Troubleshooting Motion Sensors - High Occupancy / Not Dimming

Troubleshooting Motion Sensors - High Occupancy / Not Dimming

Summary

In certain instances, environmental factors within a facility can trigger the motion sensor and cause fixtures to remain in the active state when no human activity is present. This can result in excessive energy use.

Instructions

SiteWorx motion sensors use passive infrared (PIR) technology to detect movement within a field of view. Motion sensor sensitivity is determined by many factors including the direction of motion relative to the sensor, thermal background "noise" and line of sight from target to the motion sensor.  In simplified terms, fixtures detect motion based upon heat differentials and the movement of those heat differentials within the motion detection range.

In certain instances, environmental factors within a facility can trigger the motion sensor and cause fixtures to remain in the active state when no human activity is present.  Below is a list of potential sources of false triggering:
  1. HVAC equipment blowing hot or cold air
  2. HVAC vents causing the fixture to sway back and forth
  3. Hot or moving machinery
  4. Machinery exhaust
  5. Reflective surfaces that could reflect the light from the fixture back into the motion sensor
  6. Non-reflective surfaces in relatively close proximity to the fixture that could reflect the light from the fixture back into the motion sensor
  7. Anything that causes the movement of heat or hot/cold objects
If any sources of false-triggering are apparent, then it would be best to eliminate or reduce the motion sensors exposure to the source of false triggering.  Possibilities include addressing the source of false triggering or adjusting the fixture location.

Heatmap Reports can be useful for identifying fixtures that are being falsely triggered as the occupancies of the lights will be anomalous relative to surrounding fixtures. Useful times for running Heatmap reports are when the facility is known to be unoccupied. The playback mode for SiteWorx heatmaps can add some additional context to the occupancy data.


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