Adam is an engineer with a long-standing interest in technology. Since over a decade, he has written for several print and online magazines with an emphasis on consumer technology. In 2024, he joined How-To Geek while working for Pocket-lint. He is a fan of Apple for a very long time. His interest in home automation technology has led him to run a Home Assistant Server at his home. The ideal smart home, he believes, should require minimal user interaction.
Automations are supposed to run as though by magic and not require you to press buttons on the control panel. More of his work can be found on Muck Rack.
Over the years, I have used many smart home gadgets and thought that I had seen it all. One device that I purchased recently has been an absolute game changer. This is not something that I thought I would ever need, but my family and I have benefited greatly from it.
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What is motion activated toilet nightlight?
Motion-activated toilet light
is just what you think it is. This is a motion-activated nightlight that you can install inside your toilet. The night light hangs from the edge of the toilet bowl, and illuminates the bowl with a tiny LED.
This nightlight turns on automatically when it detects motion. It also has a lux-sensor, which means it will only light up if it is sufficiently dark in the bathroom. The light will not turn on if you enter the bathroom during daylight hours.
It will illuminate at night to allow you to see the location of the toilet without turning on the main lighting. They are small and cheap enough to fit in the toilet bowl. It’s easy to install and is out of the way. I had a fear that it would quickly become messy. LumiLux toilet light with motion detection sensor
Want to feel as if you are in a club or worried about missing your pee in the darkness?
Check out this product.
Why I purchased a toilet light nightlight
It’s not a good idea to put a smart light in the toilet.
Adam Davidson /How-To Geek.
I purchased a toilet nightlight because I had trouble going to the toilet at night. The toilet night light was a great addition to my bathroom. I used to have trouble going into the bathroom at night because the light would be on.
I had an old fluorescent fixture in the bathroom, but it was difficult to replace with a smart bulb that dimmed. It would still light the whole bathroom, even with an intelligent bulb.
It would be necessary to have a bright light to view the toilet. This is where the problem lies. The toilet bowl is only lit by the nightlight. The remainder of the room is in darkness.
This strange gadget fixes the nighttime issue
The nightlight is a light that does not wake you up.
Before I bought the light, the bright bathroom light was really causing me problems. The harsh fluorescent light would cause my eyes to adjust quickly, and it was difficult to get back to sleep. After going to the bathroom, I’d often struggle to fall back asleep.
My kids were also affected by the same issue. The kids would wake up by turning on the lights in the bathroom.
They’d then come to me and ask for help getting into bed, since they had woken up. This problem was solved by a motion-activated toilet light.
Only the toilet bowl is lit, so it’s still fairly dark in there. The light is enough to let you see your actions without making a mess but not enough to wake you. This device makes it easier for me to fall back asleep.
This gadget doesn’t really work
Add it to Home assistant isn’t worthwhile
Image credit: Bertel King/How-To Geek.
This gadget may not be considered a “smart gadget”. It is not possible to connect the motion nightlight with Home Assistant and control it remotely, or use it as part of automation. The logic is all internal: a motion sensor activates the LED, unless it’s bright enough in the bathroom to not need the device on.
This is all beyond my control. It may be possible to connect a device like this with Home Assistant using something like an ESP32 Board, but I would need to build a housing and that seems like incredibly much work just to remotely control it.
It does seem to have some intelligence. The device turns on when someone walks into the bathroom at night, then turns off after some time if there is no motion detected.
All of this happens automatically, without any user interaction. Sincerity be told, I don’t see any reason to upgrade it.
It’s not a bad idea to try it out
The motion-activated nightlight for toilets seems a little bit novel. Why do you want your toilet to be lit in different colours? After using it at home, I can’t live without it.
This device helps me get to sleep much more easily after I’ve been to the toilet. The device was cheap, but it is priceless to me.