Lighting Controls for Car Dealerships & Events

Lighting controls for car dealerships: schedules, scenes and sales events

Dealership lighting controls should run three things automatically: a business-hours scene, an after-hours security scene that dims the lot without going dark, and event scenes for sales weekends, game days and holidays that anyone can switch from a phone. In Oklahoma City, keep anything facing the road static. Save motion for inside.

By Sol Zendejas-Smith, owner of Curbsight Lighting · Updated November 2026

The four scenes most stores need

Scene	When	What it does
Open	Sunset to close	Full front line, building outline, showroom and stage on
After hours	Close to late night	Building and front line on, showroom on a display scene, lot dimmed
Security	Late night to sunrise	Entries, perimeter and front line lit; the rest at a security level
Event	On a calendar	Brand or team colors on the building, a brighter front line

Schedules that follow sunset

A fixed timer is wrong half the year. Controls with an astronomical clock switch on at sunset and adjust every day, so the building is never dark at 5:30 in December or lit at 8 in June.

Zones

Split the property into zones that can change on their own: front line, rest of lot, building outline, showroom, delivery stage, service drive. A good scene is just a saved setting for each zone.

Phone app or wall keypad

Both. A keypad by the door for staff ("Open," "Event," "Reveal"), and an app for managers and for us, so a scene can change without anyone driving to the store. Pole lights can join the same schedule through new photocells or controls installed by our electrician partner.

Sales event ideas that draw traffic

Brand-color weekend. The building in your brand color, front line at full.
Thunder playoff nights. Blue and orange on the outline, and a watch-party offer on your socials.
OU and OSU Saturdays. Crimson and cream or orange and black, depending on who you'd rather sell to.
Holidays. Fourth of July, Christmas and Halloween scenes, programmed a year ahead.
Model launch reveal. Inside, the showroom goes dark and the new car is revealed with light.

See game-day lights in OKC.

Keep road-facing light static

Oklahoma City's sign code says no flashing or intermittent lighting is allowed other than permitted electronic message displays (§ 59-16105.A.4, Ordinance 27,526). So chases, strobes and color cycling stay inside, and the building faces the road in steady color. If you want motion outside, we ask the city in writing first. Details: OKC rules for dealership lights.

Who runs it

On a monthly plan, we program the calendar and change scenes for you. Or your team runs it from the app, and we're a text away.

Questions

What lighting controls does a car dealership need?

A sunset-based schedule, separate zones for the front line, lot, building and showroom, saved scenes for open, after hours, security and events, and control from a keypad and a phone.

Can dealership lights change color for events?

Yes. Brand colors, team colors and holiday scenes are saved and scheduled. Facing the road in Oklahoma City, keep the color steady rather than flashing.

Can our existing pole lights be put on a schedule?

Usually, with new photocells or controls. A licensed electrician partner installs those, and we tie them into the same scenes.

Who changes the scenes each month?

We can, on a monthly plan, or your team can from the app.