I wanted to install dusk til dawn lighting to my exterior lights, but the lights are too close together, so they are shutting off and on constantly. Does anyone have a good solution for this?
Brand and model of the lights?
I’m confused – – what does the lights being close together have to do with anything?
Maybe they are combo sensor/lights? Your question about brand and model should help figure that out.
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So the lights are Dusk to Dawn Light Bulb,E12 Candelabra Sensor Light Bulbs Auto On/Off 6W 550Lm Daylight White 6000K for Indoor/Outdoor Yard Porch Patio Garage Garden,
There are two candelabra lights in the same fixture. So,when it gets dark outside the light lights up, except that one light is already on, so it “thinks” it is light outside and it goes dark. I found out that they need to be at least 3 feet apart. So I am looking for another solution.
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OK, that’s neither a brand nor a model number. That’s a product description. Many different brands use the same product description: Bogao, Lohas, Rye, Luzon, Barnard, sunco, etc
First rule of home automation: the model number matters.
In any case…
There are a number of lightbulbs with built-in lux sensors where the manufacturer’s instructions tell you not to put two in one fixture because the light from one bulb confuses the sensor of the other. (Note that this is not a motion sensor, it’s a light level sensor.)
So it’s dark outside, The two bulbs come on independently, the bulbs notice that it is light suddenly because of the light from the other bulb, they turn off independently, then they notice that it’s dark again and turn back on, etc.
I assume that is what is happening here.
The short answer is that you just have to follow the manufacturer’s directions. If they tell you they have to be a certain distance apart, Then they have to be a certain distance apart.
If you want to use them closer together, you need to get a different type of device, one where The lux sensor is separate or you just operate on a sunset to sunrise schedule, which is what most people using Samsung smartthings would do.
So there are many different devices available to solve this problem.
We should note that this forum is for people who are using the Samsung smartthings home automation platform. It is not for general home automation questions, although it’s a very active forum and so it often comes up near the top on a Google search.
If you are using a Samsung smartthings hub, let us know which model, and we can help figure out various approaches to this project.
If you are not using a Samsung smartthings hub and you got to this forum by mistake from just a general home automation search, don’t worry about it, it happens all the time. But we can’t really help you with answers outside the context of the Samsung platform.
But if you don’t have a smartthings hub, I would just look for a different brand of bulb and find one that works off of a sunset to sunrise timer rather than a light meter. Then it won’t matter how close the bulbs are together. 
To elaborate on what JD said, if you use Smartthings and smart bulbs you can have Smartthings simply turn the bulbs on at sunset and off at sunrise. I did this with a few sengled zigbee bulbs. So far it has been flawless and only cost me like 15 bucks for 2 bulbs. They are also led, so cheap to have on for that amount of time.
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I installed a GE zWave switch and in addition to the sunset/sunrise rule I also installed a Dome motion sensor that also measures luminance so I have a secondary rule for when it gets dark due to cloud cover or storms that it turns on the exterior lights. It was a simple fix using the smart lighting rule engine. You could do the same with Hue or Cree smart bulbs.
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