Outdoor Motion?

Has anyone done outdoor motion sensors? +25C/-10C (80F/15F) temperature range, solar if possible, but I’m looking for a way to detect UPS/Fedex guys ninja-sneaking up to my door to put a “Sorry we missed you” on my doorframe without knocking.

I see the discussion around the LZW60 taking ~0.05A and lasting 2 years on a battery; cold weather would affect this I expect. [DEVICE PAGE] Inovelli 4-in-1 motion sensor LZW60 asked about whether LZW60 is outdoor-rated, but I don’t see an answer.

Sure, I could use this to trigger safety lights at night, but I’m already doing that by iCloud triggers via HomeAssistant.

Mostly for shipping ninjas.

The only “dedicated” outdoor motion sensors I’m aware of (at least in the context of Z-Wave and Zigbee, to which I assume we’re scoping this discussion) are the Hue outdoor motion sensor (a new-ish product, different from their “regular”/indoor sensor) and the Zooz ZSE29 outdoor motion sensor. There is also the HomeSeer flood light motion sensor, but that’s really intended to be hardwired into a floodlight like “traditional” motion sensors might be, though it has the option to act in either that or a “smart” capacity–more limiting in placement, in either case.

Some other “regular”-ish sensors are also marketed for outdoor use under specific applications. For example, the Aeon Mutli 6 (perhaps the sensor on the market that is most similar to the Inovelli 4-in-1) docs say it can be used outdoors if not exposed directly to the elements. Despite “indoor” specs on other sensors, I’ve seen a lot of people on SmartThings, Hubitat, and other forums still use them outdoors if reasonably protected. (I’ve done this myself, too: a Xiaomi motion sensor was my first experiment, and I figured it was cheap enough that I didn’t care if it failed. It was fine. After that, I used a Dome DMMS1, a Monoprice PIR (not 4-in-1) that is so unbearably slow I couldn’t use it inside anymore and also don’t care if outdoors hurt it, and a Zooz ZSE18. All are reasonably protected from direct rain/snow and most avoid direct sunlight at most times if possible.)

So…I’d probably be willing to try the Inovelli 4-in-1 outdoors too if it was reasonably protected. Most of mine are on an outdoor, unenclosed porch with a roof. If you can get USB power, that would be even better since you wouldn’t have to worry about battery life. Lithium batteries like the one the 4-in-1 uses are less affected by cold weather than alkalines you might be used to, but sunlight is likely to cause spurious motion events during the day, so the other consideration I can think of is either toning down that sensitivity or not depending on it for motion-based automations during the daytime. (One reason I mentioned more than one outdoor sensor above: on my front porch, I have three motion sensors at different locations/angles. At least two need to become active before I get a notification that someone is likely at my door.)

3 Likes

Thanks; this gives me a few things to look into :slight_smile:

I was scoping to Zwave – Maybe I should have written that, I’m sorry.