I am wanting to get one of the Aqara presents detectors. I just can’t decide which one would be best for my use case. I want to automate whenever I walk into a room to turn on the lights ever since I saw it from the movie when a stranger calls I’ve always wanted to do that in my house lol. Not to mention the energy savings of turning off lights when you leave the room because I always seem to forget. Is it best to have one that’s plugged in constantly so that you never have to worry about changing batteries? Do I need the millimeter wave detection? How many zones do I need for a typical room?
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I’ve been super happy with the FP-300. I have several of them throughout my house in high-traffic areas connected to an Aqara M200 hub so I get all the features available in my Home Assistant setup. I use them to sense light levels and then turn a light on in that room if the light level is below a certain threshold and it detects a person. Immediate on, a minute or two delay on the off works wonders.
Oh, and if possible, it’s much less jarring if you can have the lights ramp up, it looks really cool too. I have a Insteon system that I set all my common area lights to a 2-second ramp time, and the effect is perfect to me.
I do appreciate the battery life on these things too. They use a large battery, and there’s a 3-year life expectation on them, that’s long enough for me to not worry about wiring these thigns up.
Go for it! Do something new and cool… you’ll be super happy you did!
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Hoping to add one of the presence detectors . My goal is to be about to trigger automations based on what room I’m in.
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@aqara746 the “walk in and the lights come on” thing is a great first automation. I run a couple of FP2s (the plug-in one) with Home Assistant, so here’s my take on your other questions:
Do you need mmWave? If you ever sit still in the room, yes. A regular motion sensor only sees movement, so it turns the lights off on you while you’re reading, working at a desk, or watching TV. mmWave can see someone sitting still, and that’s the whole difference between presence and motion.
The catch with mmWave: it can also see things that move but aren’t people. Ceiling fans are the classic one. If a room has a fan, mount the sensor so the fan isn’t in its main view, and on the FP2 you can mark that area as an interference zone so it gets ignored.
How many zones? For a typical room, start with one for the whole room. Add zones only when you want different behavior in different spots. In my office I have a desk zone and a lounge zone, so the room knows where I am, not just that I’m there. More zones = more to tune.
Plugged in vs. battery: plugged in means you never think about it again, but you need a USB outlet near where it mounts, usually up high in a corner. Battery (like the FP300 the_naP mentioned) gives you placement freedom. For a first room, pick whichever puts the sensor in the best spot.
One heads-up: presence sensors know someone is in the room, not who. That’s perfect for lights. It only matters later if you want an automation that’s just for you.