Is there such a thing as a wireless camera that acts as a binary sensor for HA?

Installation Home Assistant OS
1

I’ve been looking for a creative way to set up reliable presence detection in my toilet area since my PIR sensor doesn’t work very well in that area. I am limited to using only a battery-powered device.

I looked into building my own ESP Node with an Ultrasonic distance sensor until I realized that it’s above my skillset to build one that’s extremely power-efficient (with deep sleep, wake timer, sleep timer involved).

Unless I can pay someone to build one for me (PM me if you’re interested, I’ll pay generously), I thought maybe there’s such a thing as a cheap wireless camera (supported by Home Assistant) that I can use as a binary sensor.

2

Really?! And I’ve been giving advice in the other thread for free?! :laughing:

But I don’t really have anything to offer on this except are you sure you want to put a camera in your toilet area? Sounds kind of questionable if you ask me. :wink:

3

Hmmm… I didn’t think this through. You’re right, it’s a bad idea.

4

Also it’s going to be hard to find a camera running on batteries without changing batteries every other day.

Do you always close the door while you are in the bathroom an do you always close the door when you left the bathroom? If yes to both, a door sensor would work, otherwise a combination of a door sensor and a motion sensor with some automation logic could probably work as well.
You said that a motion sensor doesn’t work so well, what about multiple motion sensors?
What do you want to automate with the occupancy of the room?

5

When I go into the main bathroom area, I have a PIR sensor that turns on the lights to the bathroom as well (as the toilet area) when motion is detected. The all lights turn off when there is no motion detected.

The toilet area is adjacent to the rest of the bathroom. Although there’s a door to the toilet area, I don’t use it consistently. Same with the “lid” on top of the toilet.

You did give me an idea though, I never tried placing a 2nd PIR sensor inside the toilet area. Maybe, if I place it in the right spot, it would be capture even slightest movement. That might be good enough, especially when considering all the other alternative ideas.

I even thought about placing a weight sensor under the toilet seat. However, realistically, I don’t really like the idea of having any kind of wires/electronics/batteries/sensors touching the toilet itself.

1 Like