Outdoor, pet friendly PIR

[Steve Walker]

I currently have a security light on my garage (at the bottom of the garden) and used both for security and simply to see my way to the garage in the dark, but I need to add one to the shed next to it, as it is set back and in darkness alongside, making it difficult to get there without tripping over in the garden or stepping in puddles (very heavy clay soil).

Rather than two independent lights, I'd like to put a single PIR with

270° coverage on the corner of the garage and operate both together.

The existing light is a nuisance, as it is frequently triggered by cats.

I have looked for pet friendly, outdoor PIRs, but only seem to find wireless ones that link into security systems. Has anyone seen a wired version? Do I need to add protection to an indoor one instead?

[williamwright]

An active IR would be better. Consider Optex AX-70TN 20m Outdoor Beams. I've used a lot of these and they are streets in front of passives. You can using positioning and delay adjustment to eliminate false alarms.

Bill

[Steve Walker]

I have thought about beams, but I'd need a number, to cover coming out of the shed, out of the garage, out of the house back door or out of the extension back door. All four have path edges, grids, the trailer or even just a random garden chair that you want light to see as soon as you step out out. At the moment, the PIR garage security light works for three of them, but triggers far too often.

[Jeff Layman]

Is this the sort of thing you're after?

They do the same thing in black. It's 270° coverage.

You might find it easier, and perhaps cheaper, to get a 360° coverage device such as this:

Although the CEF page says the first is IP55 rated, the Challenger leaflet downloadable from the 270° detector webpage says it's IP54. The

360° device is IP44.

To stop cats triggering it you might have to use opaque tape to cover the lower part of the detector, but it's not guaranteed.

[Adrian Caspersz]

If you take some technology from the US stealth fighter bomber, and apply it to the cat ...

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I don't see how you can have a pir that works that does not detect pets. It is after all just detecting changes in the heat radiation as something moves across domains on the sensore one assumes. This would need some smarts to ignore certain profiles.

Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I think you need a cat wrapped in a thermally insulating blanket, but te foxes don't like this very much, I'm told.

Why not do what I do, learn to use a cane to scan the area just where you are going to walk and hence avoid the puddles? Brian

[Steve Walker]

Pet friendly PIRs have been available for many years. We have an indoor one, in the living-room, that I fitted about 20 years ago. We keep the doors shut so that our cats cannot get to the rest of the house when the alarm is on.

The manufacturer's specs list what size of pet they will ignore. Cats are well within the ignore range, unless they get up high, while dogs are okay, up to a certain size.

The basic versions work by having a cut-off low down, but others combine that with a second sensor (possibly with a mid-level layer cut-off and only trigger if both are activated (an upright person being in both zones at once). Others (like the one we have) combine PIR and microwave sensors - we can see the LED change from green to yellow as one is triggered and then red if the second is triggered).

In this case, as it is for a light rather than an alarm, false triggering is not a major problem - we just want to cut down on the number of times a night the curtains/blinds suddenly brighten.

[Steve Walker]

How well does that work across a soggy lawn with puddles, can you tell the difference easily?

Not too helpful when I need both hands to carry something to or from the garage or shed though.