Heath Zenith HZ-4135-SV 150 Degree Motion Sensing Decoractive Security Light with DualBrite Technology, Silver

This is one of those "good news, bad news" kinds of reviews.The good news is, once this light is installed and set to our liking, it looks sharp and works really well. My wife and I love the "DualBrite" feature that provides attractive lower-light dusk-to-dawn lighting, enough to make the House look inviting and illuminate our house number, that brightens to full intensity when someone approaches the house. Awesome.The bad news is, while most of the installation steps are very straight foward, getting the light's settings so it works the way we wanted it to were not, and neither was finding an LED bulb that works with this fixture.There are three settings on this lamp. The most intuitive of the three is the motion sensitivity setting, which is on the back of the unit so you have to dismount it from the wall to change it, and that's a hassle. The other two settings are controlled by easily accessible switches on the outer housing and set how the DualBrite feature works and the duration the light stays on full before going back to dim light (or just stays on when Dualbrite is disabled). I found the settings a little confusing before getting an LED bulb that works correctly with this unit.When I first installed this fixture the "dualbrite" and motion detection features would not work with the dimmable 5.5w/60w equivalent bulb I initially installed and the light would flicker. After doing a web search I learned the light will not work correctly unless a bulb drawing 7-8 watts is installed. After upgrading the bulb to a 100w equivalent drawing 9-10 watts, the light works perfectly.There is no mention of the LED bulb requirements in the included documentation.Here are the settings we decided to use: Our sidewalk is a little over 20 feet from the front of the house, and we didn't want to disturb people who simply walk by, and found setting the lamp's motion sensitivity about a third of the way from zero to full was just about right. We set the time-on switch to Dusk-to-Dawn, and the motion detected time on switch to 1 minute. (Available overall time-on options are "off" to run whenever power is applied, to stay on 3 or 6 hours after sunset, and Dusk-to-Dawn operation; motion time-on settings are Test, 1, 5, and 10 minutes.)So, there you have it. It's a hassle to get this thing set up but, once it is set up, it's a nice front porch light.

Heath Zenith has been making versions of this kind of motion sensing light for as long as I can remember. I had the identical DualBrite sensor on my front door light that was installed sometime in the mid-1980’s and I loved it. The light would glow softly at night but when it sensed approaching motion it would switch to full brightness for security. It worked flawlessly for 25 years.This fixture isn’t as well made but that’s to be expected these days. The fixture itself is pure economy model like would be found at an apartment building but it was okay for the location I bought it for. Unfortunately there are some major design issues with it. And even more unfortunately it simply doesn’t work.THE DESIGN ISSUESThe biggest design problem is that the sensor is mounted on the top and doesn’t tilt downward, so it has a hard time sensing motion right under it, like when you exit your doorway or walk up to close to the wall. It “misses” sensing motion at least 50% of the time. Another issue is that for some inexplicable reason they put the sensitivity adjustment INSIDE the cowl housing of the fixture where you can’t reach it to adjust it while you are installing/texting the light, nor can you adjust it again after the light is fully installed. The third issue is that the other control switches are not weatherproofed.IT DOESN’T WORKI realize that all motion sensor can be false triggered by rustling leaves, wind, flying insects, etc. But this one just randomly turns itself on and off whenever it wants to, even when there is nothing that can possibly false trigger it. When you walk through the “beam” where it should sense your motion (when it is SUPPOSED TO turn on) it sometimes does and sometimes doesn’t, even if you repeat the identical motion a dozen times. Sometimes you can walk right up to it and wave your hand in front of it and it will work and other times, nothing.I recently discovered the new motion sensing LED bulbs and bought on for another fixture. Much less money and much more dependable performance. I sent this Heath Zenith fixture back.

Just got it today and have already installed it. I was looking for a porch lamp that worked the same as the one that’s been at this house since 1975. As soon as it’s almost dark it comes on at a dimmed level until it detects motion. Then it gets brighter. I did not think I would find one so quickly. Another bonus that sold it for me are the prairie lines on the glass, which matches our windows and storm door. The pictures were taken just after dusk. If I continue to like it, I’ll buy another one for the back porch.

I have an electrician,he put it up. It calls for incandescent. He said that might be a problem. I found a GE bright stick halogen .It works. love the dusk to dawn as I don’t have a switch for this motion lite. Motion works great. I usually set it for 6 hrs to be on at dusk, turns self off and lights up it if detects motion. Knocked off a star for incandescent bulb req as they are no longer sold.

This replaces another Heath porch light. It comes on a dusk at half brightness, and stays on for 3 or 5 hours or all night depending on how you set the switch. However, it also has a motion sensor which comes on full brightness whenever motion is sensed. It stays at full brightness for a period of time and then returns to its previous state (half on or off) depending where it was in its cycle. I find this very useful, especially since I have some wild animals who roam at night. It does a good job at keeping the deer away from my flower bushes.

Be aware that the light will be on from dusk to dawn (at 1/2 brightness), It goes to full brightness when it detects motion.

These are really great lights. They matched my house perfectly, they are modern enough, but more of a farmhouse look, but not obvious about it.The motion detection is good and gives me peace of mind. They light my entire walkway in front of my house at night, which is great because nuts a rock path, so when I'm barefoot I need that light!