I am lazy. I use a lot of occupancy sensors (OS) to turn lights on. Part of the reason is someone in the household turns a light on then leaves it on when they leave. It could be on for hours. So an OS seems like the solution. However, even the cats set it off. Even with it set to its lowest sensitivity.

So, I'm wondering about beam angle. Maybe they're like car headlights. Low beam projector lamps have a shield from roughly the middle of the lens and down. This means the beam is blocked from the bottom of the lens which would otherwise send light up into oncoming traffic. I'm wondering how I would go about blocking the sensor from seeing cats. I'm always seeing the hallway light go on and the laundry room light. Hallway lights are set to extinguish after 1 minute. The laundry room is set for 30 minutes. That's because you can be in the laundry room for a while and be out of range of the OS. Cats turn that one on also.

Do you know how the beam angles are handled? Should I block the bottom of the sensor lens or block the top?

 

hi Tony,
A couple of PDF's that may help.
E

 

Are you referring to actual occupancy sensors or just PIR motion sensors?

You can get pet immune motion sensors for alarms systems, and a clever guy like you could probably figure out how to interface them with house lighting.

These sensors use different ways of avoiding detecting animals all the way from blocking the IR to advanced algorithms.

 

Should I block the bottom of the sensor lens or block the top?

I would think the bottom.
Experiment with some masking tape to see if it works.

 

I had the same problem with my late cat.
Unfortunately for us humans, cats can roam at any parallel or semi parallel surface at any height.
I was never able to satisfactorily solve the issue. I am all ears for any of your results.

 

Wait until the artificial intelligence crap is built-in the O.S. Meanwhile, masking the sensor properly should work. Or, get rid of the laziness, or, excommunicate the cats...

 

get rid of the laziness

Blasphemy!

 

Or, get rid of the laziness, or, excommunicate the cats...

You kidding ? ? ? She pays the bills. She has all the money. I just earn my keep. Spent the day building my clamps rack.

I will get to testing the OS this evening.
Cats will cooperate when THEY feel like it.

Are you referring to actual occupancy sensors or just PIR motion sensors?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lutron-Maestro-Single-Pole-Snow-2-Amp-Occupancy-Vacancy-Sensor/1002756588

 

masking the sensor properly should work.

Will Scotch Tape work ? (jk). Will experiment with black electrical tape. Once I have a good level I can get some aluminum tape and cut it to fit, install it and paint it white like the rest of the switch.

 

I have a similar problem in colder weather because then the difference in temperature is greater and so the squirrels set off the security lights, while in the summer they do not. I have not found a way to get around that. Inside it may be different if you have a motion sensor. Occupancy sensors are a different ball game. For motion sensors just block the line of sight.

 

Reduce the cat's temperature to ambient.

 

Paint seems like a poor choice because of it not being possible to correct any excess applied paint.
You could also experiment with just reducing the sensitivity using an optical filter like those cheap tinted sunglasses. The tinted plastic kind.

 

Reduce the cat's temperature to ambient.

LOL! Best suggestion here

 

You could also experiment with just reducing the sensitivity using an optical filter like those cheap tinted sunglasses.

Many common plastics act as a complete block at the long IR wavelengths used by common motion sensors (8-12µm).

 

Get a smaller cat.

 

@ MisterBill2,
O.P., said paint the tape or foil.

 

Before

After

OK, I feel pretty dumb for not just trying this outright.
SUCCESS. Now only world people set it off.

Paint seems like a poor choice because of it not being possible to correct any excess applied.

With a little masking tape I can easily cover parts NOT wanting paint and just paint the little bit that does show. There IS one more test I need to try and that's to see if light leakage comes from underneath the sensor. Pollux has run up the stairs hugging the wall and still managed to set it off. Castor, on the other hand, favors the far side of the staircase. Both critters have set it off in the past.

Will update even further when painted.

 

An alternative would be to connect a noisy bell or horn to give a blast when the sensor triggered. Soon the cats would figure what was happening and would avoid those areas. It works with dogs, anyway.

 

An alternative would be to connect a noisy bell or horn to give a blast when the sensor triggered. Soon the cats would figure what was happening and would avoid those areas. It works with dogs, anyway.

That's a non-starter for us. For me especially. The cat litter used to be kept upstairs. That got tracked all over the house in short order. So downstairs it went. It still gets tracked and sometimes even up the stairs. But it's easier to keep it under control. To be clear "I HATE STEPPING ON CAT LITTER". Even if it's dry litter, it's still uncomfortable.

Anyway, here's the final solution for now:

It works. Cats up and down the stairs does nothing. World people on the other hand DO trigger the light. And it's set to be on for only one minute as nobody hangs out on the stairs.

 

Moderators can close this thread. Problem solved.