How should stair spotlights be switched on?

I know where my light switches are

Well, I find these automatisms highly unemotional. I have an acquaintance who is currently "automating" his house, spending hours, days searching for components, and more hours, days programming... "sacrificing" hours of his vacation to check whether the blinds are really down or half-up! ..I (this is very individual) don’t want all that. I want to leave my house and turn off the lights at the push of a button.

But that is again the exaggerated: No one looks for a light switch in their own house. There are situations where I don't want any light - I always find that problematic with motion detectors.

Yes, then you just don't look yourself but let guests / friends / relatives... especially when there are toggle switches on the wall... then everything is switched through until the right light is on.

Especially in the stairwell area, this example works wonderfully... as a guest, first press all three switches... one will surely be the right one...

Es gibt Situationen, da möchte ich kein Licht haben - das sehe ich bei Bewegungsmelder immer problematisch.

In the stairwell area? When no natural light is available anymore, that is in the evening? During the day the motion sensor / presence detector is disabled... even the cheapest ones can do that.

So I always need light at that spot in the evening... I don't want to break anything etc.

No, in the hallway - you gave the example that you come in and want to take off your shoes

We don't need that in the stairwell - it's still slightly lit from outside even at night. Still, I want the step lighting there - but I simply don't need the main light there.

Therefore: There are just situations where you don't want any light - and that's where a motion sensor is annoying. I even have a switch upstairs in the hallway that overrides the motion sensor.

And sure, you can always say "switch batteries" - but I only have switches (2-3) for lamps in the hallway there. No matter what anyone presses, it will light up that area for them

Well, then you don’t search yourself but rather guests/friends/relatives... especially when there are toggle batteries on the wall... then everything is switched through until the right light is on.

If you first have to cycle through all the light scenes on an unknown tablet as a guest, it naturally gets easier. Oops, the shutters are going up, I didn’t want that at all. I only set the Dining scene?

What are guests actually doing on the stairs and upstairs? If anything, they will need the hallway light on the ground floor, and there are no other light switches in the hallway on the ground floor.

And finally, who is the house actually built for? For guests?

No, in the hallway – you gave the example that you come in and want to take off your shoes

You don’t always have to take everything said too literally. Even in the hallway, it can happen that friends come in and find three switches... one for the light in the hallway, one for the foyer, and one for the stair light... every house is different. With a PM the light in the hallway turns on immediately and you don’t have to search for anything.

We don’t need that in the stairwell – it’s still lightly lit from outside even at night. Still, I want the step lighting – but I just don’t need the big light there.

See... you don’t... For example, I do, since my stairwell has no windows.

The step lighting is also particularly convenient if it turns on as soon as you enter or stand in front of the stairs and turns off once you have left the stairs. All without a switch but with other means.

And sure, you can always come up with switch banks – but I only have switches (2-3) for lamps in the hallway there. No matter what anyone presses, one light in the area will illuminate them

And I don’t have just one switch... neither in the hallway nor the stairs nor the foyer... of course, it’s a matter of taste...But true to your statement: No matter where you step, a light in the area will illuminate you

If as a guest you first have to cycle through all the light scenes on an unknown tablet, of course it becomes easier. Oops, the blinds go up, I didn’t want that. I only set the dining 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 any in the house.)

What are guests supposed to do on the stairs and upstairs? If anything, they will need the hallway light on the ground floor and there are no more light switches in the hallway on the ground floor.

Well, you were exactly asking about that... more switches in the hallway or fewer... i.e. the main topic:

How should stair spots be switched? Manually or by motion sensor?

I don’t know what kind of guests you let into your house, but my relatives/friends sometimes come upstairs because that’s where the children’s rooms are, and sometimes visitors for the kids come and want to play there... in the winter months, it’s quite common for the hallway or stair light to be on relatively early.

Of course you build the house for yourself, but still I don’t want only me to feel comfortable inside, but everyone.

With PMs in the passage areas, no one... really no one in the house has to press any switches or handle unknown tablets or anything else...

You just walk in, through, up, down and the lights turn on/off or stay on/off by themselves