Fiber Optic Spyhole?

[RicodJour]

I'm sorry if I've wasted your time.  I want to be able to stand at the
top of the stairs and see that I've forgotten the garage lights are on,
without having to walk down those stairs to see it.  If I have to walk
downstairs, I don't need a peephole: I can just open the door.  I want
to know from the top of the stairs.

You wouldn't be looking through the peephole, you'd be looking at it.
A peephole transmits light, right? If the stairwell is flooded in
light, you might not see it, but if you don't have the stairwell
lights on - you are retiring for the night, right? - then you'll be
able to see the light coming through the peephole. If you want to
tweak it and make it more unmistakable, then glue a piece of a bike
reflector lens over the peephole and it will glow a faint red.

R

 

[jeff_wisnia]

This appeals to me more than motion sensors... the lights are
fluorescent. The complication is that they've got more than one switch
location. I can turn them on from just inside the front door (between
the two garage doors), from inside the workshop (next room in) and
finally from inside the stairwell behind that door.

The stairwell door is the only place I'd need an indicator light.




Jay

I'm reading into what you just said that the flourescent fixtures are
either all on or all off, but controlled from three different switch
locations.

If that's not the case, ignore what's below.

How about picking up a small solar panel, placing it quite near the
closest flourescent fixture to the stairwell door and running a low
voltage line to a small (flashlight) bulb you can see from the other
side of that door?

Here's a panel that might do it for only $12.95:

http://store.sundancesolar.com/minsolpan15v.html

One advantage is you wouldn't have to mess with line voltage wiring and
electrical code stuff to install it.

Jeff

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Here's the problem:

I live in a 3 story house with a two car garage and workshop down on the
ground floor. The living space begins on the second floor. I am in and
out of the garage all day long and generally enter the house through there.

Going downstairs, I often open the door only to find I've left the
lights on (sometimes overnight).

I was thinking: is there any sort of fiber optic thing that would mount
on the door and allow me to see the light on the other side of the door?
The stairwell is dark when I turn off its light from upstairs but I
would be able to see I'd forgotten something without having to
physically check.

I am open to other ideas... just want the lights out when I leave and
I'm too unaware to do it through memory. I've got the dread CRS disease.



Jay

Edmund Scientific sells some fiber optic fiber 3' long and I think it's
plastic for $12.95 which may do the trick. It can be cut and bundled
together for more light transmission.

http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3053301

TDD

 

[Grumpy]

I despise motion activated lights in restrooms. When I'm dropping a load
of ready-mix, the light always goes out when I'm half done. That's why
I always have a flashlight or two in my possession at all times.

TDD

You not the only one ha ha he he

 

[tom]

Here's the problem:

I live in a 3 story house with a two car garage and workshop down on the
ground floor. The living space begins on the second floor. I am in and
out of the garage all day long and generally enter the house through
there.

Going downstairs, I often open the door only to find I've left the
lights on (sometimes overnight).

I was thinking: is there any sort of fiber optic thing that would mount
on the door and allow me to see the light on the other side of the door?
The stairwell is dark when I turn off its light from upstairs but I
would be able to see I'd forgotten something without having to
physically check.

I am open to other ideas... just want the lights out when I leave and
I'm too unaware to do it through memory. I've got the dread CRS disease.

I use one of these in my garage. Works great.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2exfqhg

 

[RicodJour]

The can in my office resembles that remark. Unless there is other
traffic that keeps resetting the timer, I'll get about halfway through
an article in the trade rag, and darkness falls. And the sensor is
facing the wrong way, and down the corridor by the entry door, to throw
the magazine in front of the sensor to fool it. I don't know how blind
people do such things by feel. Wipe until it hurts, and hope for the
best, I guess. I keep one of those HF free lights in my briefcase, but
the pants I can get away with wearing to work simply don't have pocket
space to keep it on me at all times. And I refuse to start hanging crap
off my belt, like all the techno-geeks on staff do. I have a couple of
those trade-show button-cell squeeze lights someplace, but I also hate
crap on my keyring, and I don't wear my badge on a lanyard.

No, no, no. The button-cell light will keep crap _off_ of your
keyring...though I'm not sure what you're doing with your keyring in a
toilet stall. Scratching some office graffiti into the
partitions?

R

 

[Jay Hanig]

You wouldn't be looking through the peephole, you'd be looking at it.
A peephole transmits light, right? If the stairwell is flooded in
light, you might not see it, but if you don't have the stairwell
lights on - you are retiring for the night, right? - then you'll be
able to see the light coming through the peephole. If you want to
tweak it and make it more unmistakable, then glue a piece of a bike
reflector lens over the peephole and it will glow a faint red.

I think we have a winner. This does seem to be a lot less trouble than
most of the suggestions made, although all are appreciated. I just
needed to have some different ideas thrown at me for consideration.

What's the point of having access to the world's greatest repository of
knowledge if I won't use it? My Google search was going nowhere.

I am going to visit smarthome before I buy anything though. Who knows?
I might see something better there.

But thanks to everybody who took the trouble to answer. You guys are great.




Jay

 

[Sjouke Burry]

I'm sorry if I've wasted your time. I want to be able to stand at the
top of the stairs and see that I've forgotten the garage lights are on,
without having to walk down those stairs to see it. If I have to walk
downstairs, I don't need a peephole: I can just open the door. I want
to know from the top of the stairs.

At night, it's a dark hole looking down into that stairwell unless I
either flip on its light or have the garage lit up and that door between
them open. So any sort of indicator light would be obvious. I am still
pondering some sort of fiber optic device inserted into the door just
like a peephole. I can't seem to find a source on the web unless I'm
willing to buy a huge supply of it. Plus the fact if such a device
already exists, I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

I've even considered a security camera/monitor setup but dismissed it as
way too elaborate and expensive. I'm looking for a cheap solution. I
find it hard to believe one doesn't exist.




Jay

Any clear plastic tubing will act as a light guide.
But a second (small) light on the same circuit will do as well.
I have done that for an attic light, which is invisible down below.

 

[The Daring Dufas]

The can in my office resembles that remark. Unless there is other
traffic that keeps resetting the timer, I'll get about halfway through
an article in the trade rag, and darkness falls. And the sensor is
facing the wrong way, and down the corridor by the entry door, to throw
the magazine in front of the sensor to fool it. I don't know how blind
people do such things by feel. Wipe until it hurts, and hope for the
best, I guess. I keep one of those HF free lights in my briefcase, but
the pants I can get away with wearing to work simply don't have pocket
space to keep it on me at all times. And I refuse to start hanging crap
off my belt, like all the techno-geeks on staff do. I have a couple of
those trade-show button-cell squeeze lights someplace, but I also hate
crap on my keyring, and I don't wear my badge on a lanyard.

The solution is a combination of motion and sound activation or even
voice recognition. The technology is mature enough, unless the unit
emits a little giggle whenever someone exclaims "CRAP!" whenever the
lights go out.

TDD

 

[Stormin Mormon]

Years ago, Google had some fun with that concept.

TinyURL was created!
The following URL:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mydigitallife
.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/my-fucking-keys.jpg&imgrefu
rl=http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/06/06/google-lets-you-
know-where-are-my-fucking-keys-in-20-years/&usg=__zvUM_YXAst
D4xcDmgpjfh-vhlkQ=&h=374&w=400&sz=27&hl=en&start=0&tbnid=3DD
7Jxj01QPr4M:&tbnh=137&tbnw=147&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmy%2Bfucki
ng%2Bkeys%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D780%26bih%3D43
3%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=126&vpy=72&dur=3982
&hovh=217&hovw=232&tx=142&ty=121&ei=2JVkTI_BOoH98Aa-8rDACA&o
ei=2JVkTI_BOoH98Aa-8rDACA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=7&ved=1t:429,r:0
,s:0

has a length of 604 characters and resulted in the following TinyURL
which has a length of 26 characters:
http://tinyurl.com/2f9zlpx

Can you find your keys?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..



If I need to take something out of the fridge and bring it into work
(or
bring something home from the office fridge.) I put my car keys on top
of it. No way am I going to start driving until I've been to that
fridge.

Jeff

 

[Stormin Mormon]

My Dad did something similar, using the lamp in the garage door
opener. Wired to a blue pilot light.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..




If the light switch for the garage is on the garage wall just inside
the
garage near that door you want to "see through" it would likely be a
simple job to put in a box and pilot lamp on the house side of that
door
and wire it so it's lit when the garage lights are on.

That's eggsackly what I did in our home over 20 years ago. I used a
neon
pilot lamp and it's lasted well all that time.

 

[Stormin Mormon]

Just wave an arm, and the light comes back on.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

-snip-

Install a motion sensor light switch. Easiest thing to do.

I'm thinking you're right. Added benefit for me would be that after I
pause for 'a moment or two' to ponder my next step, the sudden
darkness would jolt me back to reality.<g>

Do those things have 15-20 minute timers on them?

Jim

 

[Evan]

This appeals to me more than motion sensors... the lights are
fluorescent.  The complication is that they've got more than one switch
location.  I can turn them on from just inside the front door (between
the two garage doors), from inside the workshop (next room in) and
finally from inside the stairwell behind that door.

The stairwell door is the only place I'd need an indicator light.

Jay

Do you know which of the three switches in your four-way loop
is next to the doorway going upstairs ?

You are going to have a feed side where the power comes in,
a four way switch in the middle and a load side to your loop...
You can switch the lights from additional locations by adding
additional four way switches to the middle of the loop...

The "pilot light" needs to be fed from the load side of the loop
and requires a neutral connection... You might have to run
an additional wire to install such a light if you aren't lucky to
have the right end of the loop in the box already in the wall
you want to install the pilot light in...

~~ Evan

 

[mm]

Here's the problem:

I live in a 3 story house with a two car garage and workshop down on the
ground floor. The living space begins on the second floor. I am in and
out of the garage all day long and generally enter the house through there.

Going downstairs, I often open the door only to find I've left the
lights on (sometimes overnight).

Does the garage door have windows? If so, since I'm sure you need the
electric light during the day sometimes, it will be hard to tell the
daylight from electric light.

But you could connect a bell, like a fire alarm bell, to the light, so
that whenever the light was on, the bell would ring.

 

[Jay Hanig]

Does the garage door have windows? If so, since I'm sure you need the
electric light during the day sometimes, it will be hard to tell the
daylight from electric light.

But you could connect a bell, like a fire alarm bell, to the light, so
that whenever the light was on, the bell would ring.

I don't think you understand the layout:

This first shot is what I see from upstairs looking down. There
obviously is a light at the base of the stairs but it usually is off.

http://www.imagenerd.com/uploads/garage_1-uQgYI.jpg


The second shot is from the other side of that door into the garage from
the living area. The door in the background is into the driveway.

http://www.imagenerd.com/uploads/garage_2-fA6WR.jpg


The third shot is of the back wall of the garage from the other side of
the central shaft (where the stairwell is). This back wall parallels
the entire back side of the house and separates the garage from my
workshop. The workshop has its own lighting which is not controllable
from any other place.

http://www.imagenerd.com/uploads/garage_3-zjSQP.jpg


The last shot is of the garage from the front. Picture #1 would be on
the inside on the right side of the image; picture #3 would be on the
left and the stairwell is directly behind the center door but is
accessed from the right hand bay.

http://www.imagenerd.com/uploads/garage_4-1HrcR.jpg

So the problem was that when I was looking down the stairwell in picture
#1, I couldn't tell if the lights were on in the garage with that door
closed to the stairwell. Don't worry about any of the exterior
entrances to the house; I know upstairs if any of them is open.

Anyway, there is a light switch on the inside of the stairwell at the
bottom; another just inside that front door to the outside; and a third
just inside the workshop next to the doorway into the garage. All of
those switches can control the overhead fluorescent lights in the
garage. Those overhead lights are the ones I'm concerned with; the ones
I sometimes forget to turn off.

Was this clearer?

In any case, I'm going to try a peephole as earlier suggested since
they're only about $4 at Lowes.



Jay

 

[bud--]

I had another thought: does anybody make a four way wall switch that
would have an indicator light on it that might light when the circuit is
hot? Knowing the power is going to the light would be the same as
knowing the light was left on.

Any 3-way or 4-way switch can be replaced with a "pilot light" or
"illuminated" version. "Illuminated" switches light up when the load is
off. "Pilot light" switches light up when the load is on, and a neutral
is probably required (not always available at a switch box). In both
versions the handle lights up and is not real bright. There needs to be
a load (a switched receptacle with no load won't work). May not work
with some electronic loads (CFLs?). Incandescent lamps and magnetic
ballasts would certainly work. May be the easiest solution.

 

[Robert Green]

Jay,

Get a Lucite rod from .25 to .75 inches in diameter and however long it
needs to be to pass through the wall or door.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(methyl_methacrylate)

Cut one end at a 45 degree angle and polish with sandpaper. Insert into a
hole between the garage and the stairwell. Position the angle cut end so
that the flat faces the "viewing point" and it will pipe the light from the
garage into the rod where it will be quite visible from the other side.

http://www.google.com/search?q=buy+lucite+rods

Or, you can try to local a cheap "ship's prism" somewhere:

http://www.bracesinfo.com/store/SHIPs--DECK--PRISM-----160461455773.html

 

[Jay Hanig]

Jay,

Get a Lucite rod from .25 to .75 inches in diameter and however long it
needs to be to pass through the wall or door.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(methyl_methacrylate)

Cut one end at a 45 degree angle and polish with sandpaper. Insert into a
hole between the garage and the stairwell. Position the angle cut end so
that the flat faces the "viewing point" and it will pipe the light from the
garage into the rod where it will be quite visible from the other side.

http://www.google.com/search?q=buy+lucite+rods

Or, you can try to local a cheap "ship's prism" somewhere:

http://www.bracesinfo.com/store/SHIPs--DECK--PRISM-----160461455773.html

I tried the peephole and it's unsatisfactory. I'll take a look at what
you've suggested.



Jay

 

[RicodJour]

I tried the peephole and it's unsatisfactory.  I'll take a look at what
you've suggested.

Did you put a red reflector lens over it? The color will stand out a
lot more. Use a kids bike reflector. I don't know where your lights
are in relation to the door, and whether the lights have deflectors or
are recessed so not much light is being thrown laterally, but you
could try putting a mirror (concave is too much to ask) in the garage
and bounce light onto the peephole. If that doesn't work, I think you
might be looking at running some wiring. Or running a radio in the
garage that's plugged in on the light circuit, and set up an intercom.

Hmmm....I just had a thought. Maybe you could go through the house
electrical system, install an X-10 module or something like that, and
have a remote switch upstairs. There are also wireless things for
stuff like that, but I've never installed any such.

Oh, and I had one last question - do the doors in your garage have
windows? I can look out my second floor window and see the light
coming out of the garage windows even though I can't see the windows
directly.

R

 

[Jay Hanig]

Did you put a red reflector lens over it? The color will stand out a
lot more. Use a kids bike reflector.

Nope, didn't try the red reflector but I did try stuffing some fiber
optic rod from a rifle bore inspection light into the peephole. With
all the lights off in the house except in the garage, the rod could be
made out if I stared long enough into the stairwell. I believe adding a
red lense over it will darken it to the point of absolute invisibility.

I don't know where your lights
are in relation to the door, and whether the lights have deflectors or
are recessed so not much light is being thrown laterally, but you
could try putting a mirror (concave is too much to ask) in the garage
and bounce light onto the peephole.

The lights are two 8' fluorescent tubes in each bay. They have the
standard shop type fixture holding them in place with no cover or
anything else over them.

If that doesn't work, I think you
might be looking at running some wiring. Or running a radio in the
garage that's plugged in on the light circuit, and set up an intercom.

Seeking out a four way switch with a pilot light is probably my next
choice.

Oh, and I had one last question - do the doors in your garage have
windows? I can look out my second floor window and see the light
coming out of the garage windows even though I can't see the windows
directly.

http://www.imagenerd.com/uploads/garage_4-1HrcR.jpg

If you look at the top of the photo you can just make out the bottom of
the rails to the deck above. There is a screened in porch directly in
front of my bedroom and the rest of the house has a deck that extends
its full length. That isn't going to work for me.

Like I said, I think I'm going to look for a pilot light switch. my
second choice will be the radio idea and the third choice the ship's prism.



Jay