I have a handful of the old Samsung SmartThings and Aqara motion sensors. Honestly, I’m just sick of having to babysit them. They all eat through batteries and drop off the Zigbee mesh quite often. I just want something that works and that I don’t have to change batteries more than once a year with. Does such a thing exist?
I am kinda surprised nobody has made a z-wave wall plug that has a motion sensor built right in? I saw one that plugs on and has a big wire running off of it, but I was thinking just a plug in and no wire would be sweet. No more battery changes either.
What’s your favorite motion sensor? I don’t care if they are Zigbee or Z-Wave. I just want them to work reliably.
This is unusual for SmartThings sensors. One reason could be that you have an insufficient number of zigbee repeaters in your mesh, or that they are not placed ideally. By way of comparison, my zigbee sensors need batteries to be changed approximately every 2 years (or longer).
Philips Hue. They're at the expensive end, but they just work, with great battery life, quick and with a short time between activation and re-activation.
I have two faves. One is the Aeotec Multisensor 7, which can be AC powered and is hugely reliable for me. The other is the Fibaro motion sensor, which just never gives me any trouble. It’s battery powered, and so small that I have them scattered around the house to turn on lights, monitor temperature, and more.
I have several Smartthings motion sensors that have been in service for many years. I initially used them with a Smartthings hub and then moved them to Hubitat. I get good battery life and they never drop off the mesh unless the battery dies. However, I have a good network of repeaters.
Aqara devices are not fully Zigbee compliant. They will work with Hubitat as long as you do not have any repeating devices in your mesh that do not repeat the Aqara signals well. I had some older Smartthings and Centralite smartplugs in my setup that were serving as repeaters. I never could get Aqara devices to stay connected to the mesh until I removed those smartplugs. I now use Zigbee 3.0 smartplugs with eWeLink technology. They work well.
Like many others here, I am now using Hue motion sensors. They work quite well. Although they can be connected to a Hue bridge, I would suggest that you connect them directly to the Hubitat. The standard Hubitat integration with the Hue bridge does not recognize motion sensors connected through the Hue bridge, but I understand there is a community integration called CocoHue that does recognize those sensors. However, if you connect the Hue motion sensors directly to Hubitat, they work like any other motion sensor and can be used to trigger any action desired, including Hue lighting connected to the Hue bridge.
The height of a typical outlet would present a challenge for typical passive infrared sensors. They would make great cat detectors. The detection zone would be eclipsed by any furniture. In my house, the HVAC vents are just below outlet height which could present some temperature gradient challenges. Not impossible, but it would require a savvy designer.
As for my favorites:
Bosch TriTech for large spaces and pet immunity
Sonoff SNZB-03 (mounted on the ceiling) for closets
Philips Hue Outdoor - yes, animals over 20lbs may trigger it
RAB STL360 - not a smart sensor, but it is my all-time favorite motion sensor for controlling outdoor lighting. When I update some fixtures around our current house, I may try to put an Aeotec Nano Switch in the junction box for additional control.
EDIT: or maybe Zooz Zen51? Looks like it also has settings for switch input controls to allow the motion sensor to always trigger the output (versus toggle).
EDIT2: Lutron Maestro Occupancy switches - various models depending on load and neutral requirements. The past 4 houses that I have owned included at least a few of these, because some applications just don't need to be "smart".
HonestlyI have come to like the Ring Motion Sensor G2.
They are Z-Wave 700, have really good range and when setup properly seem to be sensative. They also use standard batteries so you don't have to do anything special to provide power. Two double AA's provided power for 1 year.
One of the things I look for is also detection range which is also nice with the Ring Motion sensor G2
I have also used Aeotec Multisensor 6 and haven't been impressed with it. The documented range isn't that great, and neither is the angle of detection.
I also have the new Zooz 4-1 multisensor and so far it has been good. Based on it's documentation it should have pretty good range and works well from a corner. It is battery powered, but uses lithium ion batteries so won't be as direct to replace, and since it is my newest motion sensor can't speak to it's longevity with batteries.
Lastly I also have a Smartthings motion sensor from several years ago. It has worked pretty well and is by far the longest running motion sensor I have. It uses CR2450 batteries and though the sensor works pretty well i have to admit I don't like the batteries. I have seen recent reviewes discussiong these batteries and it seems there is a large variance in the quaility of these and other similar batteires by supplier.
My direction would be to use Ring Motion sensor as the first choice if motion detection is your main prioroty. If you need the other sensors then maybe the Zooz sensor. The aeotec only if you really want to avoid batteries altogether, just be sure you pair it properly.
I have one of the Aeotec Multisensor 6 units. I am using it in an area that does not get much traffic. It gets good battery life BUT it requires TWO of the CR123A batteries, so battery replacement is not cheap.
I have a Zooz 4 in one sensor, but it goes through batteries quickly.
is it the Zwave 700 or the Zwave 500 Version. So far my zwave 700 Version of it isn't showing signs of slowing down. It is still at 100% after a month.
As for general Z wave motion detectors, I like these--they take a while to ship from China, but they work well and they have the option of using USB power rather than batteries:
I need some new sensors for my garage, which has very fluctuating temps (upper Midwest).
My normal go-to 2 pack of hue motion sensors at Costco are no longer sold it appears. I keep thinking zooz, but I was bit bad there with their older motion sensor a few years back, to the point had to take them down and replace them.
For inside a garage, should I go with an outdoor sensor, or too much?
