Setting Up Motion Sensors in TruLight
Bind and configure your new TruLight motion sensors so motion triggers your security lighting, including the reboot requirement, naming, zones, vitality periods, and how to test them.
This module walks you through binding and setting up your new TruLight motion sensors so they trigger your security lighting automatically. Motion detection is one of TruLight's newest features. Once it is set up, any motion during the hours you choose switches your lights to a security setting and then switches them back on its own. By the end, you will have your sensors bound, named, assigned to a zone, and running on a schedule you can test the same evening.
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Reboot your system correctly to open the 10-minute sensor binding window
- Bind one or more Bluetooth motion sensors to your system
- Name a sensor, assign it to a zone, and choose its security light setting
- Set a vitality period so the system only arms during the hours you want
- Test your sensors the same evening using a short vitality period
Reboot First and the 10-Minute Binding Window
Before you can bind any motion sensor, your TruLight system has to be rebooted. This opens a short window that the binding process depends on, and it is the number one step people miss.
Key Concepts
The 10-Minute Binding Window
The system uses a 10-minute timer for sensor binding. When you reboot the system, you have a 10-minute window from that moment to bind your sensors. If the window closes before you finish, just reboot again to start a fresh 10 minutes.
How to Reboot
Power the system all the way down. Unplug it or switch it off, not just the app. Then plug it back in or switch it on and let it boot up. As soon as it is back on, your 10-minute binding window has started, so go straight into the app and begin binding.
Action Step
Power your system off, let it fully shut down, then power it back on. The moment it boots, open the TruLight app so you are ready to bind within the 10-minute window.
Binding Your Motion Sensors
With the system freshly rebooted, you can bind your sensors. Motion sensors connect over Bluetooth, so where you stand during this step matters.
Key Concepts
Getting to Motion Detection
In the app, open Settings, then go to Motion Detection. Tap the + button to start adding a sensor.
Bluetooth Range Matters
The motion detectors are Bluetooth devices. If you are binding more than one sensor, you need to be in range of all of them at the same time. The easiest way is to stand roughly in the middle of your sensors so your phone can reach each one during binding.
Add and Bind
Tap Add, then tap Bind. Your sensor is now connected, and its settings appear, including a motion detector switch that turns the sensor on and off, and a vitality sensor option.
Action Step
Open Settings then Motion Detection, position yourself in the middle of your installed sensors, and tap +, then Add, then Bind. Confirm the sensor's settings screen appears before moving on.
Configuring What the Sensor Does
Once a sensor is bound, you tell it three things: what to call it, which lights it controls, and what those lights should do when it detects motion.
Key Concepts
Name the Sensor
You can name each motion sensor so you know which is which. Use the physical location as the name, for example Front for the sensor watching the front of the house. Clear names make it much easier to manage multiple sensors later.
Assign a Zone
Choose which zone the sensor controls. In the example, the front motion sensor is assigned to the front zone, so motion out front triggers the front lights. Match each sensor to the zone that covers the area it watches.
Choose the Security Light Setting
Pick what the lights do when the sensor trips. You can use any of your saved settings. In the example, the security setting is a simple pure white, found at the bottom under the architectural and bright white options. After you choose it, tap Save. Now when the sensor detects motion, those lights snap to pure white.
Action Step
Name your sensor after its location, assign it to the matching zone, and choose a clear security setting such as pure white. Tap Save. You will confirm it actually triggers in the testing lesson, once the vitality period is set.
Setting the Vitality Period and How Security Mode Behaves
The vitality period is the schedule that controls when your motion sensors are active. Outside this window the system ignores motion. Inside it, motion triggers your security lighting.
Key Concepts
What the Vitality Period Does
The vitality period sets the hours you want the system to arm and disarm. For example, you might set it from 10:00 PM to 4:00 AM. During those hours the system runs normally, either off or showing your accent lighting, but any motion it catches inside that window trips the security setting. After setting your period, toggle the switch on to enable it.
The Lights Switch Over and Back
When motion is detected, the system switches from whatever it was doing, for example your accent lighting, over to the security setting, then switches back to the previous setting on its own. You do not have to reset it manually.
The 2-Minute Cooldown
To keep the lights from flipping back and forth constantly, the system uses a roughly 2-minute cooldown. After it trips, it waits about 2 minutes before it will trip again. This keeps continuous motion from cycling the lights over and over.
Action Step
Set your vitality period to the hours you want security lighting active, for example 10:00 PM to 4:00 AM, and toggle the switch on. Double-check that you selected AM or PM correctly on both the start and end times.
Testing Your Sensors (and the Vitality Period Gotcha)
There is one timing quirk that surprises people when they first try to test motion sensors. Knowing it lets you confirm everything works the same evening you set it up.
Key Concepts
A Vitality Period You Are Already Inside Will Not Start Until Tomorrow
If you set a vitality period and the current time is already inside it, the system will not arm until the next day. For example, if you set a period of 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM but you create it at 9:00 or 10:00 PM, that period has technically already begun, so it will not activate until tomorrow night.
How to Test Right Now
To test your sensors immediately, set the vitality period to start just a minute or two from the current time. Once that start time arrives, the system arms, and you can walk in front of a sensor to confirm the lights switch to your security setting.
Action Step
Set a short test vitality period that starts one or two minutes from now. Wait for the start time, then walk past a sensor and confirm your lights switch to the security setting. Once confirmed, set your real schedule, for example 10:00 PM to 4:00 AM.
Summary
What You Learned:
- You must reboot the system to open a 10-minute window before binding sensors
- Motion sensors bind over Bluetooth, so stand in range of all of them, then use Settings, Motion Detection, +, Add, and Bind
- Each sensor gets a name, a zone, and a security light setting such as pure white
- The vitality period sets the hours the system arms; motion switches the lights to security and back, with a roughly 2-minute cooldown
- A vitality period you are already inside will not start until the next day, so use a short test window to confirm your setup right away
Next Steps:
Now that your motion sensors are tied into your security lighting, set up Timers to automate your everyday lighting schedule, or revisit Creating Zones to fine-tune which lights each sensor controls.