Motion Sensor Light Switch With Manual Override

In principle a simple light switch has two contacts which interrupt the current flow in the off state and pass it through in the on state.

Motion sensor light switch with manual override.

This is a wiring diagram for a motion sensor controlled shop light led using a single pole double throw 3 position switch. The only thing this that you d need to turn the spst switch off and hit the manual override button on the motion sensor to turn the lights off immediately if you d previously had them held on. The light will then remain on and will not go off until you manually turn it off at the switch. Using this wiring set up you can override the sensor to be off all the time on all the time or controlled by the motion sensor.

The output of a motion detector is also a simple switch with the same functionality. If both switches are now connected in parallel the closed switch will always override the open switch. This is a pretty common use case now many people have a motion sensor set to automatically turn the lights off after inactivity but they want the manual wall switch to override that rule. This is done by turning the light switch off on off on in quick succession.

If you are unsure find the switch by testing all the available switches before you fiddle with the on time button. I think the most common way to do this is with webcore which is a very sophisticated rules engine developed by the community. Yes most sensors will have the ability to override the sensor function altogether and operate the light manually as necessary.