Cell with the Insteon Micro On-Off (2443-222) device which would be part of a Scene in my eisy that would turn on the lights at Sunset (or some time after) and turn them off at Sunrise?

 

Thanks

As long as the signal reaches it will work. Just remove the photocell, wire the module in place, and program. I recommend adding the module to your system prior to installing.

Like @IndyMike, I want all my premise lights to on/off in unison and a certain actual dark level outside. Where I live in the US, dusk time is not a great program trigger as it could be very cloudy out (needs to come on sooner) or there's snow on the ground (lighter out and it needs to come on later).

I made an Insteon, wired in dusk/dawn sensor. I put it in a small project box and its behind the drapes in a window inside my house that faces south and all that can be seen is a cable plugged in the wall coming from under the drape. It's not that big or noticeable. It can trigger Insteon devices anywhere Insteon reaches.

It uses a micro on/off module and a lamp photocell sensor from amazon or home depot. See the post below.

You can scroll around in the post to find out more. I also wanted to get away from battery powered sensors. 

IOX programs let me delay the trigger of the lights a little as the sensor turns them on too early, and I can avoid dark clouds, etc blowing over in the middle of the day triggering them