Any good OUTDOOR motion sensors (Zigbee) cheaper than Hue?

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We were evacuated once some years back...as I was signing into the hotel register I noticed, oh, yeah, it's my birthday. :slight_smile: Crazy. Luckily didn't lose anything, just a small amount of damage to some tiles on the roof, and ash freaking everywhere.

Nothing requiring an evacuation since then, and local government and utilities have been doing a much better job monitoring and proactively turning off power when wind and temperatures create higher risk. But temperatures are going up and rain is disappearing, things are going the wrong way.

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Sorry, in a bit of a rush.

If you search my profile I've made plenty of posts about the same kind of thing. I'll never quite understand the fascination with expensive custom smart products when (for me) most of this can be achieved very, very easily and very, very cheaply.

The answer I've heard back prior to this, is that people don't want the inconvenience of needing to send power to various locations round the home. And obviously, this solution is wired.

Search for konnected on this forum. It's a doddle. Essentially, buy a few cheap nodemcu's (WiFi) and flash with konnected to link into hubitat.

Each needs powering with a dc supply. Personally though, I use a single 30amp psu (12v) and drop down to 5v at the point of each nodemcu with a cheap 12v-5v USB device.

Inside, I use standard home alarm style LC pir's powered by the 12v linked to the konnected boards via the NO/GND on the pir's. Cost about 8 quid each, work ace.
Outiside I use the same approach, but via an ac relay to detect when the external AC pirs (about a tenner, screwfix) are activated.

All very, very cheap.
Very, very reliable.
Utter doddle to replace with off the shelf parts as opposed to seeking advice for the current recommendation for a replacement 50 quid smart sensor because your precious favourite is no longer manufactured. Stuff that. I like simplicity and reliability.

But each to their own.

I use the exact same approach for standard ac trvs on my central heating system, and various other projects including door/window contact sensors etc. Never needed to adjust. Their all ace.

IMO, for me, zigbee etc is utterly overrated and overpriced. This gear does the job, does it well, and doesn't require battery replacement. And more importantly, costs about 2% of the custom equivalents when adding multiple contact sensors etc. To be totally clear, I have say, one single nodemcu near the front entrance. This controls door contact sensor, indoor pir, radiator in entrance hallway and a 12v keypad for arming shm. Oh, and a temp/humidity sensor. Keypad cost a tenner, BTW. Total cost for that would run at around 30 quid. Tell me how much that would be to recreate with some version of a zwave keypad, motion sensor, contact sensor and humidity. I know my preferred route.

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True, I spent most of my life from Georgia to Virginia. I have been through many hurricanes. Because they are so large, you always know that they are coming, even if you do not know the exact path of the eyewall.

Although the Southeast does not get the number of tornados that Tornado Alley receives, they are not unheard of and supercell thunderstorms can still bring heavy rain and winds.

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Same here as well, I have 3 of them in various forms of direct sunlight.

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I have the HomeSeer HS-FLS100+ G2 integrated floodlight sensor. If you have a "dumb" floodlight you can easily wire this in - not complicated at all.. It's Z-Wave though.

https://www.amazon.com/HomeSeer-HS-FLS100-Z-Wave-Floodlight-Sensor/dp/B08RN5Z8BS/

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I had an Iris v2 motion sensor and a PEQ 3305 motion sensor mounted over my (covered) front door. They were far too sensitive to random movement and I asked for help (Suggestions for motion sensor that detects people (avoiding false detection because of wind)). The Hue Outdoor Motion Sensor was one suggestion, so I picked one up and used it in parallel with the other two. All three reported on motion about the same. E.g., it was no better or worse for my use case.

The other suggestion I got (using a camera with AI person/animal detection) is probably the better option.

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Yup. I have ordered those multiple times, including recently. I understand the the original request was a cheaper option, but I consider this a case of buy once, cry once. These have been flawless while exposed to the Arizona sun and Pittsburgh winter.

I think the first one that I bought was a refurbished Amazon deal, before we got a Costco membership. Some good deals can be had that way if you are patient.

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Yup - they had the UltraPro dimmers for $49 for a pair for quite a while - really good price.

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Wow, I never even noticed that. All of the automations that I configured for the completely exposed hue sensors only run after sunset, so I didn't think anything of it. Took a look at the logs and they are SUPER active during the day. Definitely something to keep in mind.

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This is true of all passive infrared motion sensors. I haven't found one yet that isn't active during the day ....

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It certainly makes sense. Unfortunately, it also reduces the utility of PIRs in that setting (at least during the day). I haven't found a good use case for daytime, but I'll keep that info filed away for consideration.

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You could fashion a snoot over the dome over one of the sensors to narrow the detection field if you only need to monitor a limited area.

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Probably the new microwave radars 'human presence' sensors are immune to direct sunlight? I will make a test in next few days.

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They should be. The only thing about their use is that I don't any that are battery powered - so it limits installation sites to where there is pwoer.

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@kkossev, Do you have any results to share from your outdoor test of the new mmW motion sensors? Thanks!

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Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to do some tests outdoors so far..

There are a lot of HE users that use either Aqara FP1 or Tuya mmWave radars already, hopefully, someone can share his experience.

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Any chance of a picture? How high? Im debating do this in the front of the house wherr I dont have a porch to install it under. My hue sensor on my back porch is rock solid.

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Which one, the homeseer?

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I have 2 zooz outdoor motion sensors, I forget the model but they are outdoor, but they recommend putting them under an eve or similiar. Mine have survived serious storms including the last hurricane, Ian. I have several zooz devices, I like them, very reliable

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I have 2 of the Homeseer G2 Floodlight Sensors .. if you have existing standard (non-low voltage) floodlights then these can be attached directly to them. @bcopeland has a hack for the older model Ring Floodlights as well which works great.