Id like my garage lights to turn on based on motion. Unfortunately the lightswitch is inside the house, so I cant just put in a motion activated switch repleacement.
Now the obvious smartthings solution is to get a GE zigbee light switch and a smartthings motion sensor. But that ends up costing just shy of 100$. Im wondering if there is a cheaper way to do this.
Also - does anyone know if the smartthings motion sensor can deal with harsh temperatures? eg -30 deg F.
It all depends on how much control you actually need. For most of our outdoor lights, we just use Mr. Beams. These are not networked. But they are well engineered, work great, priced well and combine a motion sensor with a light. They have a number of different models of varying brightness. Some models also have a handheld remote. But we especially like them for path lights where basically you want the light to come on as soon as motion comes into range and go off again shortly thereafter. We don’t need conditional rules on these like “only if Michael is home” or “only on Saturdays” or “Only if the front door is open.” We just want the lights to come on when there’s motion.
I can’t say if they can handle really harsh temperatures as I live near San Francisco. They certainly worked fine on the few below freezing days that we had, but we don’t have a lot of those. I would check the Amazon reviews.
Given your weather conditions, you might want to look for something similar but which is mains-powered as it is often the battery which gives you the most trouble below freezing.
I know @yvesracine lives where it gets very cold, perhaps he or some of the other community members Who live in places with cold winters can make additional suggestions.
But my main point is just that if all you want for your garage is that lights come on briefly when there is motion, you don’t really need to use a networked light and you can save a lot of money that way. 