I already have some zigbee devices,
and up until now I also had Phillips hue motion sensors SML002 outdoor.
Our house is now being replastered,
which would give me the opportunity to switch to wired devices,
someone here has had good experiences.
A minimum of 4 sensors are required (to cover all four sides of the house), preferably for each room’s exterior wall.
Conditions:
Zigbee router device
Suitable for outdoor use
Lux
optional but desirable temperature
not too big
or an adequate alternative, e.g. wired sensors that I connect centrally to an ESP, here it would have to be considered that cable lengths per sensor would be up to 40 meters.
To my knowledge there aren’t many outdoor zigbee sensors that sensors lux other than the ones you already have. I have never seen any that run on mains power and are rated for outdoor usage either.
I’ve been using several Z-Wave Plus Aeotec Trisensor for a few years now, works very well and can be powered by USB. They provide, Light (Lux), Temperature and Motion. I know it’s no Zigbee, but could be an alternative if your search comes up empty.
I think the idea of the Z-Wave Plus Aeotec Trisensor is not bad, unfortunately I don’t have any Z-Wave devices yet, so I don’t have a Z-Wave Mesh, which makes me think about the distance between the different devices. I’ll keep your suggestion in mind.
Add a weather station, most have lux and lots of other stuff. I did Ecowitt, but there are many choices in many price ranges and you will be happier with the result.
If I think about it for a moment, …
no, unfortunately it doesn’t make sense,
I have no use for 4 weather stations,
and they’re too big for me.
But maybe your thought will give other one
other ideas or possibilities.
I have the issue that my weather station which provides a Lux value is in my south facing back garden, and I have my indoor light brightness controlled by the Lux reading. But in the evening the sun moves around to the West and then the North. So the lights inside come on but the Sun is streaming in the windows at the North of the house.
I use a sensor that uses the Max value of both sensors so that when the garden says the lights need to come on, the sensor of the front of the house says - no, they don’t.
I currently have 4 Philipp Hue motion SML002, ä
one for each outside wall, which works well.
If a lux value is exceeded + the sun is in a certain azimuth + the respective interior temperature is exceeded then shading is activated.
If the sun is outside a defined azimuth or the lux value falls below a value for period X then shading is reset.
As I said, the house is being re-plastered and so I thought cables inside the wall would be an option and wired sensors normally deliver more stable values.
But I’m open to any new ideas, maybe my approach is completely wrong.
I know about aqara, I already have some sensors and actuators from it, can you tell me whether it would also be suitable for outdoor use in a protected area, but the battery probably won’t last long on cold days.
Because having a sensor inside the room makes no sense, as the shading would start once and that would be it. After that the room would be dark. The sensor no longer knows whether the sun is shining or not.
Mine is outside. I put some Velcro (hook and loop) on the outside window frame of my upstairs North facing window, and then some on the sensor. It’s survived rain, cold and wind. It reports every 30 seconds or so, and lasted well over a year on it’s original battery.