Mounting a Motion Sensor on a Door to trigger the lights On/Off

[mnsandler]

the idea is that when the door is opened, it will see 'movement' and trigger the light

Has anyone tried this?

[sirmeili]

the idea is that when the door is opened, it will see 'movement' and trigger the light

Has anyone tried this?

I thought motion sensors (Well, the PIR ones that most home automation motion sensors tend to be) depended on the movement of "heat" to detect movement. If so, then a motion sensor shouldn't see the actual door.

Of course, I can tell you from experience that it might pick up someones arm that is opening it or closing it. <--- that is if you mount it above the door and not on the door

[mnsandler]

thanks for the info. That makes sense.

[nufun]

Could use a contact sensor for the same thing.

[mnsandler]

so this is for a closet/pantry...

I have a door jamb sensor now, the issue is if the door isn't completely closed the sensor stays on and thus the light stays on. So I embedded a insteon micro controller in the light fixture so I could turn off the light after 10 minutes.

so in order to get the light back on, you have to trip the door jamb sensor by closing then opening the door.

I was thinking of installing a motion sensor inside the pantry, and using that as an alternative to turn the light on when someone walks in

just looking for something that is almost 100% reliable.

[nufun]

Is the switch inside the closet? When I built my last home I decided this was also a problem and placed all the switches inside. Cleans up hallways etc.

Anyway - I put basic motion sensor wall switches from lutron I think. Less of an automated thing, and more of a keep the wife happy thing ...

[mnsandler]

no actual switch on the wall; the switch is the door jamb switch.

[Uncle Michael]

so this is for a closet/pantry...
I have a door jamb sensor now, the issue is if the door isn't completely closed the sensor stays on and thus the light stays on. . . .I was thinking of installing a motion sensor inside the pantry, and using that as an alternative to turn the light on when someone walks in.

I do exactly what you are describing with our pantry. There's an X10 motion sensor inside the door on the wall. When someone walks in HS turns the light on, then if no motion is detected for x minutes, HS turns the lights off. The biggest drawback is that you have to be inside the pantry before the light comes on.

[S-F]

There are highly directional motion sensors that flush mount in the ceiling and point straight down. They come in a variety of ranges from very narrow to fairly wide. They are PIRs though so you'd need a panel or at the least 12 VDC and a contact closure sensor. You could put one right inside the door. Another idea might be a break beam sensor.

[cheeryfool]

Is the switch inside the closet? When I built my last home I decided this was also a problem and placed all the switches inside. Cleans up hallways etc.



Anyway - I put basic motion sensor wall switches from lutron I think. Less of an automated thing, and more of a keep the wife happy thing ...

I have 3 motion sensor switches that are not integrated with HomeSeer and I see no reason to change that. These are main floor powder room, pantry and laundry/mud room. All are dark enough almost all the time to need artificial light so having the light come on when it sees motion (every time) works well. The ones I have do have lux sensors in them so that you can tell it what light level they should come on from, but i don't need that in my implementation.

[Burrington]

Mark, I have an Insteon motion sensor mounted in a clothes closet. It works great. Mount it just inside the door frame, about elbow height so it catches an arm going in. Aim it toward the back of the closet just enough so it doesn't catch someone walking past the open closet door (takes a little experimentation).

Although it may be overkill to use Insteon devices instead of simple non-automation devices, I like the extra flexibility they give. For example, my closet light stays on longer when "party mode" is on, assuming that more people will be waiting to get their jackets in/out.

[amr42]

I do exactly what you are describing with our pantry. There's an X10 motion sensor inside the door on the wall. When someone walks in HS turns the light on, then if no motion is detected for x minutes, HS turns the lights off. The biggest drawback is that you have to be inside the pantry before the light comes on.

Why wouldn't / couldn't you use one of these puppies:

[S-F]

Because the door has to be opened beyond a certain point for it to register as opened and by then you're probably already looking into a dark pantry? Or if the door isn't closed completely it will still register as opened?

[Uncle Michael]

Why wouldn't / couldn't you use one of these puppies:

Mark said he already has a sensor on the door. (post #2)

I have a door jamb sensor now, the issue is if the door isn't completely closed the sensor stays on and thus the light stays on.

In my case, the places were I use a motion sensor rather than a door sensor are also places where the door position is not a good proxy for when I want the light on or off.

[sirmeili]

Because the door has to be opened beyond a certain point for it to register as opened and by then you're probably already looking into a dark pantry? Or if the door isn't closed completely it will still register as opened?

Actually, yes, that is an issue, and one I fixed I drilled a largish, but shallow divot (about the size of the plunger) in the "door" and put a drywall screw in it. I can now "adjust" when the plunger registers as open/closed. It can be finicky and they do have to be checked after battery changes unfortunately. But, I can now set it to only show as closed if the door is latched, but not if it's closed, but not closed all the way.

I think I need to use some finer threaded screws though because the drywall screws have course threads which make fine adjustments harder.

I've attached 2 images. 1 door where it's already painted and one where it's not. They are on the hinge side so you don't normally see them anyways.

That said, this is great for knowing the door has been opened, but that's it. These offer no other presence detection and if it's like my house, closet doors are rarely closed all the way anyways...LOL


P.S. Wow! I need to clean those damn door jambs! I didn't realize they were so dirty!