8 Best Outdoor Flood Lights in 2024

My family woke up the other morning to find the hubcaps stolen from my wife’s car. And we don’t even live in a bad neighborhood! It’s hard to imagine 20-year-old Toyota Corolla hubcaps have much value — it may very well have been a group of teenagers being a nuisance. Nevertheless, we figured it was time for some added outdoor security outside the house, so I started shopping for the best outdoor flood lights to deter prowlers.

From the best flood light overall, to the best solar floodlight, to the best flood lights with a camera — SAY CHEESE! — here’s what I found out.

Our Top Picks: Best Outdoor Flood Lights

We’ve highlighted our favorite picks for an at-a-glance overview:

• Best Overall: Heath-Zenith Dusk to Dawn Flood Light with Motion Sensor. Our pick for best overall outdoor flood light is this dusk to dawn flood light from Heath-Zenith. It provides the best light coverage and a motion sensor.
• Best Eco-Friendly: Solla Solar-Powered Motion-activated Outdoor Security Light. Solar saves. Our choice for best solar-powered outdoor flood light is the motion-activated outdoor security light from Solla.
• Best Budget: LLT 20W LED Outdoor Flood Light. The LLT 20W LED outdoor flood light will keep your home secure when it’s dark without all the additional cost.
• Best Motion Sensor: Leonite TS6023 LED Outdoor Security Flood Light with Motion Sensor. Providing light only when you need it, the Leonite TS6023 security light is the best motion sensor flood light in our ranking,
• Best Wireless: Mr. Beams Wireless Motion-Sensing LED Spotlight. Don’t hassle with batteries and extension cords. Choose the Mr. Beams Wireless LED Spotlight instead.
• Best Security: Higgston Wi-Fi Camera LED Dusk to Dawn Outdoor Flood Light. For the added security of a camera, choose the Higgston Wi-Fi LED camera flood light.
• Best High-Tech: Defiant LED Bluetooth Outdoor Security Light. For a flood light you can operate from a phone or device, choose the Bluetooth outdoor LED security light from Defiant.
• Best Looking: WAC Lighting Energy Star LED Spot Light. With a sleek design and multiple color options, the best looking flood light in our ranking is WAC’s Energy Star LED spotlight.

The best outdoor flood lights overall in our ranking needed to have it all, and we found it in the dusk to dawn flood light from Heath-Zenith. This motion sensor-activated flood light with an adjustable lamp head can be mounted on either a wall or ceiling and will accommodate LED, CFL, and incandescent bulbs — your choice.

There are no climate limitations to worry about, and the motion sensor has a 100-foot detection zone, with a 270-degree detection angle. The light is dimmable, and your purchase includes mounting equipment. The motion sensor also swivels, picking up movement in dark corners.

Since we have neighbors, I liked that you can either set the light to turn on when motion is detected, or set it to stay on but go brighter only when it picks up movement. That’s while the manual off-switch quickly and conveniently cuts the light completely. I was also encouraged by customer reviews stating that installation is easy.

To consume less energy while also keeping our house secure, I like the solar-powered, motion-activated outdoor security light from Solla. Plus, there’s no need to hassle with wiring. Instead, there’s a built-in lithium-ion battery that gets recharged by the amorphous silicon solar panel (even on rainy days).

Otherwise, the three extremely bright bulbs pump out 1,500 lumens. The sensor offers a 180 degree-wide sensing angle and max 49-foot sensing range. Another nice feature is that while the light turns on automatically when motion is detected, the amount of time it stays on before turning off is adjustable, with settings up to two minutes. There are no climate limitations.

I also liked the auto-mode, meaning the light only works at night, and the permanent-on setting for all-day security. Some choose Solla to light up the backyard for the dog at night, making it a good pick for best flood lights for backyard lighting. Others use the product to illuminate their side yard pool entrance and mother-in-law quarters. I’m leaning toward Solla to save money while also cutting our carbon footprint.

If you’re anything like me, you’d like the best outdoor LED flood light that won’t cost you your next student loan payment. To this end, I picked the LLT 20W LED outdoor flood light as my choice for the most affordable outdoor flood light.

In addition to price, what I liked about this flat-panel, knuckle-mount flood light is that it’s LED SMD — a second-generation LED light that’s more energy-efficient. The light’s also all-weather, with no climate restrictions. It’s also super bright, pumping out 1,600 lumens. Conveniently, It comes in 10, 20, and 30 watts.

It doesn’t come with a base, though, but it does screw directly into a standard junction box. There’s plenty of wire included with purchase to mount the light where you need it. There’s no motion sensor, but I was also encouraged by reports stating the LLT lights up a wide peripheral area. Additionally, it installs in less than 10 minutes.

Choosing a flood light with a motion sensor is a good idea if your primary objective is to catch troublemakers in the act. Another reason to select a motion sensor is that the light will switch on when you need it — like when you’re taking out the garbage or letting the dog out in the backyard to use the bathroom.

After researching the best flood light with a motion sensor, I settled on the Leonite TS6023. What sets this light apart is the highly sensitive motion detector with a 180-degree detection angle and a 70-foot long detection distance. Also notable is that this dual-head, hardwired flood has three modes of operation.

First, there’s an on-time mode, allowing for manual operation. Then, auto-mode meaning the light works only when it detects movement. And last, dusk-to-dawn mode, switching the light on at first light and off when it gets dark. The light takes LED bulbs, and has no climate restrictions — versatile and durable, what’s not to like?

Consumer reports that the light is easy to install with a reliable motion sensor. The nice bright light made me confident that Leonite is the best choice for a motion sensor flood light.

I’m not experienced with electrical work (at all), so easy installation is a priority for me. With this in mind, a wireless spotlight seemed like the best choice. And the Mr. Beams wireless, motioning sensing LED spotlight is by far the best product in this category.

Installing in minutes, this well-reviewed battery-operated light provides 350-square feet of coverage. It fits anywhere — including doorways, garages, sheds, and porches. You can even place it on a fence or a tree. This versatility illustrates an additional advantage of splurging on a wireless flood light.

The lights are also motion activated, producing 140 lumens, with auto shut-off. You can expect about one year of life out of each battery set. Pretty reliable. And reports that the light can run for an entire month without draining the battery helped settle the case.

I also like that the light is available as a single and a three or four pack. They come in both brown and white. Testimonials say that this product is ready to go in less than five minutes — just put in the batteries and screw it where you want it. Even I can handle that.

For the most security possible from a flood light, choose one with a camera. You’ll pay a bit more for a flood light of this sort, but it really can be worth it. Because with a camera, you’ll have some visual evidence to turn to in the event something bad does happen.

For the best flood light with a camera, I say choose the Higgston Wi-Fi camera. How it works is that footage and still images are streamed directly to your device. All you have to do is download an app.

Otherwise, the Higgston is a two-level light, with a 70-foot detection zone and a 180-degree detection angle. The detection zone is adjustable, and so is the lamp head. There’s also a 180-degree beam spread, and it installs easily into an average junction box. Brightness is 2200 lumens, and the light has no climate restrictions, working well in all sorts of weather.

Consumers like that the Vaxcel app is readily available from Apple and Android stores. The pictures and videos save locally on a sim card. Need more storage? Simply get a bigger sim card. There’s also a timer and a dusk to dawn setting for convenience.

Besides cameras, the next question I sought to answer through my research was what other kinds of high-tech features had made their way into the world of outdoor flood lights? While doing so, I settled on the Defiant LED Bluetooth Outdoor Security Light as the best high-tech outdoor flood light on the market.

Using a free, easy-to-use app for both iPhone and Android, this Bluetooth-enabled flood light can be controlled entirely from your phone. This allows you to turn the light on or off remotely, or merely

dim the light. The tech feature also shows up in the DualBrite 2-level lighting feature. This saves energy and allows for further customization of the light intensity. You can even set it to get brighter only when motion is detected.

The light can be installed on both walls and in overhangs and has 270-degree motion detection at up to 70 feet. The light produces 2,350 lumens. Satisfied customers claim the light floods an area with a bright yet soft light. And that the Bluetooth connectivity provides a nice level of control. It’s unclear whether the Bluetooth connectivity also helps you catch up on your podcasts.

Researching flood lights got me thinking — can’t my home be secure without looking like a prison?! To answer that question, I began to look around for the best looking or most decorative flood lights. This led me to the WAC Lighting Energy Star LED Spotlight, my choice for best outdoor flood light for maintaining curb appeal in our ranking.

First of all, the hardwired spotlight offers modern architectural design. It comes in four color options: black, bronze, graphite, and white. I also like the dimming function when the light doesn’t need to be on full blast, producing a nicely-colored light that’s not too white. The direction of the light is also adjustable.

The product isn’t just for looks, though. It’s also solidly constructed from die-cast aluminum and all-weather tough. The motion sensor and photocell are available separately. But since I’m always efficiency-minded, the Energy Star rating was icing on the cake.

The purchase includes two canopy accessories to use with both surface mounted junction boxes and recessed junction boxes. Those who’ve used the light comment that it lit up their 70 x 100-foot yard, and what while it’s called a spotlight, it functions more like a flood.

Our Process

For this guide on best outdoor flood lights, our team spent 5 hours researching the most popular options from over 40 brands and manufacturers big and small. We then read about two hundred user reviews (both positive and negative) to discover what shoppers thought about each light. After comparing this data, we narrowed our list down to the top 8 outdoor flood lights on the market. You can count on this research to guide you to a mindful purchasing decision.

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Further Reading