Best motion sensor on battery?

Nyce ceiling motion sensors are great for bathrooms and report temp and humidity. Which makes them great for controlling the humidity with exhaust fans. They use 2 triple a batteries and last a couple of years. Stick them above the shower and you can keep the lights on when you're taking a shower or bath but still have them turn off when not occupied.

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It wasn’t my question but thanks everyone for the current recommendations. I just need July to get here so I get my preordered Inovelli Blues to start establishing ZigBee in my house. :rofl: In the meanwhile, what would people recommend on the ZWave side?

In terms of what type(s) of device(s)?

Well it’s the “Best motion sensor on battery?” thread so obviously battery-powered motion sensors. :rofl: Since user897 said he was fine either everyone gave ZigBee answers but I was wondering which ones people would recommend on the ZWave side for motion.

Wasn't obvious to me, obviously. Would not have been the first time someone changed the subject in the middle of a thread. :slight_smile:

I think my issue is that I'm biased, I only use Zigbee motion sensors. They are almost always (always in my experience) faster than Z-Wave, and less muss/fuss overall (Z-Wave on the C7 has been a bit of an adventure of the past couple of years, much better lately, however). The only time I have problems w/my Zigbee motion sensors is when I accidentally drop them. So my Z-Wave motion sensor recommendation would be "don't." :wink:

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Ha! Intriguing. Yea in general I'm doing nothing but 700 series ZWave stuff. I have the good fortune of buying everything now and not having existing older stuff (I'm a refugee from the now-defunct land of Insteon). I was looking at a few of the ZWave ones from Aeotec/Zooz/etc but yea not a lot of choices. Once I have a good ZigBee mesh also I may follow your advice.

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Make sure you join the Z-Wave devices w/out security, except for locks and garage door openers.

Switches and plugs and other devices don't need the additional overhead added to your hub by using S2 security. Choose the default option to include w/out security:

2022-05-15 21_35_25-Chrome Main

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Even the 700 series is slower than zigbee by a noticeable margin which is why everyone said zigbee. Typical delay on zwave is about 0.5 seconds and typical zigbee delay is around 0.07 seconds. For lighting zigbee motion detectors are the way to go. You won't notice any delay when entering a room. With zwave you will. For non lighting applications, zwave motion is fine. The zigbee motion sensors also usually have better battery life. It's worth it to at least give one or two a shot and compare.

I have drawers full of gear that got relegated to spares because I wanted to go all zwave but I think it was Bruce that originally recommended the Nyce sensors and I gave them a shot. Pretty dramatic difference. Between the Nyce and Smartthings V2 Motion sensors I haven't really found any better performing devices. Aeotec now makes the Smartthings sensors but they are just rebranded versions of the V2 and have the same performance. The Nyce ceiling motion sensors are expensive and hard to find in stock but in bathrooms they are probably the best you can get.

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But of course...I did my reading. :slight_smile:

Great info. That makes me even happier I preordered Inovelli Blues to establish a good ZigBee...I was originally planning on going all ZWave.

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Hue are my favorite. Like others have said, they are fast, configurable, sense illumination and temp as well, and use AAA batteries. I have been getting 2-3 years of battery life on mine. You can usually get them cheaper on Costco’s website as 2-packs, but either way, the low battery cost will make up for the price.

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But got bigger, sadly...still, a very good motion sensor w/excellent performance.

Happily, aside from already having Iris v2's all over my house, I have a box w/10 or so more v2 spares in it. Just love the little buggers...I hope they never leave me. :smiley:

I use the Hue outdoor sensors in a couple exposed locations, very nice.

I can't use the Hue indoor motion sensors as the wife vetoed them the first time I installed one in a spot in the house where I wanted motion, lux, and temp. She had been spoiled by the v2's (1.7x1.6) and would have nothing to do w/the larger Hue (2.4x2.4) sensors. So the v2 went back into the spot to do motion and temp, and I did not get my lux reading for my cool (to only me it evidently) automation idea... :wink:

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My wife was used to the ORIGINAL Insteon motion sensors that were huuuuuge. Anything amongst these newfangled choices is a WAF upgrade lol.

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You lucky lucky man. My envy is very deep... :slight_smile:

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This is an old thread so I want to mention these newer sensors. They take AA batteries, which I regard as a plus, but are shaped accordingly. Some people may not like the shape. They paired with HE easily and work great.

THIRDREALITY Zigbee Motion Sensor 2 Pack, Zigbee Hub Required, Pet Friendly, Works with SmartThings, Aeotec, Hubitat or Echo Devices with Build-in Zigbee hub

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MVKWBFF/

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I have tried Sonos motion sensor and I had sooo many issues. I find that my Samsung SmartThings motion sensor still perform better than any I have tried so far. I am going to order some others for testing this summer.

I like the idea of a ceiling mounted sensor in the shower stall. This will be my next project.

Not to start any Z wars, but Zigbee is my choice for all sensors.

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I just ordered one of these for the Master Bathroom to improve WAF. She hates it when the light turns off cause the other motion sensors cant see into shower stall.

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Any idea if these will work, frient Motion Sensor | PIR | Movement Monitoring and Smart Home Automation | Zigbee | Works with SmartThings and Athom Homey https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08WR2CK4S/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_6ECVKY0EARFC0CVPE5RX
@mike.maxwell ?

I don't at this time

I use Ring Gen 2 motion sensors. They have worked great for me. You can adjust there sensitivity, they are zwave 700, and use regular AA batteries. The range on them is also really good at about 30 feet. Allot of motion sensors can't do more then 10 to 15 feet.

I use them mainly because of the fact they work with a comercial alarm system and are zwave 700. The nice thing about them using AA batteries is simply no special batteries required. It should also be noted that they have battery capacity prediction down pat. It is a very steady stable curve on my battery stats graph which is unlike mose sensors that use lithium batteries. They normally have 3 steps it seems from full to near dead to no longer functioning.

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