Temperature sensor advice

Hardware
1

Hi,

I would like some advice on adding sensors to HA to improve automations.

To start with, we want to add temperature sensors. Currently we have Tado central heating and Daiking AC integrations in our HA, but we notice they report different temperatures, even they are located next to eachother.

While measuring for example the baby room with a handheld infrared temperature measuring device, we see that tado repport pretty correct temperature close to the radiator, but on the other side of the room it can be 2-3 degrees colder now that outside temperatures start dropping again.

Sometime we also use the Daikin AC for heating as hot air provide a more continuous temperature and the temperature is also same in entire room.

So beside the handheld device, we can pretty much guess the real temperatures in the rooms and want to fix this :slight_smile:

So here are my questions.

  1. Advice on good hardware
    Price/quality is important, prefer to pay bit more if the device is know to be good quality.
    Zigbee (prefered) or Z-Wave, but not WiFi devices.

  2. Zigbee “USB stick” for HA
    Currently all integrations are network/cloud integration, so Zigbee (or z-wave) are new to me. I run HA on Odroid H3, so no Zigbee support on the board.
    HA Connect ZBT1 (Skyconnect?) or another device?
    Also noticed sonnoff has the “Dongle Plus-E” for HA, is it better and if so, will it also allow devices from other manufactors?

  3. Zigbee gateways/bridges
    This is a big question mark to me. For example i been looking at the Sonoff SNZB-02D temperature sensor. On the site it mentions u need a Sonoff Zigbee bridge to make it work. Also other manufactors seem to mention u need theyre gateway or bridge.
    Can these devices work directly on for example the Skyconnect stick or do i need a bridge / gateway that is connector to the Skyconnect?

Kind regards,
Randy

2

I use a bunch of Xiaomi BLE thermo/hygrometers (LYWSD03MMC) around my house. Then you just need some BT proxies (esphome is one option) or if your HA board has BT that’s ok, too. They are battery powered (so you can place them anywhere), pretty accurate and cheap (AliExpress).

3

Advice on good hardware

Thinking ahead a bit, many motion sensors have temperature sensors in them (light sensors too), so if you are thinking of adding motion sensors later on, it might be a good idea to get them now. Philips Hue are Zigbee and very good quality (though more expensive than other brands).

USB stick vs gateway

Most people have one or the other for Zigbee - you don’t need both. A Zigbee stick should support devices from all manufacturers, but you need to do your research before you buy - some manufacturers add extra features to devices that go beyond the general spec. A gateway will only support devices from that manufacturer, but it should do so reliably.

A good way forward might be to start with a gateway and move to a USB stick when you are more confident. Again, the Philips Hue bridge is excellent - works pretty much out of the box and has a good integration with HA. If you decide to move to a stick later migrating is pretty straightforward.

There are a lot of good articles on Zigbee in the Home Assistant Cookbook.

Edit: You’re right to go for quality. Beware of cheap Chinese devices.

4

Hello! This YouTube video could be helpful for exploring small temperature sensors. Additionally, check out the recommended Zigbee hardware—it might provide some great options for your setup!