FAQ: Do you know of an outdoor motion sensor?

As almost always, the answer is “it depends” :slight_smile:
It depends on how long you make a “motion active” event last; the longer you make it last, the fewer chain of events the sensor will send, the less you use the battery.

In my experience, alkaline is about 2-3 months for me; lithium is behaving much better.

I contacted Aeon about the false triggers and they told me to adjust the following parameter in my Z wave system:

Wakeup Interval - 10,800 (in seconds)
Poll - 1,680 (in seconds)

I took a look at the Aeon Device Type in the IDE but it is not clear where I would set these parameters. Anyone ideas or has someone done this before?

Also… is it possible to get the firmware version number for the Aeon Multi from ST?

I don’t know about the poll; but the wake up interval can probably be set playing with one of the configurationSet() commands in configure(), or maybe you can send explicitly a wakeUpIntervalSet() command. I would be surprised if those affect false positives though…

It appears like the Everspring SP103 has been discontinued and I’m having difficulty finding any more of them available to purchase.

I might try this: http://www.amazon.com/Ecolink-Security-Products-PIRZWAVE2-ECO-Zwave/dp/B00FB1TBKS because it is pretty cheap but it is indoor only.

My application is outdoors but is covered more than enough to not have rain or snow be any sort of issue. It would just be extreme temps (Chicago) that I would worry about.

Does anyone know whether there have been any new sensors for outdoor that have come out recently, . It seems like a common need for many, and wonder whether there was anything in the CES that met this need. Or any casing that could be used with the indoor sensors to meet this requirement,

@smart (Ron S) uses the Fibaro motion sensor outdoors and has recommended it in other threads. Maybe he can comment more here.

Well, compared to Aeons outdoor it is much better outside as it has a much wider configuration available to reduce the sensitivity (some coding required) and of course YMMV. I stay in very quiet, dead end street where only the neighbors, postman etc. crosses my driveway and it does trigger false alerts then and in way it is not false as it did detect a motion. I have not played with sensitivity setting yet.

I use it outdoors for the LUX values solely (and not motion) which every body in this forum can agree upon is the best and the most accurate.

My feeling is that if you put a motion sensor outside you are bound to get some unwanted alerts (I intentionally used the word unwanted rather than false) unless you are able to pin the sensitivity accurately. Also, one demerit on Fibaros is the lack of humidity capability.

Aeons I had to remove from outdoors as it was sending me alerts every second with no one in site in which case I definitely will use the word false alerts. And that thing was set at the lowest sensitivity. I am using it in the garage now.

Thanks for the comments above. I am having a similar issue with lots of false alerts with Aeon. I am only interested in motion detection (not much need of temperature and humidity monitoring).

Has anyone used any of the microwave radar sensors hooked up to some sort of z-wave dry contact relay? Is that a better option to minimise false alerts?

All individual motion systems have a lot of false alarms outdoors because wind blowing across the sensor will trigger often trigger it. Rain sometimes. And on a bright day, cloud movement may trigger enough of a change in temperature to trigger it.

Professional security firms solve the issue with multiple device systems. There are three common approaches.

  1. trigger beam. A two part device with a beam between them. When the beam is broken, the notification is sent. Deer can still trigger it, but wind and clouds won’t. In very strong wind conditions, a branch or lawn chair blown through the beam will trigger it, but that’s OK with some people, it just depends on where you want to use it. @johnosstyn has a detailed discussion of the system he uses under the laser trip beam topic:
  1. zone detection. Multiple sensors are used and the event counts only when all the sensors go off at about the same time. Tricky to get just right, and wind is still a problem.

  2. pressure plates and mats. Completely different technology, switch closes when pressure is applied. Cheap ones ($60 or less) usually trigger at about 25 pounds, more expensive ones have adjustable minimum limits up to truck size. Many are weatherproofed (sealed in mats). Wireless are more expensive than hard wired. Commercial buildings like these for car detection in driveways. Cities use them to schedule some traffic lights.

Hospitals use light range versions under mattresses to alert when a patient gets out of bed. Many marinas use them as deck sensors, sometimes to act as “doorbells” for docked ships, sometimes for alarm systems. I have a friend with a son in a wheelchair in Arizona who uses a deck sensor pressure mat on the entrance ramp in the back yard so that the door opens automatically when the son is coming in. It’s been much more reliable than a previous motion detector system.

So again a lot depends on what you want to use it for. If you’re trying to detect intruders outdoors, trip beam seems to be the most common if there’s an appropriate “bottleneck” location for the beam. Or use multiple beams to cover a wider area. If you essentially want an outdoor switch for a welcome and cooperative visitor, pressure mats might be a less expensive option, although you’ll likely have to do some wiring and you may have to secure the mat itself.

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My Aeon sensor just died after 5 months, won’t buy a new one from them of course.
What is the recommended outdoor motion sensor?

I’ve been playing with a Fibaro motion sensor indoors since last night. The motion timeout and sensitivity is configurable within the device type code so it is already much better better than ST, MonoPrice, Aeon sensors that I have. So far I like it best. You can keep tweaking motion sensitivity to the right value to minimize outdoor false alarms. Indoors, sensitivity set to 15 is just enough to not pickup cats yet still pick up people at a reasonable distance.

The worst thing about the Fibaro motion sensor is the LED light that flashes when it detects activity. You can easily change parameter 80 to “0” to get rid of the LED annoyance and save battery. IMHO sensors should be as invisible as possible. In this regard, Fibaro did well by making this sensor the smallest I have seen.

The outer casing looks like it might survive outside if kept out of direct moisture. Like under a roof overhang.

It is under warranty and I would suggest replacing it. You do this through the company you purchased it form. If they give you a hard time contact aeon and they will contact the company to get it done. I had to go this route once.

Is the Fibaro sensor okay outdoors in rain? Or just covered locations? My aeon one is mounted in a tree in front of my house and gets rained on from time to time. I dislike the battery life on the Aeon one and would like to replace it.

Looks like the Aeon is rated for outdoor use, the Fibaro is not. In addition to not being waterproof, it’s only temperature rated down to 32 degrees F. and only up to 104 degrees F. Some people still use them, but I don’t know how long they’ll last.

With regard to battery life, the first thing is to look at how often the device is awake. So look at the activity logs. Is there any polling/refresh going on? (Nothing kills battery life faster than excessive polling. )

Second, how much activity from the sensor itself? Sometimes reducing sensitivity even 15% can extend battery life significantly.

I use a Fibaro outside (sheltered) which has survived subzero temperatures for weeks at a stretch. I use it only for temperature and illiminance and NOT for motion as most of the sensors outdoors is bound to give you unwanted and/or false alerts due to cars passing, environmental conditions etc. Some guys have had luck with these outdoors for motion using proper placement and adjusting the sensitivity. Aeons compared to Fibaro’s are simply horrid.

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I have several MonoPrice motion sensors outdoors and they have survived the pretty intense winter here in Syracuse without a problem. Only issue was they gave up reporting the temp when it went below around -15. They are under porch roofs but no other weather protection other than that.

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I have tried Aeon motion sensor for outdoor but it still gives false alarms even though I have kept it away from anything such as tree or flowers. It may be triggered by temperature changes. Does anyone have any recommendation for a reliable outdoor motion sensor?

There have been lots of discussions about outdoor motion sensors, and they all pretty much come back to the fact that outdoor motion sensing is a crapshoot. Some people have tried laser trip sensors or pressure mats with better success.

Same here on my Aeon - it is not recommended for outdoor motion

I may have posted this before, but my Fibaro “eyeball” works awesome. It’s $60, but is so configurable that I was able to set it up in a way that it works perfectly. It takes quite a bit of wind to get it to false trigger (over 20mph about)