Can anyone recommend an outdoor motion sensor? I'd like some around the exterior of the house. Can be mounted with about 10 inches of protection under an eave and to the soffit. I really need an angled situation as some will detect cars unless I point them downward at an angle.
Thanks!
Not an outdoor rated motion sensor but I have been using a few of these (Iris 3326-L) 'off label' with ST going on two years now with just minimal rainproofing. Nasty Northeast weather (saw -13F twice this past winter; typical highs in mid-upper 90's in the summer) doesn't seem to phase them. And good battery life-- this one has been in place for 14 months now and still shows 78% as it has since the week it was installed (though the sample that this replaced was a dud and burned through its battery in a couple of months in the same location.)
The bevels on the sides are tailor made for placement in a wall corner and work well to mount at an angle on flat surfaces as well (mine is stuck to the soffits with some heavy duty 3M plastic velcro).
This thread was created just a few days ago.
I have one of those on order.
I followed this guide and have been using two of these sensors for 2 months now. They're outdoor rated and never give false positives.
Thanks for the input, et all.
Has anyone tried this one? I really like the mount.
It feels like this should work with Hubitat. I'm figuring if I'm careful where I mount it, it will be protected from the weather. It will be about 12 inches under an eave.
Using PIR sensors that were designed for indoor use outside can be tricky. If the sensor doesn't have any options for adjustment, it may end up too sensitive to use outdoors and have a bunch of false triggers - then you're stuck. I tried the Bosch PIR sensor on my covered patio, and I was getting false positives.
I have two of these and they have jumpers you can adjust to play with the sensitivity. I had them outside and didn't get any false positives, but I really didn't really test them well enough to make any recommendation on them. I found the Dakota sensor option and went that route.
I have one of my Aeon MultiSensor 6 looking at my front door and walkway. It's outdoor, under an eve and is working fine, so far.
We have an app for that, zone motion manager...
Thanks for the further input.
@fpstassi that sounds like a good solution except if I'm going to install 3 or 4 of these things, am I looking at 3 or 4 hundred dollars? That's a bit pricey.
I'm guessing the Aeon and Iris are not rated for outside, but if they've been working for some time under an eave, then maybe I should try them. Also, it seems like if the Aeon and Iris are working the GE Z-Wave one with the nice adjustable mount and sensitivity settings might do the ticket.
Thanks all for the help.
From reading the Amazon reviews, the GE looks like capable device. But it appears to differ from the Lowe's Iris in one significant way: its 'reset time' before it is ready to report another motion event. Some of the GE reviewers claim the minimum reset time is 3 or 4 minutes. The Iris is very rapid to report and reset (I haven't timed it but it can probably report a motion event and, if it immediately sees 'no motion', report the inactive state and be ready to trigger on a new motion event within 30 seconds or less). Note that the slower reset time of the GE may be a desirable behavior if all you want to do is trigger a perimeter security notification, as it may filter out some nuisance events and will promote better battery life; but it won't be as good if you want to use it as an event trigger for something like a security camera.
The only Z-Wave motion sensor I have (a Go Control) is slow to report motion (several seconds lag) and won't be ready to report another motion event for several minutes. It is configurable but can't be set faster than 3 minutes. I've also been using it (suitably hardened) outdoors for a couple of years now; its range isn't as good in poor weather but it has very good battery life
Yeah, it gets expensive. The add-on sensors are about $60 each, and then you need a contact sensor, which luckily I had a few of. It was worth it for me since I use these sensors to trigger my Blue Iris cameras. I get too many false alerts with image based motion sensors.
There's not really any outdoor z-wave or zigbee motion sensors on the market. HomeSeer did just come out with a floodlight motion sensor. It's z-wave, and sends motion commands to the hub. Not sure if this is working with Hubitat out of the box, or needs a custom driver though.
@Tony - I like the idea of the Iris, but I'm concerned about mounting it securely at the most favorable angle for my purposes. Any ideas? I'm not convinced that sticky tape and the angles on the body will be correct.
This looks pretty versatile: Ball and Socket for Iris Motion
Before you commit to a bunch of these (or any type, for that matter) it might be worthwhile to try one out. The detection angle is pretty broad and not tightly focused; aim may not be as critical as finding a way to make sure it doesn't see sunlight (to minimize unwanted triggers during daylight hours).
I use my Iris sensors around the perimeter of my house (all under eaves) and false triggering isn't a major issue; the one Z-Wave sensor I use is in the backyard and is there mainly to scare/amuse the deer by turning on a floodlight at night. False triggering in this application is only a problem during some crazy convective weather, so my automation does some rate limiting if triggers get too frequent.
I've been rocking 5 of these guys outside for the last 5 months or so and they are awesome. I have had maybe 1 false alarm that I can think of and that was during a crazy wind storm that was blowing everything all over the place. They have adjustable sensitivity and also work great with Huhitat. They are all still showing 100% battery and the box says they should last about 3 yrs/battery. I used a piece of clear tape around the circumference where it comes apart to keep out any water and also placed them under the eves so they aren't directly exposed. The light sensors also work great for automating lights when it is dark etc.
Dome Home Automation Motion Detector Z-Wave - Light Sensor - Magnetic Mount, White (DMMS1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1NBH3D/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_l7tXBbPT0ZPM7
Zooz Z-Wave Plus S2 Outdoor Motion Sensor ZSE29
I don't know if they will work with Hubitat though. I just found it this morning and thinking about ordering one for testing.
I would be interested in hearing how they work for you. This part worries me a little:
motion sensitivity can't be changed
Looks like they added support in the HE 2.0 release...
I have 3 of these now. The are working quite well so far. The first one did not report battery level so they replaced it. Motion sensitivity can be changed through adjustment of a physical screw, but can not be adjusted through configuration. Two paired quite easily, my first one and it's replacement required several attempts.
Has anyone used the Aqara Motion Sensor under an eves as an outdoor motion sensor?
Anyone with experience with this device?
Download the Hubitat app
