Z-wave light switch w/ motion and dimmer?

I completely understand the battery issues. I’m quadriparetic with limited hand control, so I have to get someone else to change the batteries.

There are also mains-powered motion sensors if you prefer those. But of course they do limit placement to where you have an outlet.

Its coming!

Announced at CES: Z-Wave Plus In-Wall Smart Motion Switch / Dimmer

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Awesome sauce

Anyone seen these Z-Wave Plus In-Wall Smart Motion Switch / Dimmers yet?

They’ve been assigned a model number, GE 26933, but they haven’t yet been certified by the Z wave alliance and they’re not available on the manufacturer site. There’s just a placeholder page there.

Thought I would update this thread - these won’t be released until next year around March/April 2017, so they ARE coming but not for awhile yet!

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I’m also interested in the new motion sensor and light dimmer in one, but I do like the flexibility of placing the motion sensor where I want it. My main concern beside the obvious changing battery thing is will the motion sensor be able to trigger the light to turn on fast enough? Will there be any delay?

Also, will the lights turn on only when the room is dark, or will it turn on with any motion?

Anyone who has successfully set this up let me know how they like it.

Thanks!

If you’re asking about the combo device, GE 26933, then no one can tell you because they won’t be released until end of 1Q 2017 like the post above says.
If you’re asking about using a separate motion sensor with a smart dimmer, then the answer to your question all depends on your setup. There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people that have set up the separate devices and how they work is all dependent on your use case. You can have essentially delayless activation or there could be delay. You can have the lights come on only when dark or with any motion. All depends on how you set it up.

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There will be some delay, but how much varies depending on the specific model of motion sensor that you are using and on how you have your network set up at home. Most people aim for a delay of two seconds or less, which is usually acceptable to most people. Longer than that and you will have to stand still for a beat until the lights come on.

Some devices are faster than others and you may have to both read the forums for reviews and do some experimenting.

It also depends whether you are turning on smart bulbs or smart switches.

Right now, I have been getting the quickest response from the new Hue motion sensors paired to a hue bridge to turn on smart bulbs also appeared to the same bridge. This is beating any of my other motion sensor configurations by about 300 ms. But in this configuration, I can’t use the motion sensor for anything else in SmartThings, so while it’s working at my house, it might not work for someone else.

But there are many popular brands of motion sensors that people are using. Again, it’s just going to depend on your own set up and your budget.

Rule Restrictions

In smartthings, unlike some other home automation systems, restrictions like light level, time of day, who’s home, etc, are not placed on the device. Instead they are placed on when a particular rule runs. This gives you a lot more flexibility.

For example, there is a motion sensor in my room. During the day, if that sensor detects motion, nothing happens.

From sunset into the evening, if that same sensor detects motion, the overhead light comes on. That’s a different rule.

And then once I’ve gone to bed, if that sensor detects motion, the overhead light does not come on – – instead, a soft night light comes on. That’s a different rule.

Because those restrictions are based on the rules, you can use any motion sensor that works with SmartThings and get the same results. :sunglasses:

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Thanks for the reply abc.

I was actually talking about the lag when using a separate motion sensor with dimmer. I’m new to zwave so I’m not sure if you can link to the items I would need to get a instant on situation where I would walk into the room and the lights would turn on right away. And when I leave they would shut off after a said amount of time.

I currently have this with my “dumb” motion sensor built into the light dimmer switch, but I want to be able to tell alexa to turn on my lights and I can’t do that without zwave.

I will be eagerly anticipating the new combo linked above, but I am worried that the light switch won’t be the best place to put my motion sensor and I do like the flexibility of a stand alone unit that can be placed where I want it.

I have the smart things hub. Will I just be able to use a simple GE z wave dimmer which is on sale at amazon right now, and something like this:
Ecolink Z-Wave PIR Motion Detector, Pet Immune

If paired together with smart things hub it should be instant?

Yep. You got it. Those two together will do what you’re looking for. There is a smartapp in the marketplace built specifically for your use, too. Two standalone devices will definitely give you more flexibility, but will obviously cost more than having a combo device.
Take a look at @JDRoberts response just above yours. He gives a much more thorough response than I did. As he said, you will always have some amount of delay due to devices needing to communicate in order to perform the task it’s programmed to, but as he stated, there is large variation in this delay and you might want to do a little perusing the forums to see what others have said about different devices.

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Bumping this thread - anyone using a combo switch/motion sensor? Looks like the Jasco should be coming soon, if prior posts are still accurate.

These switches are now available on their website, not on amazon yet.

http://www.ezzwave.com/z-wave-products/z-wave-plus-smart-motion-switch/

http://www.ezzwave.com/z-wave-products/z-wave-plus-smart-motion-dimmer/

The page says it can be used as in occupancy or vacancy mode, so doesn’t always have to come on automatically.

It also states that you can “get notified when activity is detected.” This must be a feature they added later, because on the zwave database it made no mention that it supported the SENSOR_BINARY command class or anything that would indicate motion triggers via zwave.

So the motion detector should be able to trigger rules and scenes etc.

And additionally, it is discreetly integrated into the switch, you never have to change the batteries and has much wider wireless range.

User manual also mentions that it supports light sensing. The light will only come on if the room is dark. This option is turned off by default.

Good feature to have if zwave motion triggering turns out not to be suppotred.

Thanks for the links. Jasco also tweeted me today that they released them. Price is a little steep but will save me some headaches in certain places. Did it say anything about compatibility with the add-on switches?

Installed 2 of these today. Unfortunately Smartthings only recognizes the switch as a basic dimmer - it doesn’t recognize the motion sensor as an included (or even separate) device. Because of this, options are limited for automation…

oh no! just ordered one … would i have been better off with a separate motion sensor?

took the plunge with the intent of having a hallway light up when we get home and turn off when there is no traffic…

kids forget/dont care to turn it off!
was also hoping id get notification if the motion sensor is triggered while we are away…but if the sensor is not recognized as such, then i may not get that functionality?

arghh…

It depends on your desired usage… and willingness to be patient I suppose. For what you describe, it could work just fine. The motion sensor recognizes movement fairly well, though I did have to change the sensitivity to “high”. If you’re looking at hallway usage - it sounds like it will do what you’re wanting (turn on when movement is detected, turn off after a set amount of time). For me, I’m looking at usage in a bedroom where people go to sleep at different times: I’d like the switch to function as described above - but only until 9:00. From there, I’d like to have a smartlighting automation tell the switch to “ignore motion” past a certain time (that way, no awoken sleepers!) As it is, the most specific you can get with automation is to use the built-in illuminance sensor to only trigger the light when the room (or hall) is dark.

Haven’t been able to get any reporting on motion events yet.

It sounds like ST may be working on official support for the switch, so maybe these possibilities aren’t too far off. No guarantees though…

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I have 2 of the switch variant of this Device paired with smartthings. It works well for on off via app, however if it trips on via motion it doesn’t look like it updates smarthings. Just some information that may help someone making a DTH.

Have a great day folks!

There are some community – created device type handler’s for these new devices that do expose the motion events. You can find them on the quick browse lists in the community – created wiki in the DTH section under lighting.

It’s early days on these, yet – – you’ll see most of them are marked [alpha], but the work is ongoing.

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Quick_Browse_the_Community-Created_SmartApps_Forum_Section#Quick_Browse_Links_for_Device_Type_Handlers

In addition, SmartThings staff have previously said in the forum that there should eventually be official DTHs for these, but no timeline for when we might see them.