This one's great, Mike. Neighbors dueling with exterior lighting!!! Exterior lighting here is low-voltage, or line-voltage (120 volt), or the two combined.
The low voltage is usually decorative, on the order of 7-10A bulbs at 12 volts.
Line voltage is usually for security, or lighting large trees, or to light the house from the yard. A typical installation would be with a timer, or motion-sensor. The better motion-sensors can be adjusted for sensitivity and distance. Unfortunately, they can't tell the difference between cats and people.
If my neighbor installed a 400W metal-halide fixture, I'd be tempted to call the building department, it's a commercial fixture, not residential.
Might I suggest some type of shield for the motion-sensor fixture, so that even though the cat sets it off, it won't shine into the neighbors bedroom.
The dream setup really depends on what you want in the decorative or security category. I have both. My dream control which I have finally found, but not yet purchased and installed (for the low-voltage) is a combination photo-sensor with timer. It goes on at dusk, and stays on for the number of hours set on the timer. No need to reset the timer for changes in sunset, or power outages!!!
Let us know how the battle of the watts goes.
Dave
