Best motion sensor?

lopez1de · February 28, 2017, 10:00am

My solution. Use dimmable LED lights with low power consumption and have them on all the time, dimmed to a value depending in the room brightness (brightness sensor). Then have a presence detection (with a simple switch or WiFi etc.) to switch all lights off or on.

Motion detection never worked well for me. The only one would be in the guests restroom. And the energy costs for dimmed LED is pretty low.

scurrier03 · February 28, 2017, 6:37pm

I was thinking about that yesterday. Why am I doing motion lights when you can buy super cheap led night lights that sip power. Only reason is the aesthetics of the solution. Which I appreciate.

Different from what you’re doing, but similar thought process.

vossivossi · March 1, 2017, 1:01pm

About 15 months. But be careful with the reported battery values. My one sensor was going down over the time from 100 to 55%. And then suddenly dropped from 55 to 0 within 30 minutes. So better replace the battery if battery is below 60.

bernd_d · March 2, 2017, 11:05am

Thank you @vossivossi. Sounds like its time for some battery rules <60%…

Avner · March 5, 2017, 8:08pm

Does anyone have experience with Ecolink Z-Wave PIR Motion Detector, Pet Immune (PIRZWAVE2-ECO).
Can it work directly against the AeonLabs Z-Wave Z-Stick, Gen5 or with the UZB stick?
And for this matter, does the Fibaro FGMS001, (or other recommended motion sensor device) can work directly against these sticks?
I don’t want to buy it and discover that it needs another controller / hub (such as SmartThings, Vera, HomeSeer)…

vossivossi · March 5, 2017, 11:49pm

I am using the Aeon Labs Z-Stick Gen5 with the FGMS001. UZB stick should also work.

Avner · March 18, 2017, 8:42pm

I got the FGMS001. I already have the Aeon Labs Z Stick GEN5.
Trying to include the FGMS001 with the stick but no success…
I did the following steps:

hard reset on the stick via PaperUI
reset the FGMS001 following the instructions in here
restart openhab
set the zwave controller to include via Inbox, scan button, Z-wave binding, select the Refresh button
set the FGMS001 to inclusion mode (tripple clicking on the button, following the instructions here)
the device then appears, and I add it to the list

In Configuration -> Things, the device appears as incomplete (see the snapshot)

How can I include the device completely?
Thanks

vossivossi · March 18, 2017, 9:56pm

With battery powered devices you often need to repeat the process several times. So go to inclusion mode again, triple click the button again 3 times and so on…after a number of tries, it works…

Avner · March 20, 2017, 5:42am

Thanks @vossivossi. I repeated the process and I think I got it included properly this time (the title now shows “Z-Wave Node 13: FGMS001 Motion Sensor” rather then just Node 21)
But the motion indication is not shown. The 4 flags Binary Sensor, Motion Alarm, Tamper Alarm, Alarm (general) are blank and they do not indicate ON or OFF in PaperUI, even though the sensor blinks (indicates general motion), and blinks when I move it (indicates moving the device)
Why are these flags blank?

Mike_Bagdanoff · March 20, 2017, 10:55am

This is the motion sensor I ended up going with, cheap, good battery and the report time is quick so if you walk in the room, the lights pop on instantly, I have a several WAPIRZ-1s and it takes up the 10 seconds to realize that you are there so I’m slowly replacing them with PIRZWAVE2-ECOs. I also have a couple aeotec sensors but the multisensor 6 only works well on USB power so if pluggable is the requirement I’d go with these. I ordered a fibaro motion eye once but only received an empty box so I have no experience though they look good. I’m still waiting for the zigbee support to mature so I can use my big bag of SmartThings sensors.

vossivossi · March 20, 2017, 12:52pm

You probably need to configure the association groups for Lifeline and Motion for the Controller. You can do this in Habmin or PaperUi:

Avner · March 24, 2017, 6:06am

I am using the ZWay binding and not the zwave binding and I don’t see the Association groups in PaperUI.
In PaperUI I hardly see any configuration parameters (see img1)

Does Habmin depend on zwave binding? I’m asking because, for now I am using ZWay binding (one of my devices initializes properly with this ZWay but not with the zwave binding) and I read that Habmin requires the zwave binding.
In Habmin I see more configuration parameters but no Association groups either (see img2)

img1

img2

vossivossi · March 24, 2017, 2:03pm

I never used the Zway binding so I am not sure. But for my understanding the Zway software ist the controller and the binding only connects OH to the other software. If this is the case, you probably need to configure the association groups with the Zway software.

Avner · March 26, 2017, 8:15pm

I moved back to Zwave binding and included the device,
When I try to add the association in Habmin they show up as pending (in yellow)
I described my problem in here
How did you make the association persist?

vossivossi · March 26, 2017, 10:08pm

Typical problem with battery powered devices. They are only reachable when awake. So press the button in Habmin or PaperUI and then triple click the button of the device.

Avner · March 26, 2017, 10:25pm

I solved that by restarting openhab. Now the associations persist (without yellow warning) but I still don’t see the OFF/ON indication in PaperUI Control page
Did you specifically set anything in the .items file, or any other file such as .sitemap, .rules?

p.s. I do get the events in the log file. It is just that they do not appear in the web page

tail -f /var/log/openhab2/events.log
2017-03-26 13:39:31.506 [ItemStateChangedEvent     ] - zwave_serial_zstick_02710de3_serial_sof changed from 181 to 182
2017-03-26 13:39:31.508 [ItemStateChangedEvent     ] - zwave_device_02710de3_node6_alarm_motion changed from OFF to ON
2017-03-26 13:39:57.434 [ItemStateChangedEvent     ] - zwave_serial_zstick_02710de3_serial_sof changed from 182 to 183
2017-03-26 13:39:57.436 [ItemStateChangedEvent     ] - zwave_device_02710de3_node6_alarm_motion changed from ON to OFF

Also note that I’m using the 2.0.0 release build for openhab2. I found out that is using snapshot I get into other problems, and I don’t want to chanse after a moving target (at least this version is supposed to be stable)

openhab> bundle:list -s | grep openhab
166 | Active   |  90 | 2.0.0                 | openHAB Core                                           | org.openhab.core
167 | Active   |  80 | 2.0.0                 | openHAB Karaf Integration                              | org.openhab.core.karaf
169 | Resolved |  80 | 2.0.0                 | openHAB Sound Support, Hosts: 111                      | org.openhab.io.sound
170 | Active   |  80 | 2.0.0                 | openHAB Dashboard UI                                   | org.openhab.ui.dashboard
187 | Active   |  80 | 2.0.0                 | HABPanel User Interface                                | org.openhab.ui.habpanel
188 | Resolved |  80 | 2.0.0                 | openHAB Paper UI Theme Fragment, Hosts: 186            | org.openhab.ui.paperui
199 | Active   |  80 | 2.0.0                 | HABmin User Interface                                  | org.openhab.ui.habmin
209 | Active   |  80 | 2.0.0                 | ZWave Binding                                          | org.openhab.binding.zwave

openhab> bundle:list -s | grep zwave
209 | Active   |  80 | 2.0.0                 | ZWave Binding                                          | org.openhab.binding.zwave

Dries · October 31, 2017, 5:25pm

Hi,

I’m looking for a wireless motion sensor.
Requirements:

Mounted in the ceiling (flush);
As small as possible;
Obviously compatible with OpenHAB;
Acceptable battery life;
I don’t care about extra sensors (temp, humidity), certainly not if it is at the expense of battery life;

Any ideas?

The Auro Motion Sensor meets all requirements, except one: it’s not wireless. :-/

pauli_anttila · October 31, 2017, 5:41pm

One possibility is

There is a ceiling adapter sold separately

Dries · November 1, 2017, 8:21am

Hi Pauli,

Thanks. I’ve read some mixed experiences regarding battery life. Some say they need to replace it every month, and that is way below what they advertise (2 years). Everything above one year is acceptable for me.

I also see that this motion sensor is slightly larger (75mm / 3″ space for Recessor is needed) than the wired one I have now (Auro needs 43mm). But I guess that is the consequence of providing space for batteries.

But so far, this is the best option there is, I guess. Thanks!

pauli_anttila · November 1, 2017, 9:50am

I have 7 of them and currently 4 are running with batteries. At least for me, battery devices have been working pretty well.

There is one bug at least which could cause very short battery life.

https://aeotec.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/6000036562-multisensor-6-firmware-update-6-17-2016-new-information-v1-08-11-02-2016-

Battery Power
Parameter 111-113 report interval bug

If sensors are reporting around 4 minutes, it is possible that the sensor may send the signals 4 times in a row causing the battery to be used rapidly (users who have done this have seen battery drain within 2 weeks). (bug)
Can be set to a minimum 240 seconds without the need to set the wakeup interval for faster reports (but is receptive to the bug above at reports <10 minute intervals)