Wardrobe lighting fails in one of two ways: it does not come on when the door opens, or it comes on when nothing is happening. Both are switching problems, not lighting problems. Here is how the three common solutions behave in a real guest room.
The three switching options
| Method | How it works | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical door switch | Plunger or roller pressed by the door edge | Cheapest, no standby draw, obvious | Needs precise door gap; can stick |
| Magnetic reed / hall | Magnet in the door, sensor in the carcass | No moving parts, invisible, reliable | Needs 3–5 mm alignment; retrofit is harder |
| PIR motion | Detects movement inside the wardrobe | No door contact needed, works with sliding doors | False triggers from hanging clothes and heat |
Most hotel projects end up with magnetic contact plus a short delay.
For sliding doors a door contact needs one sensor per leaf, or a single sensor on the leading leaf plus logic that treats either leaf as “open”. Sliding doors also make PIR attractive — and that is exactly where PIR disappoints, because a sliding panel crossing the sensor looks like motion.
Why PIR inside a wardrobe is difficult
A PIR detects a change in infrared energy across its window. Inside a wardrobe the scene is hot, close and reflective: dark clothes absorb, a pressed shirt moves, a heated wall behind the carcass radiates. The result is either a sensor that needs a large movement to trigger, or one that switches on when the room's air conditioning changes.
PIR is the right choice in open shelving, minibar niches, and under-plinth night lights — places with real human movement and no door. Inside a closed wardrobe it is a compromise.
Delay timing: the number nobody specifies
Set the off-delay to 30–60 seconds for wardrobes. Shorter and the light flickers off while a guest is deciding; longer and it stays on after the door closes, which is what hotel maintenance notices first. For drawers, 5–10 seconds is enough.
For night lights the logic is inverted: 2200K amber, 3–8 lm, and a delay long enough to walk back to bed — 60–120 seconds, or triggered by the bed-side switch instead of a sensor at all.
Battery or 24V?
Battery fittings avoid cable routing through a finished carcass, and for a retrofit they are the only practical answer. But a hotel is a maintenance environment: a 3×AAA sensor light that needs new cells every 12–18 months becomes a work order multiplied by 300 rooms.
For new-build, run 24V. One thin driver per cabinet bank in the plinth, a 2-core cable to each shelf, and no batteries for the life of the furniture. Where battery is unavoidable, specify a version with a low-battery indicator that the housekeeping app can see — not a subtle blink nobody notices.
Five details that decide whether it works
- Mount the contact 200–300 mm from the hinge, not at the door edge — small door sag then does not matter.
- Keep the sensor and the magnet on the same plane; a 2 mm step in the carcass is enough to lose the trigger.
- Separate the sensor circuit from the driver's mains side. A shared circuit makes the light flicker when the driver's inrush hits.
- Leave a service loop at every shelf, 150 mm minimum. Cables that are pulled tight fail at the connector.
- Label the driver with the room number at the plant. When a fitting fails in year three, nobody wants to remove a wardrobe to find out which circuit it is.
Specifier's checklist
- Switching method per furniture type on the drawing (hinged / sliding / drawer / open shelf)
- Off-delay specified: 30–60 s wardrobe, 5–10 s drawer, 60–120 s night light
- Contact mounted 200–300 mm from the hinge, alignment tolerance stated
- 24V preferred for new-build; battery only with low-battery indication
- Driver labelled per room and serviceable from the plinth
Questions we get asked
Can one sensor serve two wardrobe sections?
Do I need a sensor on the wardrobe if there is a room key-card switch?
What colour temperature for wardrobe interiors?
Will a magnetic sensor work through a 2 mm veneer?
Send the furniture drawing. We will answer with a lighting solution.
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