Background:
I have a “dumb” electronic awning facing East that I installed in July of this year. I control it via RF using a Bond Bridge. I have a rule in Node-Red to close the awning if the wind speed detected by my Ecowitt Wittboy weather station is either a constant speed above 10mph or a gust above 15mph. When this rule triggers it also announces over my Amazon Echoes that “the awning is closing due to high winds”. In addition to my weather station, I have the “dumb” wind sensor which came with my awning setup to close the awning when the wind speed detected at the awning by this sensor is over its respective limit. Lastly, in order to reduce the change of damage to the awning for wind gusts I have a rule that every 30 minutes from 10:30AM to 1PM partially retracts the awning to reduce its surface area and thus its wind exposure.
Issue Statement:
I want to detect that the awning is closed. Beyond obvious reasons, I want to be able to prevent the announcement if the awning is already closed. Additionally, I want to set up a rule that will determine if the awning should be reopened based on the time of day, wind speeds over the last five minutes, and if it is currently raining (my weather station has a rain sensor). These activities are all dependent on knowing if the awning is currently closed.
Request:
I’m looking for ideas on how I can detect if my electronic awning is closed. The best idea I can come up with is to use a waterproof contact sensor (zwave or zigbee). I was wondering if there are any other suggestions out there that might be better than a contact sensor.
Below are pictures of my awning setup so you can get a sense of what is possible.
