Motion-sensing cabinet lights

January 4, 2024 4:58 AM

We have a pantry closet that’s too dim inside. I’d like to add wireless lights on a few shelves, to turn on automatically when I open the doors. I’ve been looking at options and I could use input about motion sensing when it's not dark, batteries vs. USB-rechargeable, and other recommendations.

The motion sensor lights all say they only turn on in the dark. The pantry closet isn’t dark when I open it, just dimmer than I’d like, and I’d like the lights to come on whenever I open the doors. Are there any that will motion-sense and turn on even in semi-dim light? Can I override the darkness sensors by covering them with black tape, or would that also cover the motion sensors?

For power, it looks like there are USB-rechargeable ones, but they need to be charged every month or few. Others take several AAAs each, and I’d have three lights, so I’d also have to get a bunch of rechargeable AAAs (I have a charger). So I’ll have to recharge either way, but the AAA ones should need recharging a lot less often. If you’ve had the USB-rechargeable ones, is frequent recharging as much of a pain as I’m imagining?

I'm leaning towards bars over pucks, but could be swayed. Any other thoughts or recommendations for particular lights would be helpful, too.

posted by daisyace to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Yeah, I am only aware of the AAA battery types. I bought these for a similar reason. I just use rechargeable AAAs. I will monitor this thread in case someone has a better solution. Good luck.
posted by terrapin at 5:52 AM on January 4

Best answer: I bought these back in April for use in a couple of lazy Susan corner cabinets, and they’ve done well. They don’t seem to have a photosensor; they come on when the cabinets are opened, regardless of ambient light. Charge frequency depends on how often the cabinets get opened, but it’s nowhere near monthly, and charge time is quick. We also installed one as an undercabinet light in a dark corner, which I don’t recommend; they aren’t bright enough for that, and the batteries run down much too quickly in that application.
posted by jon1270 at 5:52 AM on January 4

Best answer: I put the rechargeable bars in my pantry and cabinets, and no regrets - I just kept one charger cable plugged into one of my outlets and when a bar started getting dim threw it on there for a few hours. Even in the pantry where they reacted to the motion of the door opening, the ones that ran down fastest were on the two shelves where I do the most digging around. It was never annoying or a hardship, and I had probably a dozen of them.

I wouldn't say it was terribly dark in my kitchen, especially the pantry that was facing the windows, and they still worked even with the overhead lights on. The ones I always got had the sensor in the center of the strip and I installed them longways so it was fairly dark where the sensor was.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:55 AM on January 4

Ikea sells inside-the cabinet lights. You have to cut holes in your cabinets to wires the lights (possibly) but other than that they are ok.

Stotta these are battery-powered, but the older ones I have are wired, using Ikea's under cabinet lighting-type transformer, not a direct wire to an outlet.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:51 AM on January 4

My motion-sensing lights (too big for inside your cabinets so I won't link), respond to motion. I believe they have an option not to respond in high ambient light, but I don't use that option. Keep looking. There's no reason to buy motion-sensing lights that will only operate when it's dark.
posted by JimN2TAW at 9:27 AM on January 4

Best answer: I bought these for a dark closet. I stuck the strip of LED's on the inside of the door jamb.

It's motion activated, and rechargeable. The little dongle hangs off a stick-on magnet, when you need to recharge, take it down and plug in to a USB port. It takes about an hour to recharge.

This worked so well I bought a second string and put it on the bottom of the frame on my mom's bed. Whenever she got out of bed, the lights lit up under the bed, just enough for her to see the doorway.

It has a mode to ignore ambient light.
posted by Marky at 1:06 PM on January 4

Best answer: I have used USB rechargable lights (name below) for several years and been quite happy with them. They light up in even moderately dim light - I just walked around my house on a grey winter day and they lit up when opening closets or being in the kitchen and reaching under the cabinet.

The ones below are currently out of stock on Amazon, but I have had good success with similar lights with the sensor in the middle. I was curious about how long they would last between charges, so I wrote the date down on the back each time I charged them. It's about 1-2 months depending on the time of year and how often they turn on (e.g., the bathroom light turns on more often than the downstairs closet light.) They only take about two hours to charge from completely dead.

"Otinlai Under Cabinet Lights,10 LED Motion Sensor Lights, Night Light,Led Battery Lights,Motion Led Light Bar, USB Rechargeable Magnet LED Lights Stick on Anywhere (Silver White 3 Pack)"
posted by ITravelMontana at 1:10 PM on January 4

Best answer: I bought these LED Motion sensor light 4 months ago and I have charged only once. They are pretty bright for a small cabinet.
posted by SunPower at 2:40 PM on January 4

Response by poster: Thanks everybody! Sounds like they'll likely turn on even though it's not really dark, and recharging isn't as much of a hassle as I'd thought. Lyn Never, any idea which brand yours were?
posted by daisyace at 10:03 AM on January 5

Best answer: These are the ones I bought the last 3 times, per my shopping history.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:25 PM on January 5

Response by poster: Thank you!
posted by daisyace at 5:25 PM on January 6