How to Build a Driveway Alarm

Everyone has access to a driveway with no gate -- including illegally parked cars and lost drivers that use it to drive up and turn around. A solar-powered floodlight with motion sensors warns homeowners when someone is in their driveway. Without digging holes for wiring, and by using only a few tools, the solar-powered floodlight -- found at garden shops and hardware stores -- is easily installed by homeowners.

Things You'll Need

• Solar-powered floodlight
• Pickaxe
• Hand towel
• Soft mallet
• Concrete powder
• Bucket
• Spade
• Phillips screwdriver/Torx screwdriver

Instructions

1. Measure 4 feet in on the driveway toward the house. Dig a 1-foot hole in the lawn on the side of the driveway, using a pickaxe. Insert the pole attached to the bottom of the solar-powered floodlight into the hole.

2. Place a folded hand towel on top of the floodlight. Pound hand-towel-covered floodlight with a soft mallet to drive the pole into the ground. Rotate the floodlight so that the sensor points across the driveway.

3. Mix concrete powder in a bucket with water according to the provided instructions. Stir the mixture with a wooden paint stick until the mixture becomes pasty.

4. Pour the mixture from the bucket into the hole around the pole, leaving a few inches free, unfilled toward the top. Let the concrete set for the amount of time specified in the instructions. Push dirt from around the hole back into the hole, and pat it down with a spade.

5. Remove the screws from the side panel on the floodlight with a Phillips screwdriver or a Torx screwdriver -- depending on the make. If there is no side panel, get down on the ground so that you can see the controls on the bottom of the floodlight.

6. Move the "Function" (or similarly named) switch or knob to the "Test" setting so that the floodlight can be configured. Move the "Siren" or "Audio" switch or knob to the "On" position.

7. Set the "Dusk/Day" switch to "Dusk" so that the floodlight will not go active while the sun is out. Set the time that the floodlight will stay on before extinguishing itself to "20" seconds, using the "Timing" (or similarly named) switch or knob. Place the "Function" switch or knob back to its original setting. Close the lid, if there is one, and reattach the screws.

Tips & Warnings

• Ensure shadows don't fall across the solar panel on the floodlight during the course of the day before cementing the pole.

References

• Smart Home: Sensor Floodlight User Manual

Resources

• Glolab: How Infrared Motion Detector Components Work