Does the lux sensor report continuously, even if there is no motion detected?
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Good question. I would like to know to before I buy them.
History from my Vallhorn sensor in the basement. The lux is updated many times during periods without movement.
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Yes, it is reporting continuously. I use this entity to automate another light.
I applied the Advanced Motion Sensor Automation blueprint to the IKEA VALLHORN. I’m testing for now and so far I don’t see any major problems. What I miss is the ability to select the switch as ‘light’.
I have not yet discovered which entity (occupancy or opening) is better suited for control. Vallhorn has a hardware option to select grace period (1 or 5 min), so ‘wait time’ in the blueprint just adds to that one. As for the luxmeter, that acct is affected by the hardware settings.
Whether I use rechargeables (1.2V) or alkaline batteries (1.5V), the Vallhorn’s behaviour is exactly the same. I have not noticed any differences. Designing the equipment for rechargeable battery only would make no sense structurally and in terms of usability, wouldn’t it?
Hi!
Can anyone help me confirm your typical Lux readings? I seem to max out at 1365 exactly which is nothing when placed outside?
Id like to be able to tell cloudy from Sunny weather…
Hope you can help 
I’m annoyed by the red light turning on everytime it detects motion. Does anyone know how to turn the light off?
Tried the first button (the clock icon) and it works - the Opening sensor stays open for 1 or 5 minutes. But for the love of god, I cannot figure out what the other button does. It should be day / night mode, but there is no mention of that in the manual. It behaves the same whether is light or dark…
EDIT: as per ChatGPT:
- Day Mode (Sun Icon): The sensor is active both during the day and night. It will detect motion and activate the connected light regardless of the ambient light level.
- Night Mode (Moon Icon): The sensor is only active when it’s dark. It will detect motion and activate the connected light only when the ambient light level is low, typically during the evening or night.
Just tested using Night Mode holding the sensor a foot away from a 4000lm light, Occupancy got updated but Opening did not. Illuminance showed 600lx. Is that the correct behavior?
However, when I moved it like 7 feet away, which was still very bright, just like during the day, it said olny 22lx, which is apparently considered dark and the Opening started switching again.
Is this your experience also or might my unit be broken?
EDIT2: I mean sure I can use the day mode and check for both Opening and Illuminance but it kinda grinds my gears that the out-of-the-box function seemingly isn’t working as expected (if I’m not missing anything).
So these seem to be good value for money IF used with the right batteries!
Using wrong batteries seems to trigger false positives.
They are quite big, compared to Philips Hue, but just a fraction of the price.
I have read multiple different reports about cooldown time (time needed to detect motion again): what are your experiences?
What about battery life?
@nikscha: it doesn’t seem that the LED can be turned off for this one.
Im looking for a cheaper ZigBee lux sensor. Want to set it in the living room to trigger lights.
Is it any good?
I - and many other long-time users here- would not use a motion sensor in a room where you sit because you will be in the dark inevitably.
What do you mean? I am not interested in the motion sensing capability.
I intend to write an automation to turn on my window lights at sunset and are on until a specific time. Currently I use sun angle to do this. It works OK but on cloudy days the lights should be turned on earlier. Could probably check if weather forecast is cloudy but probably easier to just measure lux. Could use a boolean as well so it only runs once a day.
It should not be used to turn off the light in that room, no. I agree to that. It can still be useful. I have a Vallhorn in my living room and use the motion sensor to turn on the light in the hallway outside the living room. That way the light in the hallway is already on when I enter the hallway. And, as @trallan, I use the light sensor in the Vallhorn, but I use it to turn off the light when the sunlight is strong enough. The primary sensor to turn on and off the light in the living room is an Ikea Parasoll on the door, as we keep the door closed when the rooom is not in use (to keep the cat out of the room).
Okay, that’s a different story.
For that situation, this seems a good, cheap device with decent battery life.
Of course you can just use the illuminance sensing capability of this sensor to measure the brightness outside.
I was referring when used as a motion sensor in e.g. a living room to control the lights in that room.
There are also quite some topics about using a motion sensor in the bathroom or toilet which presents some challanges.
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Got one now. Is it possible to decrease the update frequency? It seems to update lux every 5 second. 
I must say I’m a bit disappointed with the VALLHORN product;
- It’s far too big and clumsy compared to other PIR sensors in the market.
- The “old” IKEA PIR sensor was way better because it gave you delay and duration entities which means you could program the device to behave any way you wanted. Not just 1-5 minutes.
had a problem with Vallhorn using 1,5 volt alkaline batteries, it jammed som of my zigbee tempsensors, havent tries 1,2 volt rechargeable celle yet.
changed to 1,2 volt (ikea Ladda) and the problem was soved!
Yes, this has been mentioned multiple times: if not used with the right batteries they misbehave.
I have ordered a couple of them to test.
I have two Vallhorns connected to Home Assistant (under Zigbee Home Automation, via an
Aeotec Zi-Stick). (Home Assistant running in a Docker container in a Raspberry Pi.)
When I’m moving frequently, nearby the sensors, they immediately change the “Occupancy”
state in Home Assistant, after a move close to a sensor.
However, when there has been no motion in an hour, or two hours, they react very slowly.
The change of the “Occupancy” state in Home Assistant is then done 20-55 seconds after a move
close to a sensor.
It seems that the sensors fall asleep. 
Maybe there is a problem with the communication between the Aeotec Zi-Stick
and Vallhorn. They are perhaps not compatible to each other.
The problem arises even when the distance between the devices is short.
Do you see similar performance?
Just got my first VALLHORN sensor with new LADDA 750 mAh batteries. After pairing the sensor stays on “detected”. The Lux values do update but seem to be all over the place, going form 213 to 2 within 30 seconds whilst nothing changed in the room. I’ve also tried to repair the device trough another router device, rebooting Home Assistant and also another set of rechargeable batteries (LADDA 900 mah) without succes.
I’ve noticed the logbook keeps updating every 30 seconds with:
Bewegingssensor woonkamer Attribute Updated event was fired
11:24:07 PM - Now
Bewegingssensor woonkamer On With Timed Off event was fired with parameters: {‘on_off_control’: <OnOffControl: 0>, ‘on_time’: 600, ‘off_wait_time’: 0}
11:24:07 PM - Now
For what it’s worth, the VALLHORN firmware is 0x01000064 and I’m using Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus V2 (the -E variant) with USB extension cable in combination with ZHA on Home Assistant 2024.11.1.
Only when I try to repair the device, without deleting it first, I get it to work once. I’ve tried that a couple of times:
Also playing with the buttons on the back, like @Pelle900 did, seems to do something once.
Since I’m using the right batteries I’m thinking my unit is faulty.