How turn a transistor ON when the control signal is OFF

Question

I am creating a light control circuit with a low-power tilt switch (>0.1A) to automatically turn lights on and off when the switch is tilted. When the switch is level, it is open, and I want the lights to be on. When the switch is tilted, it closes, and I want the lights to be off. I had originally planned to use a transistor with a NOT gate after the switch, but I read about depletion mode MOSFETs and I think an N-channel depletion MOSFET might do what I need it to. Would this circuit accomplish that?

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

Answer 1

It does not work because the current keeps flowing through the depletion nMOS when VGS=0V and when VGS=12V.

Note, you need to add a resistor from nMOS gate to ground to define the gate voltage to 0V when the switch is open.

To solve your problem, you can just change the location of the switch and the resistor and use a normal nMOS