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Author Topic: Outdoor motion sensors?  (Read 4127 times)

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Offline RichardS

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Outdoor motion sensors?
« on: December 05, 2016, 03:00:46 pm »
Does anyone have a recommendation for outdoor motion sensors that work well with Almond?

I'm running an Almond 3, and I want to get perimeter sensors for the yard and driveway. I want them to be able to trigger lighting changes and audible alerts. The idea is to have different lighting changes and audible alerts for different zones. I have the Securifi Z-Wave dongle on the shopping list, so Z-Wave, ZigBee, and WiFi devices should all be ok - at least in theory. I know that some devices and manufacturers have known issues, and I'd like to avoid those.

Offline fillibar

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Re: Outdoor motion sensors?
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2016, 07:39:58 am »
In general, there really is not a good one specifically designed for HA use outdoors. No idea why not. There is this thread:
https://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,3175.msg14526.html

It is also possible to DIY one. I cannot find my previous posting about it, but the idea is to use a normal outdoor motion detector (if possible one that has an output or triggers a base unit with an output). Connect the output (or DIY even more) to the external switch connection that some Door/Window sensors have. This causes the motion detector to trigger the sensor that your HA system CAN use.
Almond 3 mesh handling the home.

Offline RichardS

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Re: Outdoor motion sensors?
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2016, 11:50:05 pm »
Thanks for the tip. I'll probably go with weatherizing an indoor rated sensor, and maybe give the AeoTec a shot. I had seen a way to rewire a non-smart home motion sensor to a HA door sensor, but I'm not convinced that the DIY would be efficient for how many sensors and zones I'll eventually be deploying.

Are there any recommendations for outdoor cameras on the market now that allow for zones in the image to be motion triggers for HA? Cameras are eventually in the works, so it may be more efficient in the end to go that route. When I was doing contract security, we had camera systems with that capability, but that company is crazy expensive to the point that they probably wouldn't even take my phone call. But was years ago, so I figure it's only a matter of time before it becomes feasible for the HA market.

Offline fillibar

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Re: Outdoor motion sensors?
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2016, 07:10:20 am »
Let us know how you end up doing it, maybe start a thread explaining it when you do. This topic comes up pretty often.

I ended up putting an indoor model mounted under our roof line for Halloween to trigger a bunch of lights I had set up when people walked up the driveway (we do a lot of decorations for Halloween, but nowhere near as extensive as Christmas). It worked out well enough but the range ended up being too short in my opinion.

Not sure about the cameras. There are Z-Wave cameras:
https://securitycamerasystempro.com/5-best-z-wave-security-cameras/

The second one on the list is rated for outdoor use.
Almond 3 mesh handling the home.

Offline Ohiomedic

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Re: Outdoor motion sensors?
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2016, 01:25:48 pm »
I have the monoprice sensor outside for over a year and haven't had a problem with it. It's mounted to the side of my house about 3 feet below the overhang. I didn't make any changes to it and it's still working fine.

Offline fillibar

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Re: Outdoor motion sensors?
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2016, 03:15:49 pm »
Mind if I ask your general location? Curious about how harsh your winters are mostly. I have the same model (and others) and would happily use one outside. Plus I think I saw a sale on their new Z-Wave Plus version.
Almond 3 mesh handling the home.

Offline mparadis

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Re: Outdoor motion sensors?
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2016, 04:33:38 pm »
With most security cameras you can setup motion triggers and such HOWEVER none of those currently export to Securifi as events, certain cameras can use IFTTT for this and can trigger certain actions on the almond (scenes). I have no experience with z wave cameras (and no desire to test them out) but have experience with home quality cameras of different styles. I would wager that it would be possible to use some variety of tasker plugins or similar to trigger events in the almond if you can code, but alas that is well beyond my desires. I do hope Securifi adds support for native camera support (and triggers) in the near future.

 

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