#Good Motion Sensor for HA

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

oak hawk
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Looking for an accurate motion sensor to automate a fan and a desk light in my room

quiet lance
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aqara p1 is typically the suggestion for pure motion sensing.

oak hawk
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i was looking at the p2

quiet lance
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I believe it just needs a zigbee coordinator

quiet lance
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(the p1 anyway)

lost dust
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accurate is a tricky thing that relies on a lot of variables. if you are looking for something that triggers the light and fan when you merely sit down that could be done with a simple pir sensor aimed correctly. if you want something to detect once you enter the room where the the desk and fan is then you want to look at presence detection and not pir

oak hawk
latent badger
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Either a Hue motion sensor (pretty much best of the best) or an Aqara P1 motion sensor would be good for this.

humble gate
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note that the aqara p1 will require a zigbee coordinator, the p2 will require a thread border router.

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motion sensors aren't actually great for the "sit at my desk" case, since most people don't move a whole lot while they're at the desk.

latent badger
tawny crater
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I would say what Sonoma said but reversed 😛

An mmWave sensor which allows for zones could trigger based on x,y coordinates (which you do need to figure out for yourself) specific to your desk area, and a pir sensor will be good for more generalized motion like entering a room

lost dust
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lol well I was thinking a pir sensor mounted under the desk detecting your legs etc would be a cheaper but also accurate detection

latent badger
lost dust
latent badger
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True. I actually did that for a long time until I got into presence sensors.

humble gate
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if your lights turn off after a half hour of sitting at a desk, it's a good reminder to get up and stretch :)

latent badger
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lol ain’t nobody got time for that!!!

oak hawk
oak hawk
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i saw a guy on youtube do something similar for his kitchen

keen lion
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Load cell under the cushioning of the chair, with an ESP8266 and ESPHome.

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Yeah, vibration sensor would be an idea. Aqara makes one, that seems to be OK.

mighty pendant
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I combine motion sensing with Bluetooth sensing through a trigger template to give a fairly accurate representation of whether a room is occupied.

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The motion sensor turns the sensor on, and it doesn’t turn off until both motion and Bluetooth show the room to be clear for 10 minutes.

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You get the odd false positive if you walk past a room and the motion sensor captures you, but the 10 minute timeout means that the lights and fan don’t stay on for long unnecessarily.

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I use old Aqara PIR sensors for motion, and esp32 devkit boards running ESPresense as nodes for Bluetooth sensing. One set per room.

lost dust
# oak hawk mmWave do be expensive

if you have a zigbee network setup you can find some that are not too pricey. Tuya zigbee is generally pretty cheap and since it's zigbee you don't have to deal with any of the other shady stuff that company usually pushes using other forms of communication and then there are tons of off brands like this which is $20
https://www.amazon.com/Smilewolf-SNZB-06P-Presence-Automation-Zigbee2MQTT/dp/B0CXTK4Y3V

Smilewolf SNZB-06P Zigbee Human Presence Sensor Rardar Detector Mot...

Smilewolf SNZB-06P Zigbee Human presence sensor, based on 5.8GHz microwave radar, detects movement or stationary person, it can detect the tiniest movement, even breathing and heartbeat, and seamlessly light up your space with intelligent radar. SNZB-06P built-in light detector ensures that light...

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wifi presence detection is without a doubt much more expensive

oak hawk
lost dust
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so this topic can be rather complex, but basically just a coordinator and using ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT inside HA. However since you don't have a zigbee network allready then you are basically adding that cost onto the cost of the sensor you are aquiring about now lol

oak hawk
lost dust
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If you are planning to add more and more sensors to HA down the road.. going zigbee will save you money in the long run without a doubt. you can get stuff off aliexpress super dirt cheap

oak hawk
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is there a benefit to using zigbee besides being cheaper?

lost dust
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it dosen't clutter up your bandwith for your other wifi devices like laptops etc etc

oak hawk
oak hawk
lost dust
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yea basically.. what other companies call hubs is the coordinator lol

oak hawk
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ah

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how much do those go for?

lost dust
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they range kind of all over. in #1284966617670881350 I think there are a few posts about some coordinators use as well as the old #zigbee-archived channel will have tons of coordinators others are using with HA

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will have to use discord search feature to pluck those conversations out in the old channels

oak hawk
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gotcha

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did a quick search and i found a bunch of usb coordinators

lost dust
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zigbee has a short range so you got to kind of do your research and compare against the size and layout of your own home to really know if it will be something that will work right for you. it's a mesh network that can be extended but extending the mesh isn't flawless.. I would suggest looking it up, plenty of youtube channels but something certianly worth looking into IF you plan to expand the amount of sensors in your home for HA

oak hawk
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i see

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at this point im just thinking about what im going to do with my smart home/server stuff when i move out for college

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i don't wanna add too many things and then end up just not using them when i move out

lost dust
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box them up, sure they will still be viable after you get your next home after that

oak hawk
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do you happen to pay for HA cloud?

lost dust
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no

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plenty of people in this server that do if you have questions i'm sure

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even a channel just for it

upbeat sage
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no frills but accurate and responsive wifi only (no hubs, just tuya or smartlife to add it to HA) -

search amazon for "Smart Wi-Fi Motion Sensor: Wireless PIR Motion Detector" It's 3" by 1.25" battery or plugin. 128deg

$17 -$19 depending who you pick.