On our most recent podcast episode, Michael called our IoT Podcast Hotline with a specific question. He has LIFX bulbs but no smart home hub, and he wants to automate the light in his laundry room with a Wi-Fi motion sensor. He currently uses Stringify to create some cloud-based automations.
This situation can be a bit of a challenge, although less so if HomeKit is involved. Since HomeKit works natively with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, there are some motion sensors from Fibaro and Eve that would detect motion in the laundry room. Using the iOS Home app then, you can create an automation to illuminate a LIFX bulb in the room.
However, this becomes a little trickier outside of the HomeKit world under the constraint of wanting a Wi-Fi motion sensor. That’s partly because many sensors use Z-Wave or Bluetooth, which are both more power efficient than Wi-Fi devices. Adding Z-Wave to the mix requires a hub or a bridge, however.
There is a $40 D-Link motion sensor that uses Wi-Fi, so no hub would be required to get motion alerts on a phone. Using those alert triggers to kick off the action of turning the bulb on would then be done through either Stringify or IFTTT. The D-Link motion sensor definitely works with IFTTT, so that’s probably the best non-hub option.
In both cases above, there’s one key item that’s easy to overlook: You’ll need some type of programmable action to automatically turn the light off if no motion is detected for a configurable number of minutes.
There are two other options, neither of which technically requires a true hub.
The first is buying into the Philips Hue ecosystem for its $70 Starter Pack (2 bulbs) and the $40 Hue motion sensor. Technically, this requires a bridge for the Hue devices to connect to a Wi-Fi network since they use ZigBee radios, but that’s included in the Starter Pack. And yes, that means another box in the house.
The second option may be simpler and less expensive. For around $35, a simple Bluetooth door/window sensor like this one from Eve could be attached to the laundry room door, but again you’ll need HomeKit. Or you could use a low-cost Wi-Fi door/window sensor; they start around $20, but make sure they work with either IFTTT or Stringify. When the door is closed, a connected LIFX bulb could be set to off. Open the door to break the sensor’s magnetic connection and the light can be automatically turned on.
Regardless, there are several options with different levels of investment that should work in this or a similar situation: Among other things, I use a door/window sensor like this in my bedroom closet, for example.
If you’d rather hear our response to this question, you can hit the play button below to start the podcast right at our IoT Podcast Hotline section:
And remember, you can always leave us your question by calling the IoT Podcast Hotline at 512-623-7424!
Apilio.io is also great for this sort of automation!
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
I’m rather behind with my podcasts atm, so heard this question on today’s commute.
There’s a much simpler solution if the person asking the question (or somebody else with a similar request) doesn’t require any other automation for their laundry room smart light. This is the solution I use in my own laundry room.
Use an IKEA Tradfri light with motion sensor (https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/lighting/smart-lighting/tr%C3%A5dfri-motion-sensor-kit-white-art-80338941/ or https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/usearch/?query=TR%C3%85DFRI%20Motion%20sensor%20kit). £25 or $27 gets you everything
The motion sensor is paired directly with the light bulb. That’s all there is to it. No need for a hub or WiFi at all (although the Tradfri bulbs CAN also be used with a hub for manual control as well as the motion sensor if required). But this is just a simple solution. Admittedly, just very occasionally, the sensor seems to sulk and refuse to switch the light on. But if it does, we just flip the normal light switch off and back on again, and everything’s working again. (We use the same solution in an inexpensive Grono table lamp in the bathroom to get gentle lighting for night time excursions, instead of using the main, dazzlingly bright, ceiling light.) They can be a little bit sluggish to respond, but I don’t have any other motion sensing lights to compare them with, so that may be fairly normal.
Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE automation in all things, but I often think people over think / over engineer solutions, and pick IoT solutions to simple situations that don’t really need anything that complicated (or expensive).
For outdoor automatic lightling, in particular, IoT solutions seem overkill to me. Every builders merchant stocks a whole range of PIR lamps. We had lamps with PIR sensors installed when we had some building work done on our house. One of the PIRs controls an outdoor (porch) light – but we added an extra twist by also wiring it to control the indoor light immediately inside the front door. If we’re coming home, we have enough time to get into the house and take coats and shoes off before the light goes out, and if we have a visitor, we’re not standing in the dark in the doorway. Because this was an home extension, there was already a light in the hallway, which we continue to use for “normal” use, but if I was building again, I’d do the same thing. And there’s not a WiFi connection or hub in sight for that solution either.