For D1 mini I use USB power supply to mains
And a commonly available USB power supply is the one from IKEA. It is working well while being cheap and safe unlike a lot of the cheap shit from China.
For D1 mini I use USB power supply to mains
And a commonly available USB power supply is the one from IKEA. It is working well while being cheap and safe unlike a lot of the cheap shit from China.
Great. That also sounds like the most appealing option for me, since I am not at all comfortable in adressing the power management of a battery-powered D1 mini just yet. Is this the charger you are referring to:
I whole heartedly agree on getting mains-connected items from China. Iād rather not
Oh. They have one even cheaper now? I bought 10 of the one with 3 outputs because it is powerful enough to run a Raspberry Pi. It is 59 DKK as I remember. And I saw a tear down of it on Youtube that it is made properly. But I am sure the single output is also OK for a D1 mini. And I am sure all IKEA products meet basic safety standards even if it is produced in China. The advantage of the 3 output is that it has enough power to also drive a servo motor like I use for my toilet flusher
There are lots of options for wireless that IMHO are in the same class as wifi devicesā¦ a router translates wifi to ether so HA can read it (mqtt component)ā¦ a zwave stick translating zwave to serial (ozw integration)ā¦ not very different from using an arduino to translate X wireless protocol to serial so HA can see it (serial sensor component). The problem though with most of these diy/arduino wireless systems (ie, esp lora, 'duino 433 & 2.4, etcā¦) is a lack of encryption. So for alarm sensors, I think the best choices will be in the wifi and zwave arenas (zigbee recently was found vulnerable to drive-by hacksā¦ details are vague to determine how this may affect HA, but until we get a green light Iād avoid zigbee for alarms for now).
FWIW, D1 minis are a poor choice if battery is a requirement. I like d1 minis anywhere there is mains power, z-wave mostly everywhere elseā¦ with a handful of DIY bare esp+esphome battery powered PIR devices (that donāt see heavy trafficā¦ like 5-10/day). If you have an area that doesnāt have heavier traffic (like 30+/day), and you donāt mind playing with bare esp modules, the latter is a perfect solution, that can last years on an 18650.
If soldering/programming isnāt your thing, youād be fine with zwave for battery devices. I prefer the ecolink pet-proof motion sensors. For doors/windows, I prefer ecolink door sensors. The door sensors are bulky looking, but Iāve tried the sehksier looking aeotec recessed sensors, and they donāt even come close to the reliability of the ecolinks. All of the ecolink stuff Iāve tried so far has been easy to integrate, the batteries last forever, and they are rock solid stable (no affiliationā¦ just sharing my personal experience). Also a nice feature of their door sensors is the screw terminals that you can use for external sensors. Say you have a window with 3 openings. Instead of buying a $40 device for each opening, just get one, and wire 2 cheap reed switches (in serial) to 1 device. That can cover all 3 openings with only one zwave node. Also you can cut out the built in reed switch to use a remotely located reed switch instead (I did this on my breaker panelā¦ since wireless gets blocked by the metal case, the device had to be mounted away from the panel doorā¦ a wired reed sensor was a perfect solution for that).
Anyhow, I think this is getting tldrā¦ hope you find stuff that works well!
Just wanted to add a thought I spotted in another thread about home security - āif someone decided to break into your house, theyāll do this way or the other so there is little sense in being too paranoid about insecure communications between your sensors and a gatewayā.
And I know stories about thieves who had only 15-20 mins and yet managed to take a lot and get away.
So the point is perhaps you need a not too complicated (easy to use) home alarm but itās very important to make your house look āprotectedā and not empty so they just go elsewhere. And if they get in - make it as difficult as possible for them to stop any audio-visual alarms (which will trigger if you use even a simple combination of door/PIR sensors).
This is very trueā¦ at the end of the day what is preferable is a good deterrent vs securing keys, because even a fortress will be had to some extent with a quick grab and go. Quality cameras are an excellent deterrentā¦ beware most professional criminals can tell the real deal from the fakes/toys. I donāt bother with the āADT signāā¦ if they care, a criminal will know if you just stole a sign from your neighbor or not. I also have a well trained dog with a deep loud barkā¦ and of course motion lighting on the exterior. All of these things together will convey that your house is not worthwhile target.
Failing the deterrentsā¦ it can definitely help having the big commotion of flashing lights and loud sirens that put pressure on said thieves if they do decide to go for it. I have known many criminals that had all day to plan out getting appliances on a truckā¦ they wonāt do that with sirens/lights and neighbors coming out their front door, LOL! Of course, if they could crack the alarm system, theyād be in the former situation with lots more time to do damage. Itās these kind of break ins that can result in bigger lossesā¦ consider the cost of appliances etc, vs a crackhead smashing the window and running out with an xbox on one of your bikes. Securing the alarm remains something to consider when it comes to professional thieves (theyāre the ones that will truly ruin your dayā¦ and a lot of them take time to carefully study cracking various alarm systemsā¦ same guys were the ones using decade counters to open dip switch secured garage doors in the 80āsā¦ their methods have matured with tech and Iām sure the good ones are studying the zha drive-by right now).