New HA user here. I recently moved to Home Assistant after giving up on OpenHab2. By comparison, Home Assistant is amazing for its simplicity in configuration and compatibility with everything! I am glad I found it before moving to SmartThings. Openhab is frustrating to no end for beginners.
I am looking for some suggestions on door sensors to use with my new installation.
I am sure this question has been asked before, but I did some searching and could not find a consensus on what product works best.
@parsons256 I use Aeotec, and Ecolink dooor/window sensors. They are zwave based, and you need some sort of z-wave controller or hub. You can find other devices that I use here https://github.com/skalavala/smarthome
I have been using Xiaomi Aqara door sensors for a few months now and they are very good and small too. They use zigbee to communicate so you also need a hub. Xiaomi offer several devices with hub functionality including a camera and a socket but I use the hub with built in light and speaker (which I use as a night light and doorbell). I got all my bits from Gearbest and they are frequently on promotion, I got the hub for £17 and the door sensors were less than £4! (look out for coupon codes). I also have motion sensors and light switches from the range which replace a standard switch. Everything is very reliable and I’ve never had any problems. I don’t use the Mi Home app as everything works so well through home assistant. I’m so impressed that I’ve ordered some Aqara motorised curtains but the Chinese New Year means a longer wait for them to arrive!
+1 on @MartinB comments. I have used the Xiaomi products for a few months and they are very good. Easy to configure and very reliable. Battery life for now seems decent too.
Thanks so much for all the suggestions!
I didn’t realize there were so many cheaper options for sensors. I just picked up a HUE motion sensor for $50 recently, I just figured off the shelf sensors for HA would be in the same price range as well. Nice to see they are not
This might seem like a dumb question but is there any benefit to Zigbee or Zwave? Would there be any specific use case to go with one over the other for your sensors?
I have both the aeon zwave door sensor and the xiaomi door sensors. They work equally well but the cost / size of the xiamoi gear makes them the winner for me.
Is the gateway listed in it that same one you are using for a Zigbee hub?
Looking at gearbest product information it’s hard to tell if there is a Zigbee hub included or not
The package does include the hub I have, it’s the larger circular one. You set it up on WiFi and it then communicates with all the other devices by Zigbee. It’s worth noting that the power pins on the back are Chinese spacing so you will need an adapter to plug it into the mains. The mains switch (the large rectangle) also has Chinese power pins.
Another option is to get the camera, which also has a zigbee hub built in.
