Hi, I’m thinking to add a door sensor to my thermostat automation, to avoid heating a room with the door open.
Therefore I searched a sensor that can tell me if the door is open or closed at any given time, but I seem to find only sensors that trigger an alarm when the door/windows is opened, but they don’t show the status (assuming the door always closed when the alarm is not triggered is not accurate for my purpose).
I read about some DIY project with some Arduino, but it seems that pinging the MQTT server with the door status wuold drain the battery very fast.
Anybody knows any sensor that can bu used (even flashing it with alternative firmware) for status monitoring purpose and not just for breach alarm?
If you want battery powered door/window sensors, I would suggest RF 433, Zigbee or Zwave rather than WiFi.
Or use powered sensors.
I have very good experience with Xiaomi door/winfow sensors (zigbee). The show the status of the door, extremely long battery life (mine run over 2 years now without changing a battery) and small form factor.
1 Like
Same here! Aquara door sensors with Zigbee2mqtt work very reliable.
thanks! I was considering the Xiaomi sensor, seen on some DIY guides, but it wasn’t clear if it shows the door status or just the events. Like: if I do restart HA, the door sensor will be updated automatically or it will when the next event occurs?
No DIY needed for the Xiaomi door sensors.
It shows the door status. When HA is restarted, it shows the last known state.
2 Likes
Just to give you some more insights. I have 15 door/window sensors in my setup, and except for 1 sensor that failed after a few days (probably a faulty device), I never had a false trigger in the last 2 years.
1 Like
Ditto on the Aqaras. They are my go-to for window/door and temp/humidity sensors. As long as your mesh network is built-out and stable (you will need repeaters unless you have a small, open home) you should have no problems. Much better bang-for-your-buck than any other similar sensor IMO, especially if you order straight from China.
However, I’m not sure what you mean by:
Therefore I searched a sensor that can tell me if the door is open or closed at any given time, but I seem to find only sensors that trigger an alarm when the door/windows is opened, but they don’t show the status (assuming the door always closed when the alarm is not triggered is not accurate for my purpose).
If you mean you have a door that can be “closed” or “open” in multiple positions (like a double sliding door that opens on either side), one aqara won’t work on its own because, as you say, it will read closed for one side while the other is open.
However, you could do it with two Aqara sensors and a binary template sensor. Or you could look at the Monoprice Z-wave door/window sensors, they allow the use of an external second switch for that use case.
Hi,
The Gs-wds07 (433mhz) sensor send a different signal when closing or opening for information. You can integrate it through a 433mhz gateway.