ᐅ What is the best way to control recessed stair lighting?

I know where my light switches are.

Well, I find these automation systems quite impersonal. I have a friend who is currently "automating" his house, spending hours and days searching for components, and even more hours and days programming them. He "sacrifices" hours of his vacation to check whether the blinds are really fully closed or halfway open! ...For me (this is very personal), I don’t want any of that. I want to leave my house and be able to turn off the lights with just the push of a button.

But that's going too far again: No one looks for a light switch in their own home.

There are situations when I do not want any light – which I always find problematic with motion sensors.

Well, then you don’t look for it yourself but rely on guests, friends, or relatives... especially when there are switch batteries on the wall... first, all switches are tried until the right light turns on.

This works particularly well in stairwells... as a guest, you just press all three switches... one of them will be the right one...

Sebastian79 schrieb:
There are situations where I don’t want any light – I always find motion sensors problematic in that regard.

In the stairwell? When there is no natural light anymore, meaning in the evening? During the day, the motion sensor/PIR is disabled... even the cheapest ones have that feature.

Personally, I always need light there in the evening... I don’t want to risk breaking anything, etc.

No, in the hallway—you yourself gave the example that when you come in, you want to take off your shoes.

We don’t need that in the stairwell—it is naturally illuminated by outside light even at night. Still, I want step lighting there, but I simply don’t need the main light.

So: there are situations where you don’t want any light—and in those cases, a motion sensor is just inconvenient. I even have a switch upstairs in the hallway that overrides the motion sensor.

And sure, you can always argue for battery-powered switches—but I only have switches (2-3) for the lights in that hallway. No matter which one is pressed, it will turn on a light in that area.

Mycraft schrieb:
Well, then you just don’t look yourself but rely on guests / friends / relatives... especially when wall-mounted button batteries are involved... then everyone just starts pressing buttons until the right light turns on.

When a guest has to cycle through all the lighting scenes on an unfamiliar tablet, it obviously gets easier. Oops, the roller shutters just went up, I didn’t want that. I only selected the dining scene?

What business do guests even have on the stairs and upper floor? If anything, they might need the hallway light on the ground floor, and there aren’t any additional light switches in the ground floor hallway anyway.

And finally, who are you actually building the house for? Guests?

Sebastian79 schrieb:
No, in the hallway—you gave the example of coming in and wanting to take off your shoes.

You don’t always have to take everything said literally. Even in the hallway, it can happen that friends come in and find three switches...for the hallway light, the entrance area light, and the stairway light...every house is different. With a presence sensor (PM), the hallway light turns on immediately, so you don’t have to look for a switch.

Sebastian79 schrieb:
We don’t need that in the stairwell—it’s lightly illuminated from outside even at night. But I do want step lighting there—just not the main light.

See… you don’t, but I do, because my stairwell has no windows.

Step lighting is especially convenient when it turns on as soon as you step onto or stand near the stairs and turns off once you leave the stairs. All without any switches, using other means.

Sebastian79 schrieb:
And sure, you can always say you have batteries in the switches—but I only have 2-3 switches for lights in the hallway there. No matter which one you press, a light in that area will come on.

And I don’t have a single switch... neither in the hallway, nor the stairs, nor the entrance. Of course, it’s a matter of taste...But following your logic: No matter where you step, a light will illuminate that area for you.

Grym schrieb:
When you have a guest with an unknown tablet who first has to cycle through all the light scenes, it naturally becomes easier. Oops, the blinds went up, I didn’t mean that. I only set the dinner scene?

Why? The light is already on when you enter the room. And what business does the guest have with unknown tablets? (If you even have those in the house.)

Grym schrieb:
What do guests have to do on the stairs or upstairs? If at all, they will need the ground floor hallway light, and there are no more light switches in the ground floor hallway.

Well, you were just asking about that... more switches in the hallway or fewer... which is the main topic:

How should stair spotlights be controlled? Manually or by motion sensors?

I don’t know what kind of guests you have, but my relatives and friends sometimes come upstairs because that’s where the kids’ rooms are. Sometimes visitors come for the kids and want to play there... during the winter months it makes sense to have the hallway or stairway lights on relatively early.

Of course, you build the house for yourself, but still, I want everyone to feel comfortable inside, not just me.

With presence sensors in the passage areas, no one—really no one—has to press any switches or operate unknown tablets or anything else inside the house...
You just walk in, through, up, down, and the lights turn on or off by themselves.