Note that this is not limited to Aqara devices. I had a Hue dimmer switch that worked flawlessly for 12 months… then something changed (perhaps a Deconz update? A reboot? not sure…) and it started eating batteries – about 20% a day.
Replaced it with a new one… and it works fine (shrug).
You replaced the whole switch?
It seems, this is also my case. Drop has stopped after a week at approx 50%.
Are you using the Aqara hub or ZHA? What is acting as the routers for the sensors? I have noticed a big difference switching from sonoff to thirdreality. Sonoff seems to drain the battery.
Has anyone figured out what is going on with these sensors that are draining so quickly? I have one of the zigbee temp sensors connected via ZHA and it dropped 20% in one day!
I see that quite a bit too. Is the battery cell dropping voltage initially but then levelling out for most of the rest of its life? What’s the science behind what’s happening here?
I think it’s temperature and the way the battery percentage is calculated.
I have found this article now searching for something entirely different, but I have several Aqara Temp/humidity sensors and I have found the 2032 batteries in them easily last 12 to 18 months, some even longer. IF you have them in a Fridge or Freezer, then yes they will last a less time because the batteries don’t like the cold, though my fridge sensor still lasts on average 10 to 12 months. Freezer one is about 6 months though, but I expected that due to the cold.
Battery % is very hard to calculate as different conditions will cause the battery voltage, which is used to calculate percentage, to drop at various rates. A room 5 degrees (on average) lower than another room may show a quicker drop initially. Use the % as a guide to when to replace, not as an absolute value.
Another thing to bare in mind is not all batteries ( or more correctly, cells in this case) are created equally and some will perform a lot worse than others. If you want decent battery life, especially in harsher conditions ( like a fridge / freezer) then you need to make sure you get good quality cells. From my own experience, the flea bay specials (even if they are sold as one of the “brand” names (usually fake) ) tend to last about 1 to 2 months in my freezer sensor, where a genuine brand name bought from the local hardware store will last at least 6 months in the same conditions.
I think that part in the title to “stay away from these devices” is misleading.
Of course OP is not pleased and could have discussed this before making such a statement, which apparently, is not consistent with general experiences.
