PhanTomiZ Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Hello, I have an Insteon motion sensor in my upstairs hallway that see's heavy use and is hard on 9V Duracell batteries with a battery life of around 6 months. Battery life in this device is less than any of my other battery operated devices as I believe it to be due to the amount of traffic. Since my last battery replacement for this device, it has only lasted me 1 1/2 months. The only change was the addition of this program below to keep track of activations. I created a program to keep track of how many times my Insteon motion sensor triggers daily and cumulative. (18,000 times since Jan 22/17). The device has a 30 sec timeout and no LED. In the program I use "Control" instead of "Status". Would it be better to use "Status" instead of "Control", for battery life, to count the number of times my sensor is activated? I do recall, reading something about this, but can't find it in the forum. PhanTomiZ MSS Upstairs Hallway Counter Daily - [iD 0166][Parent 0167] If Control 'Upstairs Hall / Devices / MSS Upstairs Hallway' is switched On Or Control 'Upstairs Hall / Devices / MSS Upstairs Hallway' is switched Off Then Wait 2 seconds $MSS_Upstairs_Hallway_Counter_Daily += 1 $MSS_Upstairs_Hallway_Counter_Daily Init To $MSS_Upstairs_Hallway_Counter_Daily Else Link to comment
Teken Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Based on everything you wrote up above the program and settings are fine. I would probably go the route of high capacity lithium 9 volt battery cells or rechargeable's. If an outlet is near by use the power saver attachment and forgo the entire battery portion. Given the latest motion sensor includes native USB power support I would probably go that route instead. Unfortunately Beta 5.XX release ETA is not known . . . Link to comment
PhanTomiZ Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 Started my rechargeable conversion with an 8 pack of Duracell Rechargeables from Costco. 2400mAh DX1500 NiMH 1.2V. I think I'll start with these in my Z-Wave locks. Never considered 9V rechargeables for motion sensors. I did consider using some of my 9V wall warts for MS, but I was somewhat satisfied with getting over a year on average with the majority of them. I'll start by looking at Amazon as Costco doesn't carry the 9V ones yet. PhanTomiZ Link to comment
Teken Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Started my rechargeable conversion with an 8 pack of Duracell Rechargeables from Costco. 2400mAh DX1500 NiMH 1.2V. I think I'll start with these in my Z-Wave locks. Never considered 9V rechargeables for motion sensors. I did consider using some of my 9V wall warts for MS, but I was somewhat satisfied with getting over a year on average with the majority of them. I'll start by looking at Amazon as Costco doesn't carry the 9V ones yet. PhanTomiZ The 8 pack Duracells from Costco are indeed the best value you will find anywhere. You should double check to see the capacity aren't 2500 mAh instead of 2400 mAh as those were last years versions unless they have lots of old stock on hand. It was a really nice bump for me considering it was still being sold for $24.XX Link to comment
PhanTomiZ Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 You are correct. They are 2500 mAh and yes $24.99 Cdn. Better than Amazon or ebay and from my favorite store to boot... Link to comment
Teken Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 You are correct. They are 2500 mAh and yes $24.99 Cdn. Better than Amazon or ebay and from my favorite store to boot... Does your local store carry the AAA anymore? Our store carried both types but sadly they stopped carrying them last year. My long term goal was to be at 100 each for all the various sizes from AAA, AA, C, D, etc. Link to comment
PhanTomiZ Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 Does your local store carry the AAA anymore? Our store carried both types but sadly they stopped carrying them last year. My long term goal was to be at 100 each for all the various sizes from AAA, AA, C, D, etc. I do recall them selling the AAA last year, but I had no interest at the time. Now its just the AA Duracell rechargeable. 100 of each cell type!!! That gives me a pretty good idea of how many devices you have...I don't feel so bad having 90+ now... Link to comment
Teken Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 I do recall them selling the AAA last year, but I had no interest at the time. Now its just the AA Duracell rechargeable. 100 of each cell type!!! That gives me a pretty good idea of how many devices you have...I don't feel so bad having 90+ now... LOL . . . It should be noted the bulk of these batteries are intended as *Back Up* to any device(s) I have on hand. The primary goal is to have enough resources during a grid down event using all manner of electrical power. This is mainly driven by wanting to be as self reliant and less impactful on Mother Nature. Assuming I can honestly say the resources used to produce said rechargeable's has less impact. Right now my long term goal is to have every type of *Method* generate electrical power: Solar, NG, Heat, Motion, Wind, etc. Link to comment
stusviews Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 I think I'll start with these in my Z-Wave locks. My Z-wave locks came with a warning to not use lithium batteries. Although they do last considerably longer, they are subject to be depleted without warning. I do use lithium batteries for my motion sensors, along with this program: Front Hall MS Battery If Control 'IN / Devices / IN Front Hall-Sensor / IN Front Hall-Dusk.Dawn' is switched On And Status 'IN / Devices / IN Front Hall-Sensor / IN Front Hall-Low Bat' is Off Then Wait 26 hours Send Notification to 'my_email_address' content 'Motion Sensor Battery' Set 'IN / Devices / IN Front Hall-Sensor' Write Device Updates Run Program 'Front Hall MS Battery' (If) Else Wait 5 minutes $iMS_Front_Hall_Battery = 2 Send Notification to 'automate' content 'Motion Sensor Battery' Set 'IN / Devices / IN Front Hall-Sensor' Write Device Updates The variable, iMS_Front_Hall, is initialized to 1. This is the notification: Subject: A low motion sensor battery has been detected at the location below with a status of "2": Body: <body> <p class="MsoPlainText"><b>Courtyard</b>: ${var.1.8} </p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><b>Front Bathroom</b>: ${var.1.9} </p> <p class="MsoPlainText"> </p> <p class="MsoPlainText">--Status Key--</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">1 = <b>Battery</b> OK</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">2 = <b>Battery</b> low</p> </body> </html> Link to comment
PhanTomiZ Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 My Z-wave locks came with a warning to not use lithium batteries. Although they do last considerably longer, they are subject to be depleted without warning. I do use lithium batteries for my motion sensors, along with this program: Front Hall MS Battery If Control 'IN / Devices / IN Front Hall-Sensor / IN Front Hall-Dusk.Dawn' is switched On And Status 'IN / Devices / IN Front Hall-Sensor / IN Front Hall-Low Bat' is Off Then Wait 26 hours Send Notification to 'my_email_address' content 'Motion Sensor Battery' Set 'IN / Devices / IN Front Hall-Sensor' Write Device Updates Run Program 'Front Hall MS Battery' (If) Else Wait 5 minutes $iMS_Front_Hall_Battery = 2 Send Notification to 'automate' content 'Motion Sensor Battery' Set 'IN / Devices / IN Front Hall-Sensor' Write Device Updates The variable, iMS_Front_Hall, is initialized to 1. This is the notification: Subject: A low motion sensor battery has been detected at the location below with a status of "2": Body: <body> <p class="MsoPlainText"><b>Courtyard</b>: ${var.1.8} </p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><b>Front Bathroom</b>: ${var.1.9} </p> <p class="MsoPlainText"> </p> <p class="MsoPlainText">--Status Key--</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">1 = <b>Battery</b> OK</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">2 = <b>Battery</b> low</p> </body> </html> Thanks for sharing the program... Do you use the none rechargeable lithium batteries for your Z-Wave Locks? What type and name brand of lithium do you use for your Motion Sensors? I did a little research on rechargeable lithium and decided not to go that route just yet. These NiMH should give me some warning time as to when the batteries need to be recharged, as their lithium counterpart would not. PhanTomiZ Link to comment
stusviews Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 All rechargeable batteries are subject to sudden depletion. I use only the highest quality alkaline batteries for locks. My choice for alkaline batteries is Duracell Procell in AAA, AA, C and D. I use Energizer lithium batteries in places where sudden failure is not so much of a problem, for example, remote controls, motorized shades, cabinet lighting and motion sensors. Finally, I prefer Panasonic rechargeable batteries for our cordless phones. Modern batteries have a very long shelf life, so I by somewhat large quantities, usually a dozen or a few dozen. And I use battery eliminators where possible, Link to comment
PhanTomiZ Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 I purchased the Duracell Procell in AAA for all of my EcoVents. I haven't used them long (Jan 5/17), so I can't report on the difference between them and the regular Duracells. I am keeping track of them though with daily cycle counters. When I heard about the AA size 1.5 V lithium rechargeables I was excited. I did a little bit of research and there are mixed reviews on them. I believe I will wait another year or so for them to improve. I have used the 19650 3.7 V Li-ion for a few years now for my headlamps which I use any time I do anything. I feel blind without these hi powered headlamps. Thanks for the great information PhanTomiZ Link to comment
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