One of the best Amazon holiday deals you can still get is on the Aqara P1 motion sensor. This affordable gadget acts as the eyes of your smart home, sensing movement and then telling connected devices to take action automatically. I just recently wrote about how I use mine to turn on lights, receive notifications when mail gets delivered, and even start brewing a cup of coffee in the morning.
Right now, you can get the Aqara P1 Motion Sensor for $18 at Amazon. (Click the on-page digital coupon to get this price at checkout). This is over 25% off its normal price and the perfect time to pick up a few for each room in your home.
Just sync this infrared sensor up with your smart home platform of choice (Alexa, IFTT, HomeKit, etc.) and you're off. It accurately detects when something moves past it and can use this motion to trigger events. That way you can tell it to take a specific action such as send a push notification to your smart home devices or automatically turn on the lights when you walk into a room. While its wide 170-degree field of view detects movement from up to 23 feet away, it can be configured to detect motion in closer zones.
You can really get into the weeds to configure it to work between certain hours or adjust the cooldown period from 1 to 200 seconds to reduce energy usage. In addition to sensing your movement, the P1 has a built-in light sensor that can be used to turn on lights at certain times such as when you go to the bathroom or use a set of stairs at night.
Aqara's sensor is compact and can be mounted on surfaces with its included stand or sit flat virtually anywhere. I have mine placed on tabletops, looking down from a ledge, and installed on a wall. Its battery lasts up to five years even in cold conditions so you can add it to areas like your sunroom or garage. This is one of my favorite smart home tools because it saves me the time and effort of using voice commands or taking out my phone to get things done.
