The WeMo Switch + Motion is the 2nd Belkin device added to our Smarter Home Automation Dream Home project. Belkin provided us with two of the WeMo Switch + Motion packages. We’re still deciding on the best location to place the second one – there are several possible locations that make sense.
Like the WeMo Light Switch (you have to love Belkin’s simple product naming) this smart gear uses your home wifi to communicate. The list price of the Switch + Motion is $79.99. Controlling lights or other devices that might other be left on a lot more hours a day, may give you a reasonable payback of a year or few, but it’s the convenience, and to some extent the cool aspects, that make it a nice piece in the home automation puzzle. Walking into the kitchen and having the lights come on automatically, then turn themselves off a few minutes after you leave the room is
The product itself is really two seperate pieces of gear. First is a largish external outlet that plugs into any normal 3 prong outlet in your home. Just plug the device – a lamp, a coffee maker, your under counter down lighting in the kitchen… and then, if you want motion control, figure out where the motion will be that triggers it. The Motion, is two pieces connected by a thin cable. one piece plugs into any outlet, and then you place the motion sensor, that second piece, where it will detect the motion you want to trigger the switch.
One application might be to place the motion sensor to spot movement on the first step on your stairs, so that when someone puts their foot on that step, the lights plugged into the Switch part will light up in 2 seconds or so.
In our Dream Home, though, we put the Switch in the kitchen, and plugged in our under counter rgb-LED strip lights that run under all the upper cabinets in the kitchen. On a completely different wall in the kitchen, I plugged in the Motion. I set up the motion sensor about 8 inches away tucked mostly behind our Keurig coffee maker, and “looking” across toward the entrance into the kitchen. Anyone walks into the kitchen, and bingo, in about 3 seconds, all the under counter lights are on. I hear a soft click as they do come on.
The Switch itself has an indicator light, and a manual button. The light will flash amber if it loses its wifi connection. That’s interesting, as in our project, we’re about to replace a 3.5 year old pair of router and extender, and they’ve been rather problematic of late as far as the extender goes. Once every week or so the extender and router stop communicating correctly. A couple of times a week, it seems I have to reset it. Well, it will be gone soon, replaced by new Linksys router, gigabyte switch and extender. Since I installed the Switch + Motion, there has been a firmware update. It mentioned that it improves operation with extenders. Interestingly we haven’t had a further problem with the Belkin since that update.
I mention all of that because the extender needed to be reset a few days after I hooked up the Switch. I noticed because I walked into the kitchen, and for the first time in a week, those lights did not come on. I looked at the unit, and voila’ it was flashing, indicating no wifi.
Because the Switch and the sensor are not together in one single device – in this case across the room, they too talk to each other over the wifi. While a Switch with built in sensor will work in some cases, this system can work anywhere in the house. Perhaps the motion sensor is by the front door or in the garage, but motion there turns on lighting in the living room. The advantage of having the sensor in the Switch, is that it could operate without Wifi working.
The Switch + Motion is exactly what we needed, the lights come on and stay on as long as there’s motion, but then I have them set to turn off after 10 minutes. It could be set longer or shorter, but Belkin right now, provides only a finite number of different minute settings before the switch shuts down.
