so the title says it all, but here are some specifics:
backyard has two motion detector lights, installed to deter (or aid, depending on how you see it) people from being in our fully fenced and locked backyard. now that we have a pool back there, it would be nice to be able to turn off those lights for 2-4 hours at a time, allowing us to enjoy low voltage landscape lights and the occasional tiki torch without being blinded by several hundred watts of halogen light.
it would be simple to install a switch to turn the lights on and off, but it would be better to have it fail safe, so after 2-4 hours, the power to the lights is restored without any human interaction.
what i basically want is the type of timer you see in hotel bathrooms for the heated floor. turn to the desired time, although most i am seeing have a maximum of 2 hours, which is on the small side. in addition to that, i am in need of a timer that is normally closed, being opened only for the duration of the timer.
normally i would use a relay and be done with it, but i am not super familiar with AC power outside the typical 120v-240v single phase operations.
any ideas?
thanks!