How to Wire a Motion Sensor Into Pole Lighting

Motion sensors for pole lighting are excellent choices for cutting down on your electricity costs. With the proper configuration of a motion sensor, you can create lighting effects that will illuminate when you are there and turn off when you leave. Here is how to do it.

Step 1 – Turn off Electricity

Find the circuit breaker that sends power to your pole light and turn it off.

Step 2 – Remove Switch

Before you can install the motion sensor switch into the wall, you must remove the original switch.

The good news is that removing the original switch is something that does not take a lot of time to do. You will start by unscrewing the screws that are holding the cover in place over the light switch. Remove the cover from the wall box.

Once the switch has been exposed, you should then unscrew the screws that are holding the switch in place. Pull the switch out of the box and let it hang from the wires that are currently connected to it.

Step 3 – Test for Electricity

Use the voltmeter to test for the presence of electricity. If you have turned the circuit breaker off, you should find that there is no electricity present. If you did not turn it off or you turned off the wrong breaker, you will get a reading. You must have a no electricity reading before you continue on to step 4.

Step 4 – Remove Wires

Use the screwdriver to partially remove the screws from the back of the switch, loosening them rather than removing them completely. Remove the wires from the light switch and then put the switch away.

Step 5 – Prepare Wires

Cut away the stripped portions of all three wires and re-strip each of them to about ¾ of an inch in length. If there are multiple neutral wires still remaining in the wall box, bring them out as well and remove the wire nut that connects them together.

Step 6 – Rewire

Rewire the system to work with the motion sensor. The ground wire should go from the box to the ground wire on the motion sensor. The same is true for the white and black wires that are protruding from both the motion sensor and the box. Use wire nuts to combine all of the wires of the same color.

Step 7 – Insulate and Prepare Sensor

Insulate the wire nuts that you just established with electrical tape. Wrap it around the wire nuts and the connecting wires to hold everything in place. With that done, you can then push the sensor back into the wall box, holding it flush with the wall surface.

Step 8 – Finish

Screw the sensor into the wall with the screws that came in the motion sensor kit. Use the cover that came with the sensor and screw it into place with the provided screws. If you followed all the directions properly, you should be done. Test out your new motion sensor!