Outside motion sensor

I have to come up with a temporary solution until we can wire something this spring. Although it's not far away, it's not on the top of the priority list either. My doorbell died. It's a battery operated one. I have a Sage for the other door, but there isn't a wire for a second bell pulled until we pull it. Fun. So, I thought of setting up a motion sensor for the door in the meantime. Since I wanted it to notify me specifically if someone is standing at the door, I don't want to be notified if the door opens. Also, the birds like to perch on the brick edges of the house. Any suggestions on how to accomplish this? The door in question is the garage door that's open in the photo.

A picture may help to know exactly what you are working with. Mine seems easy as I have a covered porch although until I updated the firmware and the legendary Mike Maxwell included the sensitivity settings in the Phillip's Hue Outddor driver I was ocassionally receiving false notifications due to the sun in the evenings on my door.

1 Like

Not sure how weather proof it is (says outdoor mat), but this DIY Z-wave pressure mat, concealed under a door mat could work. It would only go off when someone was standing on the mat. Could use a timer so it only notified you after a few seconds of pressure.

1 Like

I use this motion sensor for my driveway, it’s been there for years the battery last over a year.
Used white electrical tape over the seams to keep the moisture out. Also used tape on the window to restrict it’s field of view. It doesn’t pick up rabbits and squirrels. But occasionally get a false trigger if the sun pops out of the clouds.

1 Like

This is what I'm dealing with. I'll also post this photo in the OP up top.

Not a scientific guess here, but I wonder if a motion sensor in this case is just going to cause false positives. I wonder how reliable the solution @TechMedX provided is. I am guessing this would work very well. Also you could use rule machine to stop alerts if the door was opened and you stepped on the mat within x time frame. That way you would only get alerts when someone comes to the door and not when you step outside.

1 Like

+1 for the hue outdoor motion. Definitely the best motion sensor I own.

1 Like

Based on recommendations here, I put an indoor Iris 3326L1 outdoors under a 15" eave. That was almost a year ago, and it's held up just fine. But every bird, every branch waving in the wind triggered it, even though I had it positioned to closely bracket the entry steps ...or so I thought. I'm going to try the 3/4" Pex tube trick next.

That was my thinking. Although in further thinking about it, I am not sure it fits the "temporary" solution bill. For the effort required I would think this as a more medium to long term approach.

If you get water proof devices and take care making the connection I don't see why it wouldn't last. You might need longer lead wire so the contact sensor isn't crushed between the mat and concrete. It could easily be hiding on the back side of the stoop.

1 Like

This door.
image

I just got to thinking ... would a contact sensor hooked to a momentary button be an option? Does anyone know what max length the wires coming out of the header can be before it just doesn't talk?

This may be overkill but I had a similar situation. What I ended up doing was setting up two motion sensors in a motion zone set to false motion reduction. Put one under the eave and one on the side of the house. I then tied the door contact sensor into the rule so that if the door was open it would not alert or cancel the alert(s).

4 Likes

@JNS I was going to post similar for my fall back KISS solution

I see no reason it wouldn't. You just need any device that will "close the loop"

I could be wrong, but to my knowledge this is all simple low voltage open/close circuits. The distance the voltage can travel would depend on the amount of voltage supplied (how big the battery is), and the gauge of the wire. If you are talking 3-5 feet it should be fine. Much further may take some more ingenuity.

1 Like

I was thinking the gocontrol zwave sensor since most of my garage is zwave. So it would be maybe 8 inches to allow for placement on the other side of the wall. Keeping the sensor in the garage instead of exposed. Thoughts?

1 Like

This is what I do too. I have a long porch that isn't enclosed but does have a ceiling, so I trust most "indoor" sensors outside here. But the sun still causes the occasional false positive. I'm actually sort of using four sensors: two "real" motion sensors, plus a Ring Doorbell (which I'll probably get rid of and replace with a button plus probably an additional motion sensor soon) and Wyze Cam (whose motion detection I'm integrating via IFTTT). I have all of these in a Zone Motion Controller, and then if at least two fire, my zone sensor goes active and I use that in my automations.

If you have extra motion sensors, I highly recommend something along these lines. Now I actually pay attention to motion instead of thinking it must be the sun, a car close by, etc.

2 Likes

From what I read

here


here
https://simplisafe.com/blog/door-sensor-secrets
and here
https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/momentary-switch/

As long as you get a "normally closed" momentary button it should work just like the external magnetic sensors does. And I see reports of it work up to 15 feet away so 8 inches is nothing.

1 Like

This should work well. I have something similar for my front door with a wired contact sensor to a wireless zwave dry contact.

1 Like

It’s not the least expensive, but the Hue is very reliable attached directly to HE. You have that corner and it comes with a nice corner mount bracket.

The sensitivity adjustment works well. My neighbor does Air B&B. They enter from the back of his house, so they’re walking right next to my property to access and it doesn’t set it off, but cross over and you’ll trigger it.

1 Like

I would second the WADWAZ. The external contact terminal makes it REALLY easy to use for alternate purposes, but with a little more DIY you can use any contact sensor.

Does not have to be a normally closed button or switch either, just make sure that any rule you write knows which way it should be.

In case it helps my WADWAZ driver can be set to use either contact or a combination of both for the contact event.

2 Likes

If you are looking for Z-Wave Plus, the ZD2102 (Zipato, or Monoprice #15270) appears to be the next generation version of the WADWAZ.

@april.brandt From your pictures, it looks rather spring-like. What are you waiting for? The grass to need cutting? :wink:

1 Like