A Well-Deserved Break

My hubby had the privilege of being on vacation throughout most of the final two weeks of 2012.  While he was off he successfully tackled and finished several projects on his “to-do” list.  The first was the installation of a weather station he received from our youngest daughter and her husband.  The second was a dimmer switch for the light above our dining room table.  The third project was a motion-sensor switch for our walk-in closet.  We had discussed the possibility of utilizing it to reduce our consumption of electricity.  The light in our closet is frequently unnecessarily left on.  My husband is very fond of gadgets.  A motion detector switch certainly falls into that category.

Step One

Before installation was possible I had to remove the contents of the portable shelves hanging on the wall where the current switch was located.  Reader I’ll bet you’re wondering what that has to do with a light switch.  When our closet was designed the electric light switch had not yet been placed.  The shelving unit for that wall has long metal strips suspended from a railing along our ceiling.  One of those metal strips just happens to rest smack-dab in the middle of our light switch.  The location of the strip does not in any way inhibit the function of the switch.  In order to replace the switch the metal strip had to be removed.  In order to remove the strip the shelves had to come down.  In order to take the shelves down their contents had to be moved.  Get the picture?  I volunteered to adopt that process as my contribution.  The electrical portion was my hubby’s.

No More Power

Through process of elimination we located the circuit breaker connected to our switch and safely turned off the electricity.  Once the power was off in no time our brand new, super cool, motion detector light switch was successfully installed and fully functional.

Retraining Myself

Now I’ve begun the process of retraining myself.  Out of habit I routinely reach to turn on and turn off the switch.  Each time I’m reminded of how unnecessary that is when the light instantly comes on.

One Drawback

There is one tiny drawback to a motion detector light switch.  That slightly annoying, teeny tiny drawback is not only does the light turn on with motion, but it automatically shuts off with lack of motion.  If you stand still while staring at your clothes, pondering what to wear, the light is going to go off.  No worries though.  All one has to do is move.  Instantly the light comes back on.

That’s All Folks!

Well, there you have it.  Although a motion-sensor light certainly has nothing to do with quilting it is one of my favorite gadgets.