Selling my kit due to security light

[sologuitarist61]

I had this problem about ten years ago and I had to sell up the scope (too big to drag to another dark site) - and it put me off until a short while ago (now moved).

This particular neighbour had the light on from dusk until the early hours as she ran a business from her home and didn't want her customer to have to fumble in the dark to find her door. Even when I pointed out a street light immediately in front of her property it didn't make the slightest difference and polite requests to turn it off fell on deaf ears. Could probably get her on excessive light pollution now, but not then.

[Spikey]

If you want to get it sorted then get over and speak to them, in ire them round to see for themselves and look through your scope. You never know they might be very obliging once you make a bit of effort to be communicative. There are a lot more patience trying aspects to this hobby at the best of times. If you can't be bothered to at least try then flog the lot.

[sanmatt]

I had this problem about ten years ago and I had to sell up the scope (too big to drag to another dark site) - and it put me off until a short while ago (now moved).

This particular neighbour had the light on from dusk until the early hours as she ran a business from her home and didn't want her customer to have to fumble in the dark to find her door. Even when I pointed out a street light immediately in front of her property it didn't make the slightest difference and polite requests to turn it off fell on deaf ears. Could probably get her on excessive light pollution now, but not then.

Or running a brothel. (is that illegal?).

Anyway, I do think it's worth trynig to befriend them, rather than give up so readily. You're the only one who's going to miss out here.

[sologuitarist61]

Or running a brothel. (is that illegal?).

Anyway, I do think it's worth trynig to befriend them, rather than give up so readily. You're the only one who's going to miss out here.

No!!! But it sounds like fun, and at least the light is red and not white

[Jessun]

I had this problem while I lived in England and I was able to have a chat with the neighbour and get him to tweak the sensitivity down to something reasonable. As it were it set off pretty much by the wind, but an adjustment to the sensitivity dial made it much better! Even he saw the benefit.

I didn't have a telescope at that time but was annoyed none the less...

Don't give up!

[estwing]

wait till he goes out then sneak into his house, paint all his light-bulbs black,then when he comes home he'll flick his light on/not work...and spend the rest of the night stumblin' round stubbing his toes on things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! joke.......

[JamesM]

I too sympathise with your problem. I thought it was clouds that came with the astro kit, now its security lights. Personal I find the lights that come with the P.I.R already attached a waste of time as they can be easily cut, moved out of position and cry wolf too many times. Much better to have it wired separately as you can hide it and direct it in a specific way to exclude all the false alarms. I would certainly make at least one attempt to make contact and to appeal to his better side but I might be cautious about explaining it is to do with astronomy (...some people still see it as being an 'intellectual' hobby which they might like to disrupt) and you could find he starts winding you up even more by leaving bedroom lights on etc. If you are not going to proceed down that course of action and indeed decide to approach the council, first check to see if they have a transparency policy, which can make public any planning complaints and which will expose you as the 'trouble maker.'

Best of luck with it and certainly hope you continue with astronomy.

James

[661-pete]

Could post lots of "customer reviews" that say (without mentioning anything about astronomy of course) how they annoy the neighbourhood, and how you cannot see anything in the contrasty shadows that they cast. Bit naughty maybe.

I thought the 500W things had been outlawed recently? Shocking to see them at that price though.

Yes, I've been having a bit of a trawl around the best-known DIY chains and they're all the same:

• B&Q: 400W for £8.98
  
• Screwfix: 400W for £11.99
  
• Wickes: 400W for £8.99
  
• Homebase: 500W for £9.99
  

Shocking! Why, it's only about the price of two or three standard interior CFL light bulbs. At these prices, no wonder some householders succumb to temptation.

Of course, once their hiked-up 'leccy bills come in, they may just re-consider. 400 or 500W for several hours each night adds up to a lot of units! Come to think of it, that may be what happened with my neighbours. It might be worth mentioning that point to your neighbour - even if you don't get on very well, most people agree when it comes to saving £££s....

I don't think posting 'reviews' on the DIY websites is a good idea - they're not really related to the product quality, you have to give an E-mail address, and the DIY store might turn nasty. Perhaps to write directly to the head office of each of these chains? Or start a petition (though I don't think we'd garner enough signatures ...).

[DaveGarland]

My neighbour used to have a security light that used to shine right over my fence into my garden and refused point blank to adjust the angle downward, "It's my RIGHT to feel secure!" blah blah blah... My solution? I planted a leylandii Once it reached about 10 ft I was asked if I could cut it back and I had my bargaining chip. The bush is now about 6 ft tall and her security now points down.

There's always more than one way to skin a cat

[rory]

alot of advice there,. i would say ( although its difficult without knowing where exactly the light shines in relation to your viewing area. how high the light is ect. )

but having somekind of screen between yourself and the light helps,at least with the direct light. i know your pain i have to contend with two orange street lights ,one in particular lights alot of the garden. as well as the owners of the house opposite my garden like to leave lights on with no curtains till all hours !!! and a security light.

but i plod on and im notching up a few objects.

some will say travel to a darker sight ( i will from time to time) but havn't as yet. however some people want a telescope to relax in the yard or garden and i empathise completely with someone who has wembley flood lights shining from all angles.

id go down the shield route if its plausable and the nieghbour is unhelpfull.

[SFlowers]

I can sympathise, we strategically position the parasol from our table to block our neighbour's security light. We do have better nights when we take the telescope out to a dark spot though. Due to our house being in the way we can't see as much from the garden either.

[satcomsta]

I had a similar situation with a new neighbor. Had two lights on all night. And I usually look from my second floor bedroom deck so you can imagine the wash out. I approached him one day and explain to him and ask him if he would be opposed to me raising the fence because of it and guess what?, he told me no need to, he agreed to keep them off and explain that it was just him being used to have lights on because he just move here from Los Angeles. So it was a happy ending and I'm back to partially dark skies from right outside my bedroom. Give it a try, you never know how much good you can accomplish. Even maybe bring him to the dark side of the force and both enjoy darker skies. Hope you get this sorted out. Good luck & clear skies!

[che guevara]

I love all the fake experts on here quoting statutory nuisance as an issue the EHO will champion, if its pointing straight in your bedroom all night PERHAPS, but because it stops you enjoying looking at the sky ? --- best of look with that !

[PortableAstronomer]

"It's my right to feel secure"

Yep that sums it up nicely. Rights not responsibility, and delusional feeling of security rather than actual security.

Tough one to defeat. On one side we have the media control Lemming Nation into acting and fearing irrationally, while those with the ability to reason and think independently are confined to a minority with no voice.

[jeremy1]

Dunno where all this feeling secure comes from ???? They did some pilot schemes around the country where the street lights are turned off after a certain time at night and believe it or not but crime figures actually dropped. It appears that the burgulars are actually affraid of the dark too.

[MadAlbert]

...It appears that the burgulars are actually affraid of the dark too.

Perhaps it's because they can't see what they're doing?

[PortableAstronomer]

The irrational feeling of "light = security" is largely a result of the media scaremongering, especially in the newspapers. Also the campaigning for more inefficient, wasteful, and highly irresponsible lighting has far more supporters than the campaign for effective, responsible, efficient lighting.

Might be something to do with that scaremongering shockumentary on TV last year, I think it was called "the street that cut everything" or something like that.

They had streetlights switched off at night, but the producers setup fake yobs to vandalise and do dog poop everywhere. It gave the impression that it wouldn't have happend had there been streelights on. It got a lot of complaints.

Lots of external lighting enables people to think that they would notice criminal activity as it's taking place, even if they never actually look outside their windows in the middle of the night.

On the other extreme, I've heard some amateur astronomers say that from truly remote dark sites, you can see shadows on the ground from the glow of the Milky Way above.

The Neurotypical majority of Joe Public consists of people who assume that they are the expert, and aren’t willing to accept that what they "feel" might be a misconception.

[Tim]

I am surrounded by neighbours on three sides and they all have security lights. You just have to make the best of it.

[Qualia]

Taking a 'philosophical-critical' approach, perhaps there is scant difference between 'home security-lights' and the such, and the general phenomenon of apotropaic magic.

The demons are out-there! Where? Everywhere; lurking! Waiting for you.

You've been warned by the muck of the tabloid, by trash TV and vote-hungry thugs in suits:

So shut up and be happy. Buy yourself a security light, an alarm, charms and tokens and amulets you can hang over your door to scare away those demons. Don't venture out at night, stay in your homes, do not attempt to think or depression may accure, remain calm. Recall, the number one enemy of progress is question. Curfew is at 10 PM sharp. Shut up. Be happy. Don't pannic. At last everything is done for you.

[todd8137]

You need to speak with your next door,explain the prob invite the man of the house round let them see what hey do in.light pol is treated the same as any other pollution ,and should sort the light prob

Pat

[661-pete]

We had a massive power cut last Xmas Eve. Plunged the whole neighbourhood into almost complete darkness for several hours (sadly the weather was bad so I couldn't seize the opportunity to do a bit of proper stargazing ). Bad luck for anyone who'd chosen to prepare the Xmas dinner early - but it was a real eye-opener to observe the 'community spirit' that sprang up - people going up and down the street with torches and tilly lamps making sure that folks were OK. We went to knock on the door of our elderly neighbour just to make sure she was all right, but she called out to us not to worry, she had plenty of candles...

Just shows - darkness can be a boon, sometimes. Maybe this was a one-off and rather an exception (although we're getting more and more frequent power cuts these days....perhaps it's because of all these 500W lamps people leave on....?)

[PortableAstronomer]

It is interesting to read the perspective from the "owner" of an offending 'security' light:

to NOT back down to my elderly neighbour. (full thread) | Mumsnet Discussion

What is refreshing, is that most of the comments/reactions (from non-astro people), were actually quite rational comments. It looks like there is hope out there: Seems like you don't have to be into astronomy to realise that floodlights are annoying.

Remember, it isn't our fault that a neighbour fears the dark.

We have had same interests and hobbies for decades: you cannot expect us to take kindly to change when it is thrust apon us by a selfish neighbour with an irresponsibly mounted 'security' light.

Decades of interest and enjoyment of the night sky, and suddenly someone kills it in one day.

The 'security' light owner should not be surprised if they get complains from people they have affected.

[kirsty]

Thinking that if YOU are in YOUR garden most of the night viewing, are YOU not THEIR security ? So no need for lights, simples, lol

[Macavity]

I think you have to learn to "do" neighbours a bit? Sadly, I over-compensated and picked up a stalker-nutter, not to mention any number of people who wanted to park their... "inconvenient" Caravans etc. on my driveway. But I did get a very favourable (easy) result from the ONE "rogue security light" guy.

But in a place with somewhat lesser LIGHT POLLUTION, it seems that people actually *do* remember seeing stars. At the seaside, many own binoculars (telescopes) even? The (we?) Welsh must be extraordinary clever too... Nary a confusion between Astronomy and astrology, to date either. [teasing]

[Jon Sales]

Ask him to change the lamp to a low energy one. 500w is far too much. All he needs is 60w to see properly.

If he tells you to get stuffed call in the council and erect a barrier. Just check with the local council tho how high you can have it before you need planning permission.