Enerwave ZWN-BPC Z-wave Ceiling Mounted - anyone have experience?

Other Devices & Integrations Door Locks & Sensors
1

Anyone used this before and know the quality of the device, and compatibility with Vera?

I’m wondering if this will work better than the Schlage Motion sensors I’m using now. I want both pet friendly and low reset time (like 4-5 seconds, not minutes!)

The problem I have with Schlage Motion sensors is they are too sensitive for outdoors… patios, entry, etc. - they detect birds and such when in 4 second reset mode.

thx for the help!

2

Just put this in 2 days ago. So far so good.

It offers 4 different levels of sensitivity adjusted via switches on the back, which seems like a nice feature, but I haven’t had a chance to play with those settings in-depth for a comparison. For what it’s worth, 50% sensitivity works well in the location I’ve just installed in. The reset is a little long (15 seconds) compared to the Schlage, but better than some of the other ones which take minutes, like you said. It does allow you to adjust reset time via parameters, up to several minutes if you desire.

Zwave performance has been at least as good as the Schlage motions installed in a similar location. It hasn’t missed any triggers thus far, but again, it’s only been 2 days, so time will tell. Obviously I don’t know how the battery life will wear, but at the very least it hasn’t eaten the ones that came with it. Still at 100%.

Installation and configuration in Vera UI5 was the same as any other zwave motion sensor. Nice and easy (in fact I just left the vera where it was).

Our 60lb dog isn’t around that area of the house often, so I’m afraid I can’t speak to it’s pet friendliness yet.

In terms of size, it’s about as large as an average smoke detector and looks about the same. Not pretty to look at, but functional.

Of course, the option to now have a ceiling mounted form factor is a great plus for us since it gives us more coverage options.

Overall, I like it quite a bit (for an early opinion). Let’s hope it continues to hold up.

3

excellent input, thank you. looking forward to your long-term assessment. I really like a short (4-5 second) reset for outdoor areas but 15 second would be fine for indoor. Given the large size, not sure it would work in some of my indoor spaces… I don’t want to ‘see’ a large wart on the ceiling. The small sensors (Fibaro and Aeotec) these days are almost invisible on wall corners. Even my Schlage are really not noticeable.

4

After a month, these have taken the place of my favorite zwave motion sensors. So far, i’ve tried the Schlage, Monoprice, and now the Enerwaves. Compared to what was available when I first started out with zwave, the current generation of motion sensors has really improved (although hardwired is still best of course).

I now have two of these which have been in use for a month. So far they have been very reliable. The response time has been very good for both of them, and almost on par with my wired motions (via EVL3). I don’t have an objective way of measuring and comparing how quickly they trip, but the “feel” is quite fast. Mounting position and turning is important. I noticed the one mounted on our vaulted (12 ft) ceilings needed to be set to a higher sensitivity compared to the one mounted on a standard height ceiling, which makes sense. Both of these are mounted indoors, so I can’t comment on outdoor performance.

Battery life is still sitting at 100% which is great since it matches up with expectations, and as an added bonus, the Enverwaves use standard AAs compared to CR123s on the Schlage and Monoprice.

I was a little concerned about the 15 second reset, but most of our motions trigger actions that last longer than that anyway, so the longer reset hasn’t made a difference to us in our use case.

5

Thanks for the info! I am looking for a more sensitive battery powered solution and this looks like a great option.

What is the coverage like? I plan to put mine in the center of a L shaped hallway. About how many feet in each direction does it cover?

Thanks!

6

Hard to say how far it will cover in each direction since it depends on the mounting height, but for the 8ft install set to medium sensitivity, I would estimate it pics up motion about 10-12 feet away. The one that’s installed on the higher ceiling picks up from maybe 2-3 feet further.

The minimal specs in the instructions show about 14 feet being in the fringe of the pickup range for a mounting height of 8ft, so I suppose it’s pretty close to what they claim.

7

Thanks for the detailed feedback and for pointing this sensor out to me!

I see it on Amazon and will most likely pull the trigger soon on it.

8

Happy to help and share good things when I find them :slight_smile: Especially since feedback on this board has been really helpful.

One thing i should say is this: if your primary purpose is to find the absolutely LONGEST range motion of the three i mentioned, the schlage is the best in my experience. We had one at the end of a 50ft hallway and it would still detect motion (at that range, it wasn’t consistent, but getting to 20-30 feet it would work pretty regularly). However, i’m only talking about directional range, so of course each sensor has their own advantages.

9

The big thing I’m looking for is response time. I’m using a monoprice motion sensor at the moment that I use as a trigger to turn on my hallway light. It takes a good 8-10 seconds before my light ends up turning on as I walk down the hallway.

10

Are you sure the lag is the sensor? Most lag I see is from Vera. Sometimes it provides processing immediately and other times major lag. Independent of sensor make, model, type or location

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

11

I have the Ecolink’s that are similar to the Monoprice ones. I can say the Enerwaves definitely trigger more quickly and consistenly. The Ecolink does regularly trigger at 35ft which surprised me. I was too concerned with my hall motion detector light combo. I can get half way down the hall before the light triggers. I am going to try a Fibaro based on another thread where I brought up the hall response time. It was relayed to me the Econlink’s are designed for security where the detector will check more than once for motion before triggering and the Fibaro was designed for presence. We will see about that. Hopefully the Fibaro will arrive this week so that I can test.

12

Is this the Fibaro that you’re getting?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FGMS-001-Z-wave-Motion-Light-Temp-Sensor-/111728060512?hash=item1a0382e860

13

@kenray536 - yes. that is the one. I will hopefully receive it this week.

14

didn’t want to start another thread on this…

I want to mount this on the ceiling 20 ish feet high to cover my stairway. will this workin a 15x15 area. 9ft on the upstairs and about 20ft total to the downstair staircase?

15

Good question.

The official documentation doesn’t say mounting that high up is supported (although it doesn’t say it’s not supported either). I think the only way to know for sure is to contact the manufacturer or tape one to the ceiling and test it out.