Hall light motion logic

Posted on
Fri Mar 30, 2018 10:32 am
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Hall light motion logic

Hi all,
Recently automated my hall lights with a new coolcam motion sensor and a fibaro zwave dimmer.

All setup and working great. Lights turn on quickly as soon as motion is detected.

This is fantastic for the times we want the lights on but not so great for the times when they’re simply not needed, i.e. walking quickly through to another room.

Struggling to think through any effective ways of doing this aside from not turning on instantly when motion is detected.

anyone else got a similar setup and has any thoughts or suggestions?

I have a trigger on a door sensor already for when we come in the door but that doesn’t handle the leaving scenario i.e. getting shoes and coats on etc

Cheers

Posted on
Fri Mar 30, 2018 10:42 am
Colorado4Wheeler offline
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Re: Hall light motion logic

There are probably a hundred ways you could figure this out. I've used multiple methods but since I'm a programmer I tend to make them quite "codey". In my situation I have had my sensors reset pretty fast so that if I needed that kind of action I would wait for a second motion trigger, but that will suck batteries dry pretty fast. I instead opted to put additional sensors around, then I could put in logic that says "if sensor A tripped but B did not then someone is in A still".

I also tend to put 2-3 minute timers on my auto-on for motion, with new motion extending the time by another 2-3 minutes. You simply have to "re-up" the scheduled shut off. So if it's not needed then it's only for 2-3 minutes. Add to that using light sensors to determine if that light needs to be on anyway (or time of day or using the day/night variable also works) then my sensors are pretty solid based on that logic.

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Posted on
Fri Mar 30, 2018 10:46 am
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Re: Hall light motion logic

Cheers, yes its not the tech logic thats defeating me its the how do I want it to work bit! I.e. understanding the humans.

Good suggestion re more sensors.
I’ve actually got them to auto off much quicker than that at the moment to reduce energy usage so think its something like off as soon as motion is off which is 30s after on if no more motion detected.

Your tip re more sensors is the answer as I think this through, i.e. if hall motion detected then stairs motion or kitchen motion detected then don’t turn on lights.

Probably through hall motion triggering a timer of say just a few seconds and if it expires turn the hall lights on.

So means a delay in the hall lights coming on of a few seconds unless triggered by front door or light switch but thats ok to be honest.

Need to get a few more neo motion sensors ordered!!

Cheers

Noel

Posted on
Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:22 pm
Different Computers offline
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Re: Hall light motion logic

noel1983 wrote:
I’ve actually got them to auto off much quicker than that at the moment to reduce energy usage


If you're trying to reduce energy usage as a primary goal, and you haven't yet replaced those bulbs with LEDs, no automations will have more effect than swapping them out.

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Posted on
Fri Mar 30, 2018 2:15 pm
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Re: Hall light motion logic

Fair point well made. Yep led’s in there already.

Guess it’s less the energy and more the unnecessary turning off and on repeatedly. Not sure if that has an impact on bulb life?

It’s easy for me to just live with it with some improvements to the turning off logic it’s just one of those instances of it being less than perfect albeit I suspect adding a delay may frustrate me more!

Tried to get the motion sensors to be quicker to react with setting the motion communication to 5s but that didn’t seem to have any effect. Still was around 30s after motion before it sent no motion.

Cheers

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