Motion sensor and big WAF fail

[mjn.other]

Lol yeah. Never show off your smart home stuff. That's when it won't work.

It knows...

[dadarkgtprince]

enable logging on the motion sensor and have your wife test it to see if it's actually triggering. if not, you may need to reposition the sensor to adjust for height difference

[EdMcW]

Sonoff motion sensors have a 2.5 minute time out, they can't be retriggered before that period is up, which may be what tripped you up.

I would also note that making the bathroom the first location with motion activated lighting is a mistake, because people spend a lot of time either sitting very still, or 'hiding' from the motion sensor inside the shower. It is the worst place to have the lights turn out on you, and the place where it's most likely to happen.

If you're going to use motion lighting there, make sure the shutoff period is long. In general, that's a good practice in any location that people don't just pass through. Other than in hallways, none of my motion sensors time out in less than 10 minutes, and some take quite a bit longer. I've also got multiple motion sensors in any room where people spend extended periods of time.

[JasonJoel]

@EdMcW

Other than in hallways, none of my motion sensors time out in less than 10 minutes, and some take quite a bit longer.

Ditto. The fraction of a penny you save by turning off at 1 minute or 5 minutes vs 15 or 30 is absolutely meaningless versus the annoyance factor when they turn off when they aren't supposed to.

I learned that lesson the hard way many years ago in my infancy of home automation.

AKA - leaving the light on an extra 10-20 minutes is a lot cheaper than the electrician bill when the wife gets pissed off enough to pay an electrician to put in standard switches when you are out of town on a business trip after the light in the bathroom turned off one too many times while she was getting ready. Ask me how I know that...

(I of course put smart switches back in as soon as I came home, but her point was made and the timers greatly extended)

[Hatallica]

@EdMcW

Sonoff motion sensors have a 2.5 minute time out, they can't be retriggered before that period is up, which may be what tripped you up.

My typical rules using Sonoff motion sensors:
Dim if there are 3 minutes with no motion
Off if there are 5 minutes with no motion

@saurabh9

she was standing right in front of the sensor, and waving her arms...nothing happened

One of my first bosses told me, do not test if it works, but test the boundaries where it no longer works. Timeout claims many victims in home automation. The alternative is to spend 4x as much on a Hue motion sensor or some other highly tunable sensor.

[Sebastien]

I use @bertabcd1234’s excellent app that does exactly that and then more:

[RELEASE] Lights on Motion Plus (dim before off, remember individual bulb states, etc.)

I've written an app for my own use and figured I'd share it. I originally wrote it for a certain other platform, then another platform (see? not the one you're thinking of), and finally re-wrote it for Hubitat and fixed some longstanding bugs I tolerated. I figured I'd share it with the community in case anyone has any use for it. At its core, it's similar to most motion-based lighting apps, but none of them could do a couple things I wanted. They all could more or less turn one or more lights …

[coreystup]

@saurabh9

My wife came to the bathroom to test. Light was off but even when she was standing right in front of the sensor, and waving her arms...nothing happened

I swear women generate some sort of EMF. Causes printers not to print, sensors not to trigger, devices to fail in the strangest ways possible. My wife laughs all the time when something won't work for her, she shows it to me, and it works just fine. "EMF!"

[oldcomputerwiz]

@coreystup

swear women generate some sort of EMF. Causes printers not to print, sensors not to trigger, devices to fail in the strangest ways possible. My wife laughs all the time when something won't work for her, she shows it to me, and it works just fine. "EMF!"

Happened to me tonight. I noticed the kitchen light cycling on/off. I asked my wife what happened. She said she "turned on the switch wrong." It's a zen34 remote. I walked up, pressed the switch, light turned on just fine, like it always does for me. This kind of thing happens all the time. I try to build in safeguards but I can only do so much. Still not sure how she turned on the switch wrong. LOL

[gwp1]

Is you wife, by chance, of the unliving? If so, she'd give off no heat ....

Come to think of it, does she have a reflection...?

[saurabh9]

It gets better... The primary reason I installed motion activated light was for my 4 yr old kid. she does not reach light switch completely yet, hence I thought this can be another win for me. Kid walks in, light turns magically on... Dad becomes the hero.

Reality - kid came, and is now scared of the motion sensor because it blinks in "scary" red color and then the light turns on suddenly taking her by surprise. She now avoids using that bathroom in which I installed the automation :: Hair pulling frustrated emoticon here ::

[Hatallica]

@saurabh9

the light turns on suddenly taking her by surprise

I can appreciate the sensitivity to sudden light changes. Unless it is in a utility area (garage, laundry), I am rather partial to a soft ramp-up. Dimmers with both "Transition Time" and "Start Level Change Rate" allow me to tune the overall household approval.

As a middle-aged man, I am not longer scared of the red blink of a motion sensor, but I am a bit leery of it.

[Navat604]

@EdMcW

f you're going to use motion lighting there, make sure the shutoff period is long. In general, that's a good practice in any location that people don't just pass through. Other than in hallways, none of my motion sensors time out in less than 10 minutes, and some take quite a bit longer. I've also got multiple motion sensors in any room where people spend extended periods of time.

I have 2 motion sensors and a door contact and 5 mins timeout just for WAF.
Mounted one in the ceiling, one just a few inches from the floor. Been working great for years now. Well until one of the sensor run out of battery.

[brad5]

@EdMcW

people spend a lot of time either sitting very still, or 'hiding' from the motion sensor inside the shower.

I have two motion sensors in the bathroom. One points at the door and sink and one is actually IN the shower. If you don't go into the shower the overhead light and fan don't come on, but once they do, they stay on for 40 min.

My toilet is actually in a separate room, so sitting still is not a problem. (Apparently the separate room was a thing in the Harrison administration.)

The complaint I get from visitors is "why is there a camera in the shower?"

[JasonJoel]

@brad5

Apparently the separate room was a thing in the Harrison administration

My main house is only 10 years old, and 2 of the 4 bathrooms have the toilet in a separate room.

[brad5]

@JasonJoel

My main house is only 10 years old

What was old is new again!

[JasonJoel]

Quite true!

[Navat604]

Separate as in a room with walls and door?

[JasonJoel]

Yes, of course.

[brad5]

Right. Not like a stall And in one case the two rooms are across the hall from each other.

[JasonJoel]

@brad5

And in one case the two rooms are across the hall from each other.

Now THAT I don't have.