Motion Sensor (Tip)

So I have been playing around with my motion sensors, I would basically like the motion to turn the light on and then 15 minutes later turn the light off. I found placing my motion sensors in corners just did’t pick up the smaller movements so I have found putting the motion sensors on the ceiling works much better and just point them straight down (fibaro), I put these in a centre place where its likely to catch where we are sitting etc.

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Another tip is to put one right behind the sofa where you sit, head height. Then even the slightest movements keep the lights alive. I use this trick in the study, dining area and sofa in lounge. All places where you are likely to remain seated with little movement.

Very clever! With motion sensors, placement can be essential to accurate alerts.

BTW, Different motion sensors have different viewing fields, so it depends in part on which sensor you select.

With almost all PIR sensors the field expands as you get farther away. So sometimes it’s just a matter of where you’ve placed it. Farther away sometimes works better than close up.

Also note that the sensor is catching tiny changes in temperature as they move across the sensor. So these all work better when you position them so that you are walking across the sensor field rather than straight on towards it.

Enerwave makes a Z wave sensor which is specifically designed for ceiling mounting and is worth considering:

Mike Maxwell also has an excellent smartapp which can combine multiple motion sensors into one zone and react whenever any of them are triggered. This can be useful in very large rooms or rooms with nooks or an L shape.

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@JDRoberts I am considering those 360 degree motion sensors but I was worried that they won’t work with ST. I couldn’t see any compatibility information in the forums.

As long as it’s a certified Z wave or Z wave plus device it should work with SmartThings. You can check certifications on the official Z wave alliance site:

http://products.z-wavealliance.org

It might need a custom device handler if it has multiple features like lux and temperature reporting in addition to motion, but there are many community members who enjoy writing device handlers as a hobby and are usually glad to help.

The enerwave ceiling motions sensors can be a bear to connect, but once they connect they work great. I have 6 of them around the house. I personally was able to connect all of mine, but there have been numerous reports of people not being able to connect some of these devices.

follow these instructions dth:

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Its about planes of motion. A sensor may not register new movement if its headed in the direction of the sensor.

In most my rooms I have 2 planes, one along the width (usually corner mounted) and one on the width usually on top of a window frame. The nice part of this is it also triggers a little before entering in the room and have much better accuracy on movement.

edit: Its Planes not Plans.

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