Do you turn off your exterior lights? Neighbors giving us grief about ours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine asking neighbors to install different outdoor lights based on my personal preference for sheer window treatments. I'm flabbergasted.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We leave ours on all night, as do everyone else on our block. Sounds like your neighbors need better window treatments to keep out street light.

we mentioned this to them but they said that they don't like to use blackout curtains. they like no window treatment or sheer ones.

How did you hold yourself back from telling them to f*ck off?

[Anonymous]

Every house on our street leave the front lights on at night for safety reasons. You can have motion detector lights in the back and sides if you like, We have room darkening window treatments that look absolutely gorgeous and allow us to get a good nights sleep. I actually appreciate a well-lit neighborhood at night. Thieves don't like light.

[Anonymous]

MPD advised us to leave them on all night.

[Anonymous]

NP. On one hand, if you have dark areas in your yard, trees, lots of shadows etc then some lights might be a nice idea to have some more lighting.

However, I'd say it's unreasonable for someone to seriously expect a neighbor to get black-out curtains to be able to sleep at night. If you acknowledge that the light goes into their windows, and your only defense is that they should use black-out curtains, then I think you should reevaluate the placement or intensity of your lights.

[Anonymous]

Light is a type of pollution. Please educate yourself about the effects it has on the environment. Please use the smallest amount of light possible, direct it downward, and consider that “on all night” lights are rarely truly necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine asking neighbors to install different outdoor lights based on my personal preference for sheer window treatments. I'm flabbergasted.

This

No that's dumb.

As previous posters have stated, light can be pollution just like sound.

How would you like it if someone blasted music and directed it to your house? After all, YOU can do a better job soundproofing your house, wearing noise cancelling headphones, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every house on our street leave the front lights on at night for safety reasons. You can have motion detector lights in the back and sides if you like, We have room darkening window treatments that look absolutely gorgeous and allow us to get a good nights sleep. I actually appreciate a well-lit neighborhood at night. Thieves don't like light.

Omg, that’s ridiculous. What safety are you getting from having a front porch light on? Any criminal is still going to do whatever they want whether you have a front porch light on or not. The raccoons don’t need a porch light on - their eyes adapt to the dark. What ‘safety reasons’ are you talking about?

Criminals like light FINE - most breakins happen right in the middle of the day.

Animals do have lives at night that you are disrupting with uselessly having your lights on - owls and foxes are hunting rodents at night in the DARK, for instance.

You do not need outside lights on at night. It’s tificukous and wasteful. We’ve turned our off all of our lives and everyone has survived.

https://www.npr.org/2016/02/23/466603833/should-you-leave-your-lights-on-at-night-it-depends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. On one hand, if you have dark areas in your yard, trees, lots of shadows etc then some lights might be a nice idea to have some more lighting.

However, I'd say it's unreasonable for someone to seriously expect a neighbor to get black-out curtains to be able to sleep at night. If you acknowledge that the light goes into their windows, and your only defense is that they should use black-out curtains, then I think you should reevaluate the placement or intensity of your lights.

What? Why would you light up your TREES at night in your yard? It’s called night time - the trees and the animals don’t need artificial light. Are we all this paranoid? Even in our adulthood we are too paranoid and self centered to experience darkness? Another reason to be embarrrassed to be an American.

http://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/wildlife/


https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1619435
Studies in animals suggest that exposure to light for 24 hours a day dramatically increases the risk of certain types of cancer. And studies on people have found an association between exposure to light at night, or frequent nighttime waking, and an increased risk of breast cancer, Motta said.

Exposure to light at night disrupts production of melatonin, which is made during sleep. It’s thought that melatonin may be a cancer suppressor, and that exposure to light may accelerate cancer development, Motta said.

[Anonymous]

http://cescos.fau.edu/observatory/lightpol-environ.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://cescos.fau.edu/observatory/lightpol-environ.html

Perpetual light is not just harmful to wildlife, it's also harmful to humans.

And yes, you can put up blackout curtains, but that messes with your body's normal circadian rhythm. Let the night be dark, and let the day be light. Not sure why that is such a hard concept for some people here.

[Anonymous]

We have neighbors who are so paranoid that they leave their exterior lights on all night every night in the front, back and both sides. (The woman hears fireworks go off on July 4 and sends out a message to the entire neighborhood asking if other people heard gunfire. Seriously.) We live in Glen Echo Heights in Bethesda, for heaven's sake. I've heard people have filed complaints with the county, but Montgomery County being what it is, nothing happens.

[Anonymous]

I know this an old thread, but. I have a ring light with camera on the front that stays on all night - self dimmed, gets brighter when senses a moving object. Has not been a problem with the neighbors, their regular porch light stay on all night.
I have motion control flood lights on the back - I have to see my dog all the time, we have foxes, occasionally dogs on a loose, and I was been told that somebody saw a coyote.

I have motion control lights on both sides of the house - it gets interesting from here.

One neighbor asked me to slightly adjust the side light so the corner of his house darkened by a pine tree will be also lit and he will save few dollars on his electric bill. I did and he was happy)
Neighbor on the other side thanked me for installing motion control flood light on his side, he loves fishing and leaves at 4:30 am. My light helps him to navigate to and from his car in the dark while he loads his equipment or forgets something and goes back into his house.
Interesting how same things can be observed and treated differently, isn't it lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Light is a type of pollution. Please educate yourself about the effects it has on the environment. Please use the smallest amount of light possible, direct it downward, and consider that “on all night” lights are rarely truly necessary.

we live in Atlanta in a close-in suburb. In light of break-ins by troubled young men even when people are home, there's no way we'll follow your suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MPD advised us to leave them on all night.

+1 exactly