[DAVES]

Originally Posted by Acinonyx

The lightbulb in the lamppost by our garage that used to turn on at duck and off at dawn needs to be replaced. Is there a special bulb we need to get? I don't know if the bulb has a sensor or there is a sensor / timer built into the lamppost by The Villages.

Your inquiry shows you are in the collier section. A guess your home your light is about five years old, if original. As others have posted it might be either the sensor or the bulb or could be the breaker has been switched off. If, your lamp is like mine you have three bulbs in it. It is possible but not likely that three bulbs would fail at the same time so easy, if one or two bulbs are not lighting, a night, it is clear the bulbs need to be replaced not the sensor. It is possible that three bulbs have failed-happened to a neighbor. He replaced the sensor and then discovered it was not the sensor but the bulbs-oops. I would do the easy first, change the bulbs and use the LED bulbs. They last far longer and use roughly 1/10th as much electricity. As the outside light does not dim, you do not need to purchase the type that is capable of dimming-I think the ones that dim are slightly more expensive and give slightly less light for the same amount of current-truth it doesn't really matter. How to put the bulbs in? If, like mine there is a trim piece that secures the top of the fixture. You need to turn it counter clockwise to remove it. It may be stuck. Do not force anything. Do not pull out the vice grips or the pipe wrench etc. Hint-best tool is to wrap it with a rubber band and use your hand. For the eye, based on your asking the question, you might be better off asking a neighbor or hiring a handyman to do it.
I am in the collier section. If, you send me a PM I will try to help you out-for free.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by John_W

I put 3 of those CFL's in my lampost in 2011 and one is still going strong. The other 2 CFL's finally burned out and were replaced by LED's and those 2 LED's have since needed replacing. The CFL's were great and one puts out as much light as 3 of the LED's.

I just found they are still available online at lightbulbs.com, a 60 watt that uses only 13 watts and is only $3.29 apiece.



TCP 12778 - Twist (Candelabra Screw Base) Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb

You can, I know I have gone nuts over bulbs and lighting. Far as the compact Fluorescent bulbs, they were a dramatic improvement over the old tungsten bulbs that have changed little since about 1900. Also, the amount of light they put out drops by half before the bulb fails to light. Typical of all electronic stuff, LED bulbs that are superior have dropped dramatically in price. As to failures of LED bulbs in a year or so, I've changed most every bulb in my home to LED bulbs. Not a scientific study but my opinion is to buy only branded LED bulbs. The real cheap ones in plain unbranded boxes have a high failure rate. Published warranties for 5-10-20 years? The companies are not stupid.
Who keeps track of when you bought the bulb, saved the paperwork and the cost ofr you to send it back to china is more than you paid for the bulb

[gatorbill1]

Originally Posted by Acinonyx

The lightbulb in the lamppost by our garage that used to turn on at duck and off at dawn needs to be replaced. Is there a special bulb we need to get? I don't know if the bulb has a sensor or there is a sensor / timer built into the lamppost by The Villages.

Any bulb works. Easy to change sensor in lamppost that you can get at Ace, Home Depot or Lowes. If don't want to do yourself, a handyman can do it in about 10-15 minutes, so shouldn't cost you much unless you use the electrician that advertises in our paper.