I bought some sonoff mini zigbee (SONOFF SNZB-03)
And they work great for instant reaction time using zigbee2mqtt or philips hue hub.
But they have the problem that they take between 60 and 150 seconds to detect movement again, so I must have the lights on during that time if I do not want to stay in the dark in case of passing twice in that period of time.
(I usually walk down the hall more than once in less than a minute and I don’t need the light on for more than 10 seconds in this case)
I bought a Philips Hue sensor and it updates every 10 seconds, but it has a somewhat short range and little viewing angle.
So far the best option I have found is hacking an Aqara sensor soldering two circuits
I’d like to know if anyone know of any zigbee motion sensors that are capable of updating every 10 seconds or less.
Thanks in advance!
Compilation of Zigbee motion sensors and their update interval:
Sonoff SNZB-30: 60 seconds (but many users report delays of more than 130 seconds, including me)
Philips Hue sensor: 10 seconds
Aqara: 60 seconds (5 seconds with the hack)
Osram: 60 seconds
Ikea: 97 seconds
TREEYE: 120 seconds (according to aliexpress seller)
Autoeye: 180 seconds (according to aliexpress seller)
ZM-35ZH-Q: 60 seconds (according to aliexpress seller)
Would it work if you rely only on Hue for the motion detection and controlling the light? If you connect the Hue motion sensor and the light to the Hue hub and then setup the logic in Hue would that give the fast reaction you are looking for? You can still do other things in HA with Hue integration.
I expect that to be fast based on my experience with Hue and motion sensors.
Does it have to be Zigbee? I solved it with DIY system including an ESP32 (or 8266 if you prefer it) and a PIR SR501 for which you can set the sensitivity and time delay. You can get them really cheap on Aliexpress (ESP8266, PIR)
Maybe I don’t explain myself correctly
The problem is not home assistant or the hub hue, the problem is the hardware of the motion sensor, this is the one who decides every few seconds to detect movement again after the last detection. (reaction time is instantaneous with any sensor, but the detection interval after the last activation takes a very long break depending on which sensor)
Motion sensor and update interval:
Sonoff SNZB-30: 60/150 seconds
Philips Hue sensor: 10 seconds
Aqara: 60 seconds (5 seconds with the hack)
Osram: 60 seconds
Really yes, I want all my devices working with zigbee
Thanks for your Idea, you have given me an idea and it is the following:
Use a traditional motion sensor, add a dry relay to not send current and connect it to a sonoff mini zigbee switch (ZBMINI)
Through an automation in home assistant, when the state of the switch (ZBMINI) changes, the lights will turn on / off.
This is actually valuable information and should be collected somewhere. Looks like I’ll be sticking to Hue sensors also in the future. I have couple of Ikea sensors as well but I don’t know about their interval.
I have tried many Zigbee motion sensors and there is no motion sensor that can compete with the reliability and speed of the Philips Hue motion sensors. I threw away around 15+ motion sensors (Aqara, Sonoff, TuYa, Blitzwolf, Konke) and replaced them with Hue. Extremely fast and not one single false positive or randomly disconnected sensor.
With IKEA it’s even worse. I have this one and it states:
This device will pause detection of presence for approximately 1 min 37 sec after detection. In other words; with continuous detection, every 1:37 a new publish (occupancy: true) will be done. Cooldown of detection is 3 min. In other words; 3 min after last published detection (and trigger no longer present) occupancy will be published as false.
The problem with Philips Hue sensor in my case is that it has a range of only 2/3 meters and a very low angle of vision, I have to go under it almost for it to detect me. I will try to do more tests but that is my experience currently.
Of course, I set the sensitivity as sensitive as possible and also did tests with the philips hue hub and zigbee2mqtt hub. But the results are not very good if you want to put it between two doors, but if on top of one of them, then there is no failure.
It doesn’t matter much to me, but I want to avoid this for several reasons:
Few possible number of sensors in sight.
I am going to feed them with a 3V power supply to avoid changing the battery even though it may last more than two years.
Spend a little less money.
After more tests with the Philips Hue sensor, I am seeing better results by placing it in another area, the range is about 4 meters from directional way and about 2.5 from the sides, but being so directional, it does not work correctly for me in a corridor of about 6 meters.
If the Hue sensor had a greater detection angle, I could place in an intermediate area.
I have bought an Aqara Zigbee sensor that has a greater detection angle and I will make the corresponding hardware modification so that it refresh every 5 seconds.
When I receive it I will share the results here.
In the meantime, I’ve added a few Zigbee sensors to the list in post 1 along with their refresh time according to the sellers.
Smartthings sensors and devices are now branded under Aeotec
I have the multi contact sensors and they work great, but no experience with the motion sensor. They were unavailable to purchase for awhile due to the changeover from Samsung to Aeotec
This looks like a very good option. If you get the sr501 that is pictured on the esp website it looks like you can adjust the retrigger interval anywhere from 0.5 to 200 seconds by turning a dial on the device itself. Do you think this one would work with the firmware you linked?
