Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This switch will allow your lights to turn on when a person's movement is sensed, or alternatively, turn it off when there's daylight. Its settings allow you to have the light stay on for 1,5,15, or 30 minutes after it no longer senses movement. It also has two levels of sensitivity and a test mode. Unlike many earlier sensor switches on the market, this one works with fluorescent, incandescent and LED lights. Although it requires a ground wire, which typical standard switches may not have, it doesn't need a neutral (white) wire, unlike many sensor switches. I placed this switch in a bathroom, where I needed one for two reasons. The light was frequently left on by mistake, and the room has fluorescent bulbs. Bulbs with CFLs inside do not favor well with short cycles, and are better off left on for a number of minutes than being switched off after a minute of being on. One concern with a bathroom switch is the level of sensitivity. I put the switch in test mode (15 seconds) and went behind a shower curtain. The light stayed on. Likewise, it stayed on while sitting on the room's seat. I haven't had any false responses, even when turning the ceiling fan on, although it's possible for air currents to trigger the sensor. UPDATE: I bought a second one for another room that gets light through windows during the day. The switch senses when a person is in the room and if it's dark enough, the light goes on. This is a much bigger room and I was concerned it might be a problem if the light went off with a person in it, but it seems to be working well. Another feature is that within five seconds of entering the room, you can turn it on or off, and it will learn from that. If you turn it on because it's already dark enough, it will learn to turn on earlier in the future. And if you turned it off, it would have recognized that there was enough ambient light that it should not have needed to still be on. Over time, it adjusts. Setting the time interval is simply a matter of holding in the button until it blinks the appropriate number of times indicated in the instructions. Other (less common) settings involve a small button that's normally hidden by the switch plate. That makes setting a simple task, and the defaults (5 minutes and movement sensor mode) might be sufficient. This uses a standard Decora switch plate, so depending on your current plate, you may or may not have to buy one. They are under a dollar at many hardware stores. I had a twin Decora plate from a previous sensor switch, but in one location I changed from a standard toggle switch and used a Leviton 2-Gang 1-Toggle 1-Decora Combination Wallplate. Overall, this works better and is more versatile than a number of sensor switches I've used in the past. It also has a lower sensitivity setting that I haven't tested, but if this causes lights to go on too easily, that's an available option. UPDATE: After using this switch for several months, I continue to be impressed by it, and it's the hands down winner compared to other brands I have tried. I have already bought an additional one and may buy more. UPDATE 9/2012: This switch allows you to set the amount of time after sensing no activity before the lights turn off. My wife decided that five minutes was too long for the bathroom and had me set it to a minute. I found that if I sit perfectly still, the light will go out. A simple turn of the head or wave of a hand will switch it back on. With a five minute setting, any movement within the past five minutes will have been enough to keep things on. So if you use one in a room where you sit very still such as while working at a desk with your back to the switch and a high chair back, a short setting could leave you in the dark until you wave your arm around. Ultimately it means that it senses small movements well, but in situations where small movements might not happen for a while you will do better with a longer period before it times out. So it's not just a matter of how long you want it to stay on after you leave the room, but a matter of how much you move around in short periods of time. UPDATE 8/2017: In December of 2016, I upgraded the fixture controlled by this switch and it now uses all LED lamps. It works perfectly.