Planning motion sensor lights in my hallway

[HMuller19]

Hey guys, not sure if this is the right forum section. Anyway, I wanna install motion sensors and smart lights in my hallway, but I'm not sure which ones to get. I don't have any home hub or anything like that, I just have some smart lights and sockets in my bedroom. I looked at a few that I'll link below.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

https://www.philips-hue.com/en-us/p/hue-motion-sensor/046677570972

https://www.immax.eu/immax-neo-smart-pir-sensor-2in1-zigbee-3-0-p21974/

https://www.aqara.com/us/product/presence-sensor-fp2/

https://www.philips-hue.com/en-us/p/hue-white-ambiance-enrave-medium-ceiling-lamp/046677579784?origin=71700000117303686&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAu8W6BhC-ARIsACEQoDDZ8jQymM4kwGv5JaU7sARqN7LnG1hu519X0Mt0cRT2RTsZ1XwYwU4aAuY6EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://en.yeelight.com/ultra-slim-smart-ceiling-light/

 

[OhioYJ]

My advice would be don't have high expectations. I tried this once and gave up. Either the lights wouldn't come on reliably, or the lights would come on randomly by themselves (I'm assuming because a piece of dust fell in the room).  Many sensors have a "cool down" settings, sensitivity settings, etc, but it doesn't matter, I never made it work the "way it should". 

 

Don't get me wrong me I have tons of smart switches all over my house, and motion sensors. However no motion activated lights. Just think about how well motion lights actually work as security lights, they don't always work perfectly. Walking even three or four steps into a dark room waiting for the lights to come on is annoying.

[johnt]

I use motion sensors from Philips Hue in all bathrooms, hallways, staircase, closets, garage, and laundry room. They work. Very reliably. They are ****ing expensive. I've had two bulbs go out on me after seven years of daily use out of nearly 50 lights.

 

You have to be somewhat smart when you set the "off" timer. I have mine set to a limit where I know is good for each room. Closet and laundry room is about 2 minutes, staircase is 3 minutes, bathrooms are about 5 minutes. Once it senses motion again the timer restarts.

 

The only place where they do not work is in a room where you just sit for long periods, like living rooms. Although Hue has modified their software to turn off sensors with a switch. So the motion sensors can trigger the lights, and then you have to press a switch button to permenantly leave the lights on and disable the sensor... and of course, to re-enable the sensor when you turn off the lights. It's a bit of a digital maze, but it will work if you put the time in. But the Hue sensors work a lot better in places where you aren't going to sit forever.

 

I'm sure they all do it, but the Hue system is nice because instead of motion sensors, I use sunset to turn on the lights in my living room. It's a really cool feature. We very rarely use switches or the app anymore.

 

It's just ****ing expensive.

[FlyingPotato_is_taken]

Ikea Vallhorn: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/vallhorn-wireless-motion-sensor-smart-white-40504348/

 

They work reliable and play nice with home assistant.

They can also directly be paired with smart sockets and lights without a hub.

[HMuller19]

Thank you guys all for your advice and help! I'll go with johnts thread, seems like he has the same use scenario.

[HMuller19]

13 hours ago, johnt said:

I use motion sensors from Philips Hue in all bathrooms, hallways, staircase, closets, garage, and laundry room. They work. Very reliably. They are ****ing expensive. I've had two bulbs go out on me after seven years of daily use out of nearly 50 lights.

 

You have to be somewhat smart when you set the "off" timer. I have mine set to a limit where I know is good for each room. Closet and laundry room is about 2 minutes, staircase is 3 minutes, bathrooms are about 5 minutes. Once it senses motion again the timer restarts.

 

The only place where they do not work is in a room where you just sit for long periods, like living rooms. Although Hue has modified their software to turn off sensors with a switch. So the motion sensors can trigger the lights, and then you have to press a switch button to permenantly leave the lights on and disable the sensor... and of course, to re-enable the sensor when you turn off the lights. It's a bit of a digital maze, but it will work if you put the time in. But the Hue sensors work a lot better in places where you aren't going to sit forever.

 

I'm sure they all do it, but the Hue system is nice because instead of motion sensors, I use sunset to turn on the lights in my living room. It's a really cool feature. We very rarely use switches or the app anymore.

 

It's just ****ing expensive.

Do you have any experience with setting the Phillips sensors to not register cats? We have a few and don't need the light on every time they go around their business. Thanks.

[Bersella AI]

Distinguishing humans from cats... It might be better to take another approach. For example, place a camera in the hallway and connect it to a Rockchip RK3588-powered board, then set up Home Assistant and Frigate -- the magical piece of software that makes face recognition possible with tensor units on RK3588. Face recognition works only for humans, and when one person is detected, an MQTT package may be sent to Home Assistant, which may then switch lights on.

[johnt]

59 minutes ago, HMuller19 said:

Do you have any experience with setting the Phillips sensors to not register cats? We have a few and don't need the light on every time they go around their business. Thanks.

Sorry I don't (I refuse to get house pets). My children triggered the sensors when they were very small and started walking around, so I actually wanted that. The best features I can see is to 1) adjust the sensitivity of the detection (presumably lower sensitivity will ignore smaller things unless they are very close to the sensors), or 2) place the sensors in a way so that it doesn't point toward their traffic area. For example, mounting it 2 to 3 feet above the ground and favoring the ceiling instead of the floor. This might not be perfect, but it should still detect you 100%.

 

The lights are usually on for short periods anyway. You can set it so the detection is off during the day time to limit how often your cats trigger it. I mean you gotta remember the mindset is convenience. "Smart home" and "IOT" devices are not perfect and they are definitely not smart. You can consider the multiple layers @Bersella AI has suggested, but then you will have to make sure the camera detects your face to trigger the detections and there is a greater risk that it just won't work reliably. The complexity compounds and eventually your partner just sits there and wonders why you hate them for complicating their lives so much lol Just let the cats trigger the lights.

[HMuller19]

17 hours ago, johnt said:

Sorry I don't (I refuse to get house pets). My children triggered the sensors when they were very small and started walking around, so I actually wanted that. The best features I can see is to 1) adjust the sensitivity of the detection (presumably lower sensitivity will ignore smaller things unless they are very close to the sensors), or 2) place the sensors in a way so that it doesn't point toward their traffic area. For example, mounting it 2 to 3 feet above the ground and favoring the ceiling instead of the floor. This might not be perfect, but it should still detect you 100%.

 

The lights are usually on for short periods anyway. You can set it so the detection is off during the day time to limit how often your cats trigger it. I mean you gotta remember the mindset is convenience. "Smart home" and "IOT" devices are not perfect and they are definitely not smart. You can consider the multiple layers @Bersella AI has suggested, but then you will have to make sure the camera detects your face to trigger the detections and there is a greater risk that it just won't work reliably. The complexity compounds and eventually your partner just sits there and wonders why you hate them for complicating their lives so much lol Just let the cats trigger the lights.

Alright thanks. I'll try that.