Motion sensor candidates for stairwell.

Other Devices & Integrations Door Locks & Sensors
#1

I just ordered a couple of Ecolink Z-Wave PIR Pet Immune Motion Detectors off of Amazon to play with. Trying to cut down on my electric bill, and my wife isn’t always the best at turning off lights. To start off, I’m going to put one in my kitchen, and one in the living room, and see how they work before ordering more for bedrooms. The sensors got pretty good reviews overall, and they’re fairly inexpensive, so it’s worth a shot.

I’d like to add a sensor for our stairwell as well. The issue with the Ecolink sensors is the sensor arc is only 90 degrees on the horizontal. No idea on the vertical. What are people using on this forum for stairwells? Also, I need mine “pet immune” so our cats don’t constantly set off the lights.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

#2

Out of interest, how are you using the sensors. Is it just to turn lights off when no one is around or to also turn on the lights. I often use rooms without turning on the lights and I would find it annoying if they came on automatically all the time. That said it would be useful if they were automatically turned off when people forgot.

#3

I’m more interested in turning them off. Even though my entire house is LED, if no one is in the room, the lights should be turned off. I want to do the same thing in our bedroom, because my wife constantly leaves the TV on, even when she’s downstairs in the living room watching TV. I can use the motion sensor and the Samsung TV plugin to send an off signal to it if no motion is detected after 10 minutes or something. I’ll have to test it out.

#4

Hi,

I haven’t done this but, what would happen if you place it in the upper edge of the stairwell ceiling horizontally instead of vertically(turning it 90 degrees) with the included corner support?

#5

[quote=“Kramak, post:4, topic:191918”]Hi,

I haven’t done this but, what would happen if you place it in the upper edge of the stairwell ceiling horizontally instead of vertically(turning it 90 degrees) with the included corner support?[/quote]

I was thinking that might be an option, but I wasn’t sure if there were better options out there.

#6

I’m more interested in turning them off. Even though my entire house is LED, if no one is in the room, the lights should be turned off. I want to do the same thing in our bedroom, because my wife constantly leaves the TV on, even when she’s downstairs in the living room watching TV. I can use the motion sensor and the Samsung TV plugin to send an off signal to it if no motion is detected after 10 minutes or something. I’ll have to test it out.[/quote]
I would like to use them to turn off lights but I am also worried about how sensitive they are. Do they sense people even when they sre siting still, watching television. I guess I will have to consider getting one to find out.

If you anticipate them for lights off rather than on, do you really ned the pet immunity. Or, are you considering using them for on as well on the stairwell?

#7

[quote=“Slartibartfast, post:6, topic:191918”]I would like to use them to turn off lights but I am also worried about how sensitive they are. Do they sense people even when they sre siting still, watching television. I guess I will have to consider getting one to find out.

If you anticipate them for lights off rather than on, do you really ned the pet immunity. Or, are you considering using them for on as well on the stairwell?[/quote]

That’s a good point that I hadn’t considered. Probably not, but if I decide I do want to use them to turn lights on, I definitely would.

#8

I have had good luck with this motion sensor: [url=http://www.amazon.com/Enerwave-ZWN-BPC-Occupancy-Association-Batteries/dp/B00PV0AXWE/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1460146985&sr=8-8&keywords=z-wave+motion]Amazon.com. It is super sensitive (even at the lowest setting it would still occasionally pick up people walking by outside of the room.

The Ecolink one is good as well but besides the jumpers on the back, there is no way to adjust it (you have two options: 4 minute motion timeout or 5 seconds motion time in test mode).

#9

[quote=“Trotsky40, post:8, topic:191918”]I have had good luck with this motion sensor: [url=http://www.amazon.com/Enerwave-ZWN-BPC-Occupancy-Association-Batteries/dp/B00PV0AXWE/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1460146985&sr=8-8&keywords=z-wave+motion]Amazon.com. It is super sensitive (even at the lowest setting it would still occasionally pick up people walking by outside of the room.

The Ecolink one is good as well but besides the jumpers on the back, there is no way to adjust it (you have two options: 4 minute motion timeout or 5 seconds motion time in test mode).[/quote]

I have this same one mounted on the stairway celing. The upstairs is a square-ish shape so it’ll also turn on the lights when we come out of any room which is really nice.

An added benefit, it detect motion 45" or more @ the upstair ceiling height to the 1st floor. Best motion sensor I’ve used.

#10

I think I’m going to order what you suggested. I got the other two sensors in on Saturday, but I haven’t been able to add them yet. I think I’m going to use them in other rooms to turn off lights, and use this one for the stairwell to turn them on and off. I’ll let you know how it works out.