Will Caseta Motion sensor override an already dim light that's on?

If i have a single pole Lutron Caseta dimmer switch in my bathroom and I install the caseta motion sensor to control this switch:

If i use Smartthings to turn the lights on in the bathroom dimly 10% at 10pm, and then I walk into the bathroom, will the motion sensor turn the light on 100%, or see that the light is already on and let the light stay at 10%?

Here’s the full story:
When any of 3 bedroom doors open at night, i want all the non-bedroom interior lights to turn on dimly (hallway, bathroom, dining room, ect). I’ll do this with a contact/door sensor I think.

But I also would like for the bathroom light to automatically turn on during the day at 100%, and also turn off if unoccupied for 5 minutes during the day or night.

Thanks for any/all replies!

You may already know this, but the Caseta motion sensor is not visible to Smartthings (or HomeKit or IFTTT or Alexa or any other third-party integration). So there’s nothing you can do in smartthings that changes the way that it works.

Now to your question: the way that it works is really simple. You get to pick one and only one preset dimmer level for each Caseta light that it controls.

it doesn’t have a light sensor, and it doesn’t know whether the light is already on or off. You can’t even pick the time of day when it operates

So…

When the Lutron Caseta motion sensor recognizes motion, it triggers the lights to come on at the single preset level you picked. That’s it. It doesn’t matter if they are already on a different level or not.

And if you use the timer function, it will automatically turn them off again after that amount of time, even if you use the wall switch in between.

You can verify all of this with Caseta support. They have had multiple requests to add more features, but so far all they’ve said is that they’ll look at it.

So it doesn’t sound like it will do what you want. There are quite a few other motion sensors that work with smartthings that can, though, if you’re interested in anything else. You just need a motion sensor that smartthings integrates with, and then you can use the SmartThings/Lutron integration to control the Caseta lights.

I use Caseta light switches in my own home and have several different motion sensors of other brands that I use with them for a very similar use case. Love the switches. But I haven’t even bought a Caseta motion sensor because of its limited integration possibilities. :sunglasses:

I did find out that the caseta motion sensor doesn’t work with Smartthings. At first I was bummed, but then I thought it might still work for me.

One reason I was leaning towards the lutron motion sensor is because I thought i read they will activate the lights quickly.

The aeotec sensor 7 pro is very fast to turn devices off, but i found it was slow at turning on the caseta switches via smartlighting app in smartthings. By thetime I

What motion detectors compatible with smartthings do you recommend? Are they quick?

It’s true the Lutron sensors are very quick. And it’s true that the Lutron/smartthings integration may slow things down a bit as it’s cloud to cloud. so It all depends on exactly what you need.

In my case, I’m using HomeKit for this, not smartthings, so everything runs locally. No cloud latency. And I’m in a wheelchair, so a slight delay may not be as much of an issue for me as someone walking.

Personally, I use both hue motion sensors and Aqara zigbee motion sensors, but I don’t know what would be the quickest when used with smartthings. Hopefully others will chime in.

Historically, Zigbee sensors have tended to be a bit quicker than zwave sensors for some technical reasons, but the newer generation of zwave, the ones with the 700 series chip, are faster than earlier generations.

The first thing, regardless of the protocol you are using, is to understand how PIR (passive IR) sensors work. Many people think they are a cameralike device, and set them up so that they are pointing towards the object to be detected. But that actually will give you the slowest response. Because these devices measure very slight changes in heat passing across the field of detection, you will typically get the best results when they are placed 90° to the object to be detected. There is a community FAQ about this:

FAQ: Where to locate motion sensor for fastest response?

Sometimes the best thing to do is to put them on the ceiling pointing downwards just outside a room and then you can catch someone as they approach a room rather than waiting until they are through the doorway. That in itself can give you an extra second or so. Anyway, just something to think about. :thinking:

I’ll give some thought to right above the doorway.

Also, I thought my smartthings hub would connect dirrectly to the lutron hub. I’m still within my return period, maybe I should also look into HomeKit?

I’ve been thinking, if I can turn the switch on to low, say 20% all the time with the Lutron motion detector, then when somebody enters the Bathroom during the day, they just have to press the “on” button to raise the % all the way to 100%. Then the no-ocupancy turn off of the motion detector would shut it off day or night. This might not be a bad option. The Lutron sensor is direct to the switch so its lightning fast.

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I just read through the Lutron motion sensor directions, and I don’t see where you can select what brightness setting the motion sensor will turn on…

https://webapiaw1proddat01st01.blob.core.windows.net/assets/documents/0301710_Caseta_Advanced_Instructions.pdf page 91 :face_with_spiral_eyes:

OOOH, i think i just found out how to do it via the lutron app, Review & Programming Caseta Wireless Motion Sensor + Review 2020 Updates - YouTube

There are two different models of the motion sensor. One allows you to program it with the Lutron app and the other does not. So check the model number while you are doing your research.

The Lutron to smartthings integration is cloud to cloud, not hub to hub. You don’t even have to have a smartthings hub to make it work. For example, someone who has a Samsung smart television might use the smartthings app and have Lutron Caseta switches and with the integration they would all show up in the ST app. The smartthings hub talks to the smartthings cloud over the Internet. Then the smartthings cloud talks to the Lutron cloud over the Internet. Then the Lutron cloud talks to the Lutron SmartBridge over the Internet.

With HomeKit/Lutron, it’s a local integration.

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