Best (i.e. fastest) motion lighting option

Hello!

I’m a recent convert from ST to HE. I’m having some real difficulty with speed. For the most part, it’s not a real problem, though the size of my setup (well over 100 devices and 20+ apps) has me awaiting a second hub to prioritize those things that require speed on one of the hubs.

My question is this: For a SIMPLE “motion turns on the light until 2 minutes after motion stops” automation, which is the fastest (most responsive) way to do it? I have a Dome motion sensor (those were always the fastest in ST) that I want to trigger a TP-Link light switch in a dark hallway by little ones use to get to their playroom. In ST, that automation would work in .5 seconds. Now, in HE it takes at least 5 seconds, and my toddler hurt herself today in the dark. There is Simple Lighting, Motion lighting, Rules Machine, and I think one or two more out there. I like Motion Lighting, but I’m not entirely convinced it’s the most responsive. What say ye? :slight_smile:

Thanks all!

I think your issue is hub or mesh related. For example my motion lighting app turns the light on almost immediately. Ie led on sensor lights up and near instant the light comes on.

Z-wave repair or Unload some devices that you dont need from your hub and move them to your new hub when it comes

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I am using Motion Lighting for our kitchen lights. Since there are many ways in and out of the kitchen, I am using multiple motion sensors in a group using the Zone Motion app. Whichever way you approach the kitchen, the lights respond instantly before we get to the doorways.

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I agree and in addition to the other suggestions, if you have devices that report power/energy and you're not doing anything with those events then I recommend disabling those reports or at least increasing the reporting interval/threshold so they don't send reports as often.

With a stable mesh the lights should turn on within a couple of seconds using any of the built-in apps. I'm using 14 Dome Motion Sensors for my motion lighting and the lights almost always turn on in less than 1 second.

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The best method for your rules is to follow the KISS method. If you want just a simple lighting task, then don't make a huge rule out of it. Find the simplest way to perform that task. Bruce has said in several posts that rules are free. Better a lot of little rules running smoothly than a large, complicated rule that has to do all kinds of calculating running poorly. I always make a habit of turning off things I don't need. And .. some devices are chattier than others. It's good to pay attention to that. Also search out your equipment and see if you have anything that may be questionable or have known issues. Your channel is going to make a difference. Do you have a lot of wifi devices? All things to consider when evaluating your mesh. I'm at 127 devices and growing and I only experience issues when I break something. :grin:

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I use the Samsung ZigBee motion sensors in multiple rooms with either ZigBee bulbs, Lutron Switches and in my garage a TPLink light switch. All are very quick (maybe .5 to 1 second). Are you using the TPLink local integration?

Edit : I should add that I am using Motion Lighting

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to chime in... I agree with the statement of KISS.
Simple lighting for everything it can do.
Motion lighting is my next choice if Simple lighting can't do it.
RM is last.

I have never tested empirically the timing, but by feel this is what I have found to be the most responsive... Now I want to go do a study :slight_smile:

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If your response time is 5 seconds, something is definitely wrong. My motion lighting all are nearly instantaneous, you almost can't even see the delays. Even my slower Z-wave motion are fast enough to not have an annoying lag of any type.

You probably should turn on logging for the affected devices, and do a screen shot so we could look and see if there is anything unusual, or where the delay happens. As of now, you don't know if it is the sensor, the switch, or the app where the delay is happening.

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It defiantly sounds like something else is not working. I've used motion lighting, simple lighting and RM and never seen that much delay.
I remember seeing a break down fo the time RM takes to respond vs running i groovy and for a simple rule like the OP had it should take max 500ms but I might be thinking of something else.

I now use the Room Director app now and the only latency I see is from the actual sensors.

I removed the Ecobee Suite app, and that did help somewhat. Some of my rules are actually pretty close to immediate, but I still have a couple that are slow. My hub came today, and I'm going to start moving things around. I love the KISS idea. Especially the lighting events that I need to be as immediate as possible, can be made very simple (the only "condition" in some of them being time of day. I have a hallway light that turns on 100% in the day time, but only 10% at night to go easy on the eyes!

The Dome Sensor that is farthest from the original hub seems to be responding at about 2-3 seconds now. Even though it is 4 feet from a ZWave range extender. It's better, but not where it should be yet. Once I get everything moved around, I'm hoping things will perk up!

Someone asked, yes, I to use the TP-Link integration. Executing a command to those devices is nearly instantaneous, so I know those are working great.

Thanks guys! I'll post back as things progress!

OK, so I have moved Echo and Ecobee to the new Hub. Everything works on the new hub. The original hub seems to be working much better now. I still have one random sensor (furthest from the hub, but only a couple of rooms away with 2 repeater devices between the hub and the sensor) that seems to still take 2-3 seconds. Either way, both hubs seem to be more responsive now. Still not completely where I expect it, though (a couple of these motion sensor automations need to be instant and they aren't yet).

Progress! I think HubConnect is brilliant.

If the slow automation involves a TP-Link bulb, try moving the bulb to the new hub and see if it helps. I have only seen the kind of delay you are talking about when trying to group a TP-Link bulb with zigbee bulbs, but that doesn't apply when the bulb is on another hub. I would recommend a zigbee motion sensor (unless you don't have many zigbee devices) since it will be quite a bit faster than a z-wave sensor, if you still have issues with it. The Iris V2 sensors are great, and last I looked you could get a pack of 10 on Ebay for $50.

The fastest way would be a direct Z-Wave association between two devices, motion sensor and light not using a rule (or HE) at all. A rule could turn the light off later. Not all devices support useful association though and other issues arise like visibility of the action by the hub.

Later understanding of just what controls what becomes confusing if not documented.

At 5 seconds something is wrong... should be well under a second