HomeSeerHSM200 Z-Wave Motion, Temperature & Light Sensor with RGB LED Indicator for Smart Home Automation

What I really needed was a light detector to work with my Homeseer home automation software to automate my inside lights as both a convenience and as a matter of security. This way, whether I'm home or not, the house lights turn on at various levels of outside light just as they would if I were home and the inside was getting dark. I already have the Homeseer outside light sensor / floodlight control unit but the highest level of light it reports back is only 200 lumins which is pretty dark. While that works well for outside lights, it is pretty much useless for controlling inside lights because at 200 lumins outside, it's pretty dark inside. The only other light sensor that they sell is this one and they are selling it at a premium price but since there really are no other choices, I gave it a shot.This is a multi-sensor device that measures light, temp, and detects motion. It also has a light on the front that you can control if using Homeseer. The problem is that what I bought it for it simply doesn't work. It reports the temp and detects motion ok but there are much lower cost Z-wave sensors that can do that but when it came to light level, it completely failed. It takes a long time to respond to changes in light level and never reports a valid level. Even at light levels where you could still easily read, it is reporting 18% light and reports zero when I can still see perfectly fine. To me, zero means dark or candle light level or less, not just below reading light level. This makes it useless for what it claims to be able to do and what I need it for.I really don't like giving one star reviews but when the item does not do what it is advertised to do and sold at a premium price, that's what it deserves to get. I could just use it as an indicator for when my garage doors are open since it seem nobody makes an indicator for Z-Wave either or I may just return it . I have to take a look at the last return date and see if it's worth keeping a 50 dollar indicator light.

I'm still seeing if I can't bypass things manually (once I learn how to do that) but for now out of the box this will only provide temperature and ambient sensors for InControl users. The motion works great for about 15 seconds after you press the button on the unit, but this mode stops after 15 seconds. If I can find out how to keep it awake it would be awesome (then last but not least, I'll dig into the LED light functionality). As it stands, however, there is limited functionality within InControl without further tinkering.Update: I was able to get this working on my InControl system, but it has a 1-3 hour timeout. This means it will detect motion, but after it does so it won't detect any further motion for 1-3 hours. I'll have to play with it more... anyway it does work now at least so that's something. I screwed around with the paramaters - not sure what I did to make it work, but something stuck. It does not light up at all now, however... it's just an expensive motion detector. It should be repeating as well, but I admittedly have no idea... I'll have to find a way to test that.Update: I started using Homeseer shortly after buying this, and I've been very happy with it ever since that time. Homeseer is easily the best smarthome software on the market.

Edit: after 'tinkering' (resetting, different drivers, different settings) with this for a few days, it seems to work. Of course it did not report motion when first added as a device. I forgot which driver I had to switch to and then waive at it and then switch back to for it to report motion, but it does now. I also am using one of the custom drivers written by a user and not the built in one. So far, no random, patterned activity false reports at all. That after 24 hours. I have now moved it to a more useful location and for the past few hours, still all ok. I changed to 3*'s because this is a nice compact AC device.... just still a pain to set up with Hubitat.If you buy one of these, you know that Zwave plus is terrific, but unless your hub has a 'driver' for this device, it won't work. There are those enough to lend their skills in writing custom drivers and sharing them. Others are kind enough to find drivers and post them for use or modify drivers which are out there. Recently Hubitat included a minimal driver for this device. No matter what I did (and I did all the "tricks" - reset, reset to default, uninclude, reinclude, rename, etc.), after a few hours this device reported a phantom active. I changed rooms three times, reset. Same results. Firmware version is 2.07. I notified HomeSeer and eventually, they were nice enough to replace it. With the same product, same version 2.07. It was a different device (they did not send me my old one back). But same results. This is just a waste of money with the present drivers (plural) which are out there for use with Hubitat C-7. It's nice that it reports temp and Lux, and wonderful that it is AC plug in. But as a motion detector with false reports about every 10 minutes, it's a big waste of money for an expensive thermometer. Go with Third Reality motion sensor $17-20. It's Zigbee, but battery life is EXCELLENT. It's a 1/2 sec slower to report movement, but NEVER reports false movement. If you need a thermometer, get a thermometer. This HomeSeer is a waste of $50+ for use with Hubitat and the firmware cannot be upgraded with the hub even with the correct firmware file.

I bought these to use with my Smartthings system to have always powered motion detectors for smart lights. In the evening time I use these to automatically turn on lights when motion is detected and then turn them when no motion is detected. They have worked very well for this.I also use the color LED to notify me when a door is unlocked. When green, it means all doors are locked. When red, there is a door unlocked. It is a helpful visual right before going to bed.Eventually I will set up alerts for a while house motion detection system for security purposes.