A Xiaomi water sensor and one of these pressure mats from Amazon makes for a great occupancy or presence detector. A water sensor is basically a normally open (NO) dry contact, and the Xiaomi sensor has 2 screws underneath that you can hook the leads from the pressure mat to (the alarm portion of the mat is not used). The water sensor is waterproof and immersible, so outdoor deployment is possible. However the contacts should be covered with a silicon sealant to prevent false triggers from water contact.
Once the leads are secured to the screws, step on the mat and the dry contact closes to turn the water sensor "on". Step off the mat and the contact returns to open. This can be very useful for places where motion sensors are not practical (bedroom) or where you want a presence sensor to be incognito (beneath front door mat, beneath couch cushion, etc).
Want to lay on the couch to watch TV but you don't want the lights turning off from lack of motion? Slip this under a cushion, change your lights off event to run only if the couch is unoccupied and problem solved. Or do the opposite if you want the lights to turn off when you lay down on the couch. Possibilities are endless.
Enjoy!
--Barry
Once the leads are secured to the screws, step on the mat and the dry contact closes to turn the water sensor "on". Step off the mat and the contact returns to open. This can be very useful for places where motion sensors are not practical (bedroom) or where you want a presence sensor to be incognito (beneath front door mat, beneath couch cushion, etc).
Want to lay on the couch to watch TV but you don't want the lights turning off from lack of motion? Slip this under a cushion, change your lights off event to run only if the couch is unoccupied and problem solved. Or do the opposite if you want the lights to turn off when you lay down on the couch. Possibilities are endless.
Enjoy!
--Barry
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