IFTTT trigger on "no motion detected for X"

Sensors
1

Hello all,
Wyze and IFTTT newbie here. I am impressed with the products I have read about, but have yet to purchase anything.

I hate to be the guy that asks a question before searching to see if it has been previously answered. I have looked and looked and maybe I’m just not using the right keywords.

I want to be able to trigger on the lack of motion detected for X period of time. (Maybe 60 seconds, Maybe 86,400 seconds.)

I can think of a number of different use cases where this might be useful, such as turning off lights after 30 minutes of no one being in a room or house. Sending an email if you find your teenagers have flown the coop. :slight_smile:

My use case… I have a vacation rental condo. I have 5 in-wall, high voltage (240V) forced air heaters using old school dial-type thermostats. Even if I have no one renting, the thermostats stay set at a minimum temperature all winter. Rental guests love to crank the dial up to maximum and then open the doors and windows. And the dial stays that way for days after they check out.

So, I’m looking at smart thermostats for in-line high voltage systems (like the Mysa). I want to use a motion sensor (just one in the entry area) to catch motion. And, if no motion is detected for, say, 18 hours, then chances are good the guest has checked out, so set the thermostat down to a “hold” temperature.

Once motion is detected again, reset the thermostats back to a comfortable temperature.

Does the Wyze offer a stand-alone motion sensor that provides an IFTTT trigger like this? Or, is the Wyse Sense Motion Sensor the only option?

I can’t put a Wyze camera here so I have no way to connect the Sense bridge.

Thanks much!
Jim

2

At the moment Wyze only offers two types of motion sensors, the camera based ones, and the standalone Wyze sense ones.

3

Thank you!

Is there a way to use the Sense sensors without having a Wyze camera?

4

Not at the moment. The Sense sensors connect to a bridge. That bridge is designed to use a cameras power AND WiFi connection to connect the Sense devices to your network.

So as things stand now you must have at least one camera to make use of the Sense sensors.

(Say that 5 times fast)

5

Thanks for the assist. Back to the old drawing board.

1 Like
6

I’m doing exactly what your asking in my home with Mysa, Wyze Sense motion sensors and IFTTT. You need a camera with a bridge connected to make it work.

You should be able to achieve what you want with a different brand motion sensor that is compatible with IFTTT and has both motion detected and motion becomes clear as a trigger.

7

Therein lies the problem… finding a motion sensor that is IFTTT compatible and has a ‘motion becomes clear’ trigger.

Maybe I should just buy a Wyze camera and the Sense bundle, then put the camera in a cabinet with duck tape over the lens. (What would you do if you rented a vacation rental and found a camera in a cabinet? I guess I can wrap it in duck tape and put a post-it note on it that says “Only here to act as a bridge for the motion sensor.” :slight_smile: )

8

Could still be trouble lol. Camera can still pick up audio blind.

9

Maybe you could mount the camera outside, under an eave or something. They’re not technically outdoor-rated, but people seem to have decent luck using them outdoors as long as they’re not directly getting rained on. You’d need to test to determine whether the connection to the motion sensor is strong enough when it’s outdoors, though. But you wouldn’t have the same privacy issues as putting it inside.

10

I believe that there are Tuya (Tekin, Smart Life) compatible PIR sensors that can do what you want without needing to buy a bundle of other stuff with it. There may be other brands as well, but I am only familiar with Tuya devices.

11

Do the Tuya devices support the “has been clear for” functionality? Asking for a friend. :slightly_smiling_face:

12

Some do. Some don’t. You would want to get one that does.

1 Like
13

How do you set it up to get a notification only when there is no motion detected on the wyze sensor for X hrs?

14

If you have an echo device you can very easily do this via Alexa routine (actually you may be able to do this with just the Alexa app and no device)

Screenshot_20191215-204840_Amazon Alexa
Screenshot_20191215-204840_Amazon Alexa1080×2220 260 KB

If not you can use IFTTT bit it’s somewhat complicated. Here’s the thread with the necessary info.

15

Thanks Kjay. Is this possible with just wyze cam and wyze sensor or does it require alexa/echo device as well? Or is it possible just with alexa/echo device?

16

It would require a wyze cam with a sense bridge and a sense motion sensor. You might be able to do it without a physical Alexa device I’m not really sure. If you have the wyze components I suggest downloading the Alexa app and see if you can create a routine. It is much easier using a routine than doing it with IFTTT.

17

I have wyze cam with sense bridge and motion sensor, but don’t have any physical alexa device. I downloaded the alexa app and set it up with wyze but when I choose my motion sensor under the “when” category I get an “Error, this device is not currently supported” message. Wonder if that’s because I don’t have an alexa device?

18

Any chance your outside the United States? All camera and bridge firmware is up to date?

19

You should be able to do this on the Alexa app without any Alexa device, but it sounds like there is a problem , go in and disable the wyze skill and then re enable it again see if that fixes it

22

Got it all working now. Thanks a ton @kjay and @HDRock!

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