Best Z-wave motion sensor? (January 2017)

So I’ve just about had it with my ST zigbee network post 16.9 and starting to think about switching to zwave only. Do people have suggestions for zwave motion that is ST official compatible? Might be willing to go not official since the rest of my non official zwave are solid. I know there was a motion sensor compare thread but it’s kind of aged at this point.

Interesting position to take. I know the latest zigbee issues didn’t help much (and I was heavily impacted), but I actually swapped out over 40 zwave motion and open/close sensors for Iris ones. I did the opposite of what you want to do.

I have a Ecolink sensor sitting right next to the Iris, and the Iris (zigbee) is noticeably faster in reporting a state change, as well as Alexa speaking the event.

1 Like

This thread is still current:

I think the one that people probably like best is the Fibaro, but it’s also the most expensive.

https://www.smartthings.com/works-with-smartthings/-/filter/categories/sensors

My experience has been similar to John’s: the inexpensive Z wave sensors (ecolink and gocontrol) are noticeably slower than the inexpensive zigbee sensors, such as the iris. But I think the Fibaro is as quick as most. It just depends on what you need it for.

We’ve ended up using a number of the hue Zigbee motion sensors just to control Hue lights and have been very happy with those. But we’re not trying to use them with SmartThings. :wink:

2 Likes

I really don’t think it’s a repeater problem, but I also don’t have one that’s not a bulb, so I really should try that fix first. I just didn’t want to throw good money after bad but probably worth another 40 or 50 to be sure.

I’m been tossing that same idea around. I am getting tired of the cloud issues with Hue/ST and am moving more and more to Hue for the local control. Of course then I will need to have multiple sensors for the rooms where I don’t have Hue bulbs. You know there would be a delay , Hues come on, then others come on ( being optimistic ) 1/4 second later.
Would definitely go with the Hue motion for the critical areas ( like the stairs ) where I already have Hue bulbs. I tripped over the husky going up the stairs a couple nights ago. She was going up ahead of me and stopped, light had not come on yet. Lights came on about a second after I tripped and landed on her. If you don’t thing 2-3 seconds is a long time, go up a pitch black flight of stairs at 2am waiting for the lights to come on.

Before the Elgato eve motion sensor came out for HomeKit, we did set up some of the Hue motion sensors for an intentional popcorn effect where first the table lights come on in a room and then a beat later the overhead fixtures come on. It was a little strange at first, but everybody got used to it very quickly. And you didn’t have any sense of walking into a dark room because the table lamps did come on very quickly.

Like everything else, just comes down to what you need for a specific use case. :sunglasses:

I’ve had good luck with the Zooz 4-in-1 sensor… $32.

Community thread:

2 Likes

Not going to go in to it here since I’m posting similar in a couple other threads, but I may have gotten them working last night. Fingers crossed it sticks. Given how painful this has been, still interested to see what people have to say about zwave motion. Anyone have experience with the zwave plus monoprice motion yet?

Do any of these motion sensors work in local mode?

For my setup the standard z-wave motion sensor device runs locally, but then I miss out on the other temperature/humidity, etc features from my Aeon sensors. I’ve considered the Iris sensors because it seems people generally like them and they are much cheaper than others.

How do you get Alexa to speak events? I googled and can’t find anything. Thanks!

Search here in the Community and you’ll find what you’re looking for. I use this:

together with this:

http://www.keybounce.com/lannouncer/

Does anyone have anything new to add to this?

I just got a Fibaro FGMS-001-ZW5-UK Gen 5 Z-Wave Plus Motion Sensor and I don’t like it. Compared to the smartthings motion sensor, it is not picking up motion until I’m 1 meter away and flailing like I’ve got fire ants in my knickers. I’ve used a device handler to adjust to maximum sensitivity but it’s more a glorified thermometer than a motion sensor.

The smartthings motion sensor is sensitive and fast and will trigger an automation quickly and reliably. Is there another zwave motion sensor I can try (in Europe) that is less expensive?

(Specifically I’m turning on my hall lights when motion is detected in the hall. It seems I need to mount 2 sensors to the ceiling instead of 1 mounted looking down the length of the hall. )

I have had very good luck with the ecolink… batteries last a year or so, and they have a switch for sensitivity to ignore small pets… As previously mentioned they are not instant and not meant to be that is why batteries last. The will instantly sense motion, but then not recheck or release for around 2 minutes. For me that is ok for most automations… Ie. Leave lights on for two minutes etc… They recently release newer zwave plus that are even better…

ie.

1 Like

I can’t seem to find that one available in the EU. My understanding is that the frequency for communication is different from the US. I’ve seen that one in reviews and have tried to find it.
Based on your recommendation I’ll contact the guy at the automation shop here in Switzerland and ask if he can look into this. The fibaro is just pissing us off. It doesn’t work well in low light situations especially. And if you are using it to turn on the lights? … sigh :pensive:

zwave plus just came out last month. may not be avail. in uk yet due to diff. freq… have you tried the older zwave one…

Only issue i’ve had with one of the about 10 of these i have in two houises. is one periodically got stuck on active… i have since replaced it with the new zwave plus with no issues.

ya nothing on amazon.co.uk except the tilt sensors… maybe they dont make them in uk freq. if so sorry to mislead you.

I haven’t found the older version on the market here either. I’ll send an email to Oliver tomorrow and ask him to look into it for me.
Thank you for the info!

Check out EZMultiPli 3-in-1 sensor now fully supported by ST including the color LED which can indicate which garage door is still open or what the weather will be today.