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    HS-FLS100+ Use Case Scenarios

    I posted a note on Reddit tonight to introduce this sensor. One guy responded asking for use cases for this. So... I posted back (and below). If you guys have other use cases, I'd love to hear them. Please post here!

    My use cases for my HS-FLS100+

    Problems I had

    In my case, I already had a conventional motion-activated floodlight fixture installed over my garage. However, it's a detached garage and I did not have a switch for it inside the house. So, my floodlights ONLY came on when motion was sensed and they ALWAYS turned off after the manually-set timeout of 5 minutes. This caused two problems for me. (1) My after-hours view of the driveway was always dark unless someone (or my dog) tripped the sensor. (2) I'd end up snow-blowing the driveway in the dark 5 minutes after I ventured out of range of the sensor (where my driveway meets the road)! After I installed an early test unit (which I still need to replace), I created the following events to fix those issues:

    Events that solved them
    • Floodlights now turn on & off when I triple-tap the dimmer (HS-WD200+) that controls my breezeway lighting. This allows me to see a lighted view of the driveway any time I want AND it fixes my snowblower problem too because the motion timeout is ignored when the lights are controlled with Z-Wave commands.
    • I have another event that causes the 3rd LED on my dimmer to turn magenta. It will GLOW magenta when the lights are turned on by Z-Wave. It will BLINK magenta when the lights are turned on by motion (did this with another event). I added this tweak to remind me to turn off the lights if I turned them on "manually" and also to give me a heads-up if someone (or my dog) was in the driveway.

    A Problem I didn't really think I had

    This was not exactly a "problem" but was just something I got used to. My system had always been programmed to turn lights on in the house 30 minutes before sunset. I set that up because it always gets dark in my house about a 1/2 hour before sunset. HOWEVER, that's not a precise calculation as "dark" relative to sunset is not linear at every time of the year. Also (and this is more important), it gets dark inside quite a bit earlier on a rainy or overcast day. Like I said... not really a problem; more of an annoyance. However, I fixed this too with the new sensor.

    Event
    • I created an event that turns on INSIDE lights when the floodlight sensor LUX level has been less than 180 for more than 3:05 minutes. I use that interval because the sensor reports it's LUX value precisely every 3 minutes. So, in fact, the sensor would need to report under 180 twice (consecutively). I did that to avoid turning on lights because of an intermittent cloud or 2. I arrived at the "180" value by simply waiting until it was noticeably dark inside and then checking the LUX value.

    Anyway that works really well! Today was a very rainy, overcast day and the lights were already on inside when I got home from work. Hope that helps you some!
    Last edited by macromark; August 30, 2018, 09:59 AM.
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    #2
    For me, one scenario I prefer with multiple motion sensors not controlling the lights directly is this:

    If 1 motion sensor goes off: Turn on that motion sensor's lights
    If more than 1 goes off in a sequence or within a specified amount of time, turn on all outside lights and light up the yard.

    Also, this one is mains powered, which means no longer getting on ladders to replace batteries! Also, it is designed for outdoor use while most others specifically say not to use the motion sensor part if using outside due to false positives during the day (something this sensor may also have issues with, unsure yet).

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      #3
      One scenario I have is as follows
      I have two of these devices - one at ground level at one side of my backyard, the other on upper deck (two tiers), at the other side of yard.
      Additionally, I have another floodlight-only unit controlled by a Z-wave module.

      I have similar events for both.

      If motion detected in the evenings, light up all three floods (because likely either the dog is moving around there or something else is, and I want to be able to see it and avoid, if necessary (skunk etc.) And turning on the lights makes it easier to see what (if anything) the dog is barking at.

      After we've gone to sleep (a flag I set in Homeseer), if either unit detects motion, then again, I turn on all three flood lights *and* turn on several yard-facing interior lights - not all at once, but in slightly delayed sequence, as if someone were moving through the house to the windows to look out.

      And then after appropriate delays, I turn things off again, in a sequence to appear as if someone is moving around inside.

      Update:
      At the end of the Fall season (too late for this year), we had inground sprinklers installed in the backyard and controlled by the Zwave GoControl sprinkler unit - love it.
      So this Spring, I will be updating the events as follows

      If motion after we've gone to sleep *and* sprinkler-season flag turned on, the do all the above as usual, but then also turn on the sprinkler zone where closest to the sensor that was motion triggered. Hopefully that helps encourage whatever intruder is around, to move along.

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