With Currys discontinuing the motion sensor, does anyone know an alternative supplier for a uk spec motion sensor?
Anyone know if there’s a v3 on the way, or of DSG have pulled out of smartthings all together? (I doubt with the flopped launch and number of people they annoyed they hit the 2 million units they wanted to achieve)
I thought they were just out of stock? Where have you seen that they are discontinued?
There are several UK vendors listed in the following thread:
The smart things – branded motion sensor should itself still be available from the Samsung site listed there, for example.
More importantly, though, the SmartThings-branded motion sensor is a zigbee device. In the UK, you will have a lot more choices of both devices and retailers if you go for a Z wave motion sensor like the fibaro or Aeon labs. You should be able to find both of those at Vesternet or Amazon.co.uk
If you do want to stick with a zigbee motion sensor, the Orvibo zigbee model is working quite well with community-created code. However, the only place I know that is selling it is Banggood , and not everyone is comfortable buying from them.
You will find much discussion of the Orvibo contact sensors in the following thread, with some discussion there of the motion sensor as well.
I asked the guy directly… when he did a check and the nearest store with one was a hick town 40 miles away, I said “are they coming back in, or are they discontinued” - he clicked another screen and said “yeah, discontinued… maybe there bringing a new one out”
Ta JD. I couldn’t give a monkeys which system it’s on - ideally I’d like to stick to ST because I’ve got a stockpile or battery’s for all the the other sensors, and the uniformity is handy…
I guess it’s gonna be a drive to Hicksville to get ome of the ones that left.
I just hope it’s not a sign that they’re going to wind down the ecosystem because of lack of sales… it’s taken them long enough to make it stable.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear. SmartThings supports both zwave and Zigbee, so the aeon labs and Fibaro sensors both work with SmartThings as the hub. You’d just have to check and see which batteries each model uses.
Do they work out of the box, or do I need to get a device handler written?
They are both very popular in the community and there are several device handlers already written for them. I honestly don’t remember if they are officially supported or not, you’d have to check the compatibility list.
You can use the quick browse lists from the community created wiki to quickly find the community-created device handlers:
OK, I just checked, both the Aeon multisensor and the Fibaro motion sensor are on the official UK compatibility list, although you might still prefer one of the community created device handlers as they have more features:
Also, as I’m thinking about it, Fibaro recently changed their firmware and I’m not sure the official device handler works with it anymore. But there’s definitely a community-created one that does.
And I know you already know this, but just for others following the thread, in order to use a community created device type handler you do have to use the copy and paste method described here:
I have just got the latest Fibaro Motion Sensor. It’s V3.2.
It does work ‘out of the box’ but if you want to change the parameters from default it can get a bit messy but it is ‘doable’.
See this thread and post 109 which is the method I used to edit the parameters from default.
Personally I prefer these to the ST motion sensors. The have temp, lux and motion incorporated which gives greater diversity for rules you may use it for.
I have not had these lock up whereas my ST ones do lock up occassionally.
The motion sensor is currently showing as available to order online and collect in store on the Currys site, so you should be able to get hold of one through them.
I was in my local Currys at the weekend and they had a few ST bits in stock. They’re also pushing a number of other systems, but still had a display dedicated to ST.
When I came out of the store, I tried to order on line, and it said it wasn’t possible. I then tried click and collect, and the nearest store that had one to reserve is a trek and a half.
I will look at the sensors above - I’ve got to admit, I like the idea of my lights being lux based rather than tied to sunrise and sunset.
While we’re on the subject, is there such a thing as a weather resistant pir that any of you know of? I’d like to put a sensor on the inside lid of my garden storage box to alert if anyone should open it when the system is armed.
How cold are your winters? If it’s inside a box, that should be sheltered enough from the rain for most sensors. But very cold or very hot weather can play havoc with battery-operated devices.
Many people use sensors to notify them when their post box has been opened, and all of the same issues would likely apply to your storage bin.
I’ve had an ST motion sensor inside a metal post box in the UK. Lowest temp of -3c and highest of 34c inside the box in the sun. Zero issues so far and no battery issues either for last 8 months.
Aeon and fibaro work out of the box. I’ll do some leg work on availability for first party devices and update when I know more.
PC World have found two for me @Aaron - Just means a bit of a journey to a hick-town store.
@JDRoberts, Thanks for the assist - I’ll possibly have to put a smart plug towards the rear of the house to boost the range, but it sounds like a go. It’s the rain that bothers me rather than the temperature - Guess it will be ok sticky fastened on to the lid.
Can’t you just but from Samsung direct? I bought most of my ST kit from them rather than PCWorld.