Do you leave your front porch light on all night?

[scrapquitler]

I have noticed that several of the houses on my street seem to leave the front porch light on all night. We never do unless we forget to turn it off. We have motion lights at the corners of the house so if anyone walks up those lights click on automatically.

Just curious - why would you want your front porch light on all night?

On the other hand.... many people I know have theirs on all day (esp. in the winter)... my MIL commented to me once last winter "so and so has their house for sale, and they have already moved out. Her porch light is on all the time, even during the day, so it's obvious that the house is unoccupied" I looked at my MIL and laughed out loud. I said to her, "its obvious that you've been a housewife all your life...there are tons of homes in my neighborhood with the porch light on all day...this time of year (it was the winter) it's dark before 5PM and most people don't want to get home in the dark", so I don't think that many people would interpret the light being on like she did.

 

[mom2d&b]

Ours is on a timer. It is programmed to come on when it starts getting dark, then it goes off 6 hours later. The timer replaces the switch in the house and was only a few dollars. I love it.

 

[krnlmustrd]

Not only do we leave our front porch light on, but we also leave the lights by the back doors on as well. It just feels a little bit safer that way.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We leave ours on. It keeps the front entrance illuminated. I've an intruder is trying to gain access through the front door (such as busting out my sidelight), he or she will not have the advantage of a "cover of darkness" to help.

But then wouldn't they just go to the back door?

I keep ours turned off at night, but only because I sleep in the front bedroom and the light interrupts my sleep if I leave the porch light on.

We have 3 bedrooms on the front of the house too and the porch light would definitely shine in.

 

[JessicaR]

I don't. We have a street light at the edge of our property and I have motion lights all over the front, back and over the garage.
The dogs let us know when someone is on the property, unfortunately that means critters too.

 

[indimom]

No need, we have streetlights that run all night so it's never full dark anywhere on our property.

 

[Christine]

But then wouldn't they just go to the back door?

They would have to get through a very locked 6 foot privacy fence, several areas of brush and ditches, and climb up on my deck. It's not easy. If it were easy, we would keep lights on in the back.

 

[LBIJim]

I rarely turn it on at all. I live on a corner and there's a streetlight right outside. My house is only about 15 feet from the sidewalk. I suppose the only time the porch light is on is when I'm expecting guests in the evening. And if it stays on all night it means I forgot to turn it off after the guests left.

Jim

 

[JessicaR]

I rarely turn it on at all. I live on a corner and there's a streetlight right outside. My house is only about 15 feet from the sidewalk. I suppose the only time the porch light is on is when I'm expecting guests in the evening. And if it stays on all night it means I forgot to turn it off after the guests left.

Jim

Same - that and trick or treating.

 

[purplegirl247]

Our back door light is photovoltaic, but unfortunately our front porch doesn't get enough light to know when to turn on/off, so we leave ours on all night...and all day. We have a compact fluorescent in there, so it doesn't use much electricity. I heard somewhere that turning lights on/off wears them out more quickly, and we kept forgetting to turn it on/off at night, so now we just leave it on.

 

[NYEmomma]

But then wouldn't they just go to the back door?

We've got a side door & we also leave the light on there all night. We don't have a light at our back slider but we do on our garage and those are right adjacent to each other so it covers the back slider too.

 

[Disney Doll]

Front porch light is on al night. Lights are the cheapest form of security. No burglar wants to do his/her dirty work in the glare of a light.

 

[nancycg56]

Yes we leave it on ~ we had a security check by our local police dept. and that was one of the things we were advised to do.

 

[marie1203]

No is a waste of electricity. I have 5 dogs if someone comes near the front door they bark, so no need.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Everyone here leaves their lights on.

 

[krcit]

Keep it on all night. If DH is working all night, I leave the bright ones on. It looks like an airport

 

[tvguy]

Yup, 24/7 365 for security. I have a 5 watt CFL in the fixture, so not using much power.

 

[Art 1]

Yes, back porch as well.

 

[Tea4Alice]

Yes we leave it on ~ we had a security check by our local police dept. and that was one of the things we were advised to do.

My husband is a policeman and we also leave it on.

 

[monkeyboy]

We'll leave the light on for you
Motel 6