Customer Reviews

EML Technologies Thermal True-Range Electro-Optical 3-Light Motion Sensor

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Bought three, installed by an electrician - worked fine for a few months, now one stays on for most of the night, cannot adjust it - another lights up during the day! Turned both off at the switch, my electric bill was outrageous. As I see in the reviews, there are very similar experiences with these EML motion sensor lights. Cannot find any on the market, now I see why - They are being closed out in general - and specifically the retail outlet where I bought the lights said they closed them out with no plans to reorder. Therefore, I cannot return them there for replacement. Following the Warranty directions, I contacted the company in Danville, CA, as the lights have a "Full Lifetime Warranty". From this conversation, I learned I had to pay postage to return them, so they could determine the problem. I have decided not to do this, as I have so much already invested in these lights - with high electrical bills, service calls by an electrician to install - then remove and reinstall new lights. This investment is far higher than the original purchase price of the lights. Time to change brands!

I purchased this at Costco for $25, and at that price it's good value.
Pros:
It is solid; mostly metal; only plastic is the sensor head.
It has three lights for wide, even coverage.
It has wide motion detecting coverage.
Puts out a good amount of light.
Cons:
The light shades do not rotate completely around the bulb; only about a 90-deg arc. Guess they are more "decorative".
Does not have a "dim" feature, whereby the lights stay on low power and brighten to full intensity when motion is detected. Not a big deal, but would have been a nice extra.
Adjustment for time seems finicky on my unit. The instructions say the max time is 10 min, but mine seems to stay on longer. I think it may be user ignorance...I think you have to cycle the power after making an adjustment, but the instructions don't specify.
The knobs and rings used to adjust/tighten the lights for directionality are difficult to access if you have large fingers. The paint comes off easily; wrap your wrench jaws.

Overall, for the price I paid, it's a definite keeper!

I purchased this light to put on my pole barn. I normally don't write reviews, but thought I would save someone else the problem with this light that I had in the event you have a similar setup. My pole barn has one of the standard round outdoor fixture boxes mounted on the surface of the barn (i.e. the fixture outlet sticks out from the surface of the barn rather than being mounted from the inside with a 4" hole through the barn siding). This light is not made for a standard round outlet. The back is an irregular shape without a round protrusion to make it possible to get a weather tight seal unless you can mount the back of this unit to a flat surface (or one flat enough that you can seal around). Looked like a great light, but if your outlet box isn't inside the wall you might want to reconsider.

There wasn't any instructions included, just the information on the box. Can't find a place to download instructions either. I'll eventually figure it out by trail and error, not the best way

We love our lights. They come on properly and light up our entire backyard. But now some of the bulbs have burned out. Does anyone know how to replace them? I've tried unscrewing every part with no luck? Does the light lens pop out somehow? Or does the white collar around the lens come off? If so, how. Thanks in advance.

Loved it! But then a few months after installation, the motion detector stopped working. We've tried in vain to find a replacement bulb. EML has a website, butit's "under construction." Suggest you buy a light from Home Depot or Lowes instead.

I saw this item at Costco on clearance for $12. Everything that you need to install and operate the light is in the box. Like one reviewer commented, there are no printed instructions other than what is provided on the box. Installation was a breeze, easier than most outdoor lamps. The lamp housing attaches to a flat bar that has two slotted holes so that it fits to a variety of outlet boxes. There are three screws provided to attach the lamp housing to the bracket. The screws different in length (great idea). There is no included weather gasket, but I made one using weather stripping. Wiring is straightforward, black, white, and green (ground). The wires have labels to help the novice. The motion sensor works very well. You can place the item in test mode where the lights will illuminate (even in daylight) when the motion sensor is triggered. This mode is great for setting the sensitivity. The lights are very bright. I use two to illuminate the deck and the third to illuminate the hot tub area. I have configured the sensor so that I do not have to switch the light off. During the day, the sensor is smart enough to prevent illumination. At night, the lights illuminate for the preset time when the motion sensor is triggered. As mentioned by another reviewer, the lamp shade have very little rotation, this is a minor negative. Also, the housing looks as if it were made for a cheap cast and the painting is minimal. That being said, the lights do look great and provide a great amount of illumination. My only disappointment is that the sensor is reported to provide nearly 360 degrees of motion sensoring. I found that the sensor does an excellent job of detecting motion within +-45 degrees of its center axis. Beyond 45 degrees, the sensor does not sense the motion ... even on its most sensitive setting. In conclusion, it is an excellent item, especially for a clearance price of $12.

Worked for a couple of month then the bulbs started going bad. No way to replace the bulbs and no support on the web or from Costco where it was bought. Waste of money at any price.

I purchased two of these light fixtures at $41 each because the ad stated they were environmentally friendly. WRONG!!! The bulbs started burning out within 30 days and four lights were burnt out within 60 days. Replacement "halogen" bulb costs range from $6.99 to $9.99. Additionally, the industry has now recognized the quality of this product because they are being dumped on the market (Ebay, etc.) for <$20 in lots of 6 or 7 fixtures.

I agree with other reviewers regarding the mount issue but that is not the major problem. Clearly these units are flawed. I bought my first one in August and it worked ok but even with the sensitivity turned to low would come on for no reason whatsoever. After 8 weeks, the sensor failed completely. It has a 3 year warranty so I returned it and got a new one. Same thing all over again. It worked OK for about two months and then failed. I kept the box and receipt and got a full refund. Go to Menards and get one of theirs!