Tasmota PIR Motion Sensor with Home Assistant

Tasmota PIR Motion Sensor with Home Assistant

Build a WiFi-connected motion sensor that detects movement and publishes events via MQTT. Combined with Home Assistant, this enables motion-activated lights, alarms, presence detection, and energy-saving automations.

Why This Project

• Under $4 total cost with ESP-01S + AM312
• Instant motion detection via passive infrared
• Battery-friendly options with deep sleep
• Direct MQTT integration with Home Assistant
• Combine with other sensors — add temperature, humidity, or light level

PIR Sensor Options

Sensor	Voltage	Size	Sensitivity	Best For
AM312	2.7-12V	Tiny (10mm)	Fixed, 3m range	ESP8266 direct (3.3V safe)
HC-SR501	5-20V	Large (32mm)	Adjustable, 7m range	Standalone with 5V supply
MH-SR602	2.4-3.6V	Small (15mm)	Adjustable via resistor	Low-power, compact builds

Recommendation: AM312 for most builds — it runs on 3.3V and connects directly to ESP8266 without level shifting.

Components Required

Component	Purpose	Est. Cost
Wemos D1 Mini (or ESP-01S)	WiFi microcontroller	$2-4
AM312 PIR sensor	Motion detection	$0.80
Jumper wires	Connections	$0.20

Wiring (AM312 + D1 Mini)

AM312            Wemos D1 Mini
─────            ─────────────
VCC          →   3.3V
GND          →   GND
OUT          →   GPIO5 (D1)

Tasmota Setup

1. Flash Tasmota to the ESP board
2. Configuration → Configure Module
3. Set GPIO5 to Switch1
4. Apply these console commands:

# Set switch mode to follow (ON when motion, OFF when clear)
SwitchMode1 1

# Disable default switch-relay binding
SwitchTopic 0

# Create rule to publish motion via MQTT
Rule1 on Switch1#state=1 do publish stat/%topic%/PIR1 ON endon on Switch1#state=0 do publish stat/%topic%/PIR1 OFF endon

# Enable the rule
Rule1 1

DIY Multi-Sensor (PIR + DHT11)

Combine motion detection with temperature/humidity in one device:

• AM312 → GPIO5 (D1) — motion
• DHT11 → GPIO4 (D2) — temperature + humidity
• Both share 3.3V and GND
• 3D-printed enclosure available

Full guide: patrick-blom.de — DIY Multi-Sensor with Tasmota

Home Assistant Configuration

mqtt:
  binary_sensor:
    - name: "Living Room Motion"
      state_topic: "stat/tasmota_pir/PIR1"
      device_class: motion
      payload_on: "ON"
      payload_off: "OFF"

Automation Example

automation:
  - alias: "Motion-activated light"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.living_room_motion
        to: "on"
    action:
      - service: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.living_room

Compatible Boards

• Wemos D1 Mini — best balance of size and GPIO availability
• ESP-01S — smallest, cheapest option
• Sonoff BasicR2 — motion + relay in one (solder sensor to header)
• NodeMCU — most GPIOs for multi-sensor builds
• Any ESP32 board — for BLE + WiFi + motion combos