Outdoor motion sensor lighting

[JDRoberts]

There are multiple different technologies available for motion detection. For various reasons, the most typical being low power requirements, most of the Z wave and zigbee sensors are PIR motion detectors, where PIR stands for “passive infrared.” The sensors don’t actually detect motion at all – – they can detect very small changes in temperature as it moves across the detection field of the sensor.

The reason why some of the multi sensors, such as the Aeotec multisensor, tell customers to disable the motion sensing feature if the sensor is used outdoors is because of the problem of “microclimate” meaning very small changes of temperature, usually caused by either direct sunlight or gusts of wind which can trigger false alarms as the temperature changes across the sensor field. A gust of warm wind, or a cloud passing across the sun, may create enough of the temperature differential that it will be perceived the same as a person walking past. And the motion sensor placed near a window may get heat reflections from the glass which can also trigger false alarms.

These variations, which depend on local architecture, are why some people will report having no problems while other people will report having many, or why some people only have false alarm problems at certain times of year.

One very popular solution to this is to use multiple PIR motion sensors in a zone, and accept the alert only if more than one of them detects the motion. Mike Maxwell has written a smart app which is very helpful for this. But then this does require more than one device.

Smart Zone motion detector (Zone Motion Manager) [Deprecated -- no longer supported]

I built this to solve a number of motion related issues. –Reduction of false motion events in exterior applications (False Motion Reduction) –Represent a group of detectors with a single virtual detector (Motion Aggregation) –Enable a Motion Aggregation zone from various devices, switches, contacts ect (Triggered Activation) This is a parent/child application (like Smart Lighting) where the motion zones are created and edited from the parent application. When a new virtual zone is created, a virtual motion sensor is created for that zone. This virtual motion detector represents the states of the physical motion detectors that you configured for that zone. You can then use that virtual zone device in any applications that accept motion devices. [image] [image] [image] Three co…

So when you look at sheltered locations, you want to think about not just shelter from the rain and direct sunlight, but also where the wind breaks might be. And try to stay away from windows.

As far as wiring in a conventional motion sensor, which may be using a different technical method, that’s discussed in detail in the outdoor motion sensor FAQ. It’s definitely a method that can work well.

FAQ: Do you know of an outdoor motion sensor?

I am looking for outdoor motion sensors to monitor my yard. I bought a pair of the Aeon Labs Aeotec Z-Wave Multi-Sensor and am quite unhappy with them. Even on the lowest sensitivity setting it randomly sends alerts, some perhaps due to clouds changing the lighting (even though PIR is not supposed to be susceptible to this) and others I can’t explain at all. With several false alerts a day this thing is just useless. The Smartthings Motion sensor works great, I have some in my house, but it is indoor rated only. The Schlage / Nexia motion sensor is also indoor use only. I am hoping someone has come across an outdoor rated motion sensor they have been able to pair with the Smartthings hub.

A number of people also just rely on integration with security camera motion sensors, which often use a different technology, or a dual technology, not just PIR.