Another cheap option is the Xiaomi LYWSD03MMC. I bought 4 of them for €12 together (including shipping) They need a bluetooth receiver (I use an esp32)
I also use the acurite sensors, I’ll add one to my order when I need to qualify for free shipping. Originally I went the DIY route but found these to be just as cheap once you bought the case and extremely accurite.
I use the XIAOMI Bluetooth sensors - high WAF as they also provide a local LCD display and report back their battery status also
The are a doddle to setup using a ESP32 with ESPHome - i have found the ESP32 has a range of about 10 metres and a couple of plaster walls to register these - i curently have a single ESP32 per floor (most of my internals walls are solid block) and have no issues monitoring them - i currently have 15 of them scattered over the 3 floors
I use a handful of the ZigBee based Aqara Temperature and Humidity Sensors. They are pretty reliable so far and battery is at 40% after 1.5 years.
Depending on the placement or distance to the ZigBee gateway you may need repeaters e.g. lights or plugs.
These sensors use a 433 MHz signal to transmit their measurements. You need a 433 MHz receiver that can decode these signals to be used in HA. The RFLink Gateway is one that integrates with HA. Read up on this integration on the HA website. There’s a link there to the RFLink web site where you can read more and purchase the gateway.
I’ve been trying to find the right receiver that I can simply plug in to my Pi via USB; is this the only thing that will work? If so, is there a North American store I can buy this from? If not, are there any other USB RFlink receivers?
Yep, that’s the kit…you will have to do some soldering or use the soldering service. Also get an enclosure from the same site. There is no US/NA shop…but they ship to the US. Takes about a week.
I didn’t see it mentioned, but I think the Aqara Weather Sensor (indoors) is fairly cheap and pretty.
It’s about 120 DKK (~20 USD) here in Denmark, runs on Zigbee, and works well with HA. It provides temperature, humidity, and pressure readings - its battery should last for approx two years (the package says so).
I have a few of these, one of them outside (under a roof - let’s see how long it actually lasts :D). Two of them are in my freezer and fridge - which works surprisingly well.
In my case I have bad experience with Aqara Weather, for example in this moment I have one in outdoor and says that the temperature is 7.5c however the real temperature is 5.5c This summer aqara said that the temperature was 37c and the real temperature was 40c,