Have a large multiflight stairwell that we are looking to put install motion sensors in. There are currently 3 light switches (first floor landing, 2nd floor landing and 3rd floor landing) which switch on all lights in the hallway. Looking to replace all 3 light switches with motion sensors as there are entry points at each landing. Is this possible? I am seeing Lutron multilocation sensors only support 2 per light circuit
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1Home automation hardware is the simplest answer; you get to decide what controls what, under what conditions.– keshlamCommented Jun 7 at 13:58
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For some values of "simple", @keshlam! As one starts getting into automation, it can become pretty complex, but that's only when you realize what you can do and start having fun. ;)– FreeManCommented Jun 7 at 15:12
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Do you still want multiway behavior when you manually override the sensors?– ThreePhaseEelCommented Jun 8 at 4:52
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2 Answers
Another way to achieve this without additional relays -- provided that you already have the same 3 conductor + ground building wire running to all three floors -- is to use motion sensors that have their own built-in relay instead of thyristor switching. You can hear them click with they switch on or off, and they have no warning on the packaging about what kind of bulbs you can use. I've used Heath-Zenith motion sensors for this.
At each motion sensor, provide power to the sensor from black hot plus neutral. Connect the motion sensor's switched output wire -- usually red -- to the cable's red wire.
At each light fixture, provide power to the fixture from the cable's red wire plus neutral. When any sensor detects motion, all lights turn on. The other sensors don't care if they see power on their switched red wire, because it's on an open relay. Multiple motion sensors can switch on with no unusual effect, except all lights will stay on until the time delay elapses from the last sensor that saw movement.
I have a building set up with LED floodlights on all four sides where all sides light if any one side sees motion. I've also added an emergency "all on" manual light switch (it connects black to red) for when the sensors don't see anything. It all works perfectly.
One way to wire the switches is to have passive infrared (PIR) sensors on each floor, each feeding to an alternating current (AC) relay, with the output of the relays in parallel. That leaves each PIR sensor isolated from all others, but activation of any one (or more) sensor would turn on all lights until the last sensor times out. Most codes would require an electrician inspect the circuit.
Another option might be a noise-activated light switch, such as this at Walmart, or a microwave ("radar") switch (such as this at Amazon), so that possibly one switch could sense noise in the stairway, or motion, across all three floors... or not. You'd need to test if that works.
