Battery operated LED security lights, do they work?

I have a regular floodlight with two bulbs on one side of a fairly large backyard, it does a good job lighting part of the yard.  But the other side is fairly dark, and I can't see when my dog comes back to the screened-in door on that side.

I'm not handy, so I was thinking these battery operated LED security lights with motion sensor might be enough, if they are bright and sense my dog running around doing his thing.

Maybe like this?  LED light at Menards

I had this one on the side of house where the trash cans sit. 

It worked fairly well for about a year.  Then it slowly died and will only work sometimes.  For the $10 or so I paid for it, I would say it was worth it.

I've got one that I stuck on the side of the workshop about two years ago.  It's solar powered and light & motion activated - it won't turn on unless there's movement and it's dark out.  I think I paid about $15-$20 on clearance at Home Depot.  Not the brightest light in the world, but it made walking alongside the building less dangerous.

I put one up last year. The weak point on the two-piece units seems to be the plug that connects the solar cell to the light. I don't know if it was moisture or just a bad connection, but it would only come on intermittently. I eventually gave up, cut the connector out, soldered the wires, and covered it in heat-shrink tubing and it's been fine since. I also put up a few of the smaller, self-contained lights to light a walk, and those have been reliable.

I just bought one of these bulbs from Menards for $4.99.  Motion activated led spot light bulb.  The motion sensor is built into the bulb itself.  

For a low tech solution, is there way to run an orange extension cord back to that part of the yard?
Is there possibly a tree back in that part of the yard?  

Orange cord to a plug in light socket, $3.27 and the above bulb $4.99 plugged into that socket then drape the orange cord over a tree branch so the bulb shines straight down.  

Tons of light, 120w equivalent, that stays on for only 30 seconds at a time.  

If you need a different mounting solution, add this $9 clamp lamp.

I installed these at the veterinary clinic a year ago and they are still working, which is more than I can say for some similar units I purchased at the hammer store.

They come on dim at sundown, then go bright when motion is detected.  Installed both facing south and north.  North facing units may have some trouble getting through the entire night during cloudy winter days.

I picked one up at Costco recently to go on the garage. It's got both solar and battery  in it, and works quite well.  The sensor on it is decent at about 15 ft or so.  I've had the onces that Karacticus posted above, they work well too, but I wanted something I could aim a bit more.

https://www.costco.com/sunforce-solar-motion-activated-security-light.product.100731931.html

I've never had any last more than a year. Battery powered, hard wired, plug in, incandescent, led, halogen, cheap, seriously expensive, all crapped out within a year. 

In reply to Karacticus :

I have these same lights. Put them up outside both ends of my shop. They have 3 settings. Dusk/Dawn low, Dusk low with motion high, and off until motion, then high. I have mine set on the last and while they are plenty bright they do not stay on for that long without continued motion. They have worked well so far but we'll see how they deal with the FL sun.

Hmm new options.  Hadn't thought about solar power.  Karacticus's option with always-on to some degree might be even better.  And 4 of them I can face multiple directions.  (Does it take much motion?  Like would a 66# dog walking around be enough?)

I bought a bunch of the solar/battery ones.  They're bloody cheap, both in terms of cost and quality, but that's okay.  I have some that have been working a few years.  Literally hang it, set the switch where you want it, and forget it.  When it stops working, replace it.

FWIW, I have a few of the ones Karacticus posted.  I think they all still work.

I've used 2 different kinds of Light It brand. The silver one uses c batteries and lasts about 6 months on a set used several times a day. The white 12 LED used d batteries and lasts about 4 months with the same usage. 

I've used these for more than 5 years at this point, they are pretty bright for what they are and work great for motion detection

Jerry said:

Hmm new options.  Hadn't thought about solar power.  Karacticus's option with always-on to some degree might be even better.  And 4 of them I can face multiple directions.  (Does it take much motion?  Like would a 66# dog walking around be enough?)

Unfortunately, I couldn't really say. The motion sensor does respond to a car driving by about 40 feet away. 
Your results may also vary greatly with mounting location/orientation, etc. 

Karacticus said:

Jerry said:

Hmm new options.  Hadn't thought about solar power.  Karacticus's option with always-on to some degree might be even better.  And 4 of them I can face multiple directions.  (Does it take much motion?  Like would a 66# dog walking around be enough?)

Unfortunately, I couldn't really say. The motion sensor does respond to a car driving by about 40 feet away. 
Your results may also vary greatly with mounting location/orientation, etc. 

The motion detection is a bit hard to predict.  If I walk up on the ones I have by my front porch, they will turn on when I get maybe 20 feet away, yet a car at well over twice that distance will also trigger them. 

I think the dog will trigger it, but the dog may need to be quite close to the light.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

The neighbor's cats walking below ours will trigger our lights and they are probably mounted 10-12' high.

One thing to note, NiCad batteries die if frozen.  Make sure whatever you get doesn't use them. 

Nimh  are ok in the cold.

I think I'm going to buy the 4 pack and do some experiments. That many I can point in a few directions and make something work.

Hopefully they trigger by a dog and assorted critters with sharp claws that could cause an expensive emergency vet visit if not scared off by the light.

Jerry said:

I think I'm going to buy the 4 pack and do some experiments. That many I can point in a few directions and make something work.

Hopefully they trigger by a dog and assorted critters with sharp claws that could cause an expensive emergency vet visit if not scared off by the light.

The ones I posted will pick up squirrels at about 25 feet