Some very cheap sensors on sale, < $10 USD.

[Michael McSharry]

I was in the exact same spot. I had used X10 for about 20 years and I had a pretty solid setup. Even as zwave started taking over I hung on to about 15 old X10 Hawkeye motion sensors because they worked well reliably,

While I have depreciated my X10 powerline several years ago I continue to use my X10 RF with W800 inerface and homebrew antenna mounted on garage ceiling. I have played with Iris Zigbee motion/temp sensor and find it provides the same detection speed as the hawkeye. I have not looked at others that are at a lower price point than the $25 Iris. I also use the X10 palmpad (16 buttons) when I do maintenance on irrigation so I can roam the yard and turn on/off valves. As long as it continues to perform well I have no reason to modernize.

I do agree that zigbee is the technology that is best suited for battery-operated devices. I find WiFi to be the best value for mains-powered devices such as lighting.

[jimbell]

1. On a Linux or Windows computer your network you need to have a zigbee interface. There are multiple, but the simplest is the USB one that I can provide for $10. On this computer the service Zigbee2MQTT is run.

2. On some computer (Linux or Windows) on your network you need to run a MQTT broker service. The most commonly used one is Mosquitto. Many places on the web that show how to install it. It actually does not need to be on your LAN, but somewhere on the WAN to which you have access. I run two locations in different states with one MQTT broker.

3. On some computer (Linux or Windows) on your network you need to run HomeSeer3.

4. On some computer (Linux or Windows) on your network you need to run mcsMQTT HS3 plugin.

The communication among 1,2, and 4 is IP using MQTT protocol. The communication between 3 and 4 is IP using the HS3 API.

Zigbee networks typically consist of zero or more routers and one coordinator. I flash the USB Dongle so it acts as a coordinator. I have also flashed them to operate as router. Quite often mains-powered devices, such as a light bulb, will also act a a router as well as a node. The routers can be anywhere within the Zigbee RF range and improve the total distance that may be covered by Zigbee.

From mcsMQTT you can selectively bridge HS devices (or via events) to specific Zigbee nodes or groups so it is transparent at the user level that the devices are Zigbee vs. any other technology. Communication is bidirectional so HS can control and HS can obtains status.

Yesterday I collected the supported Zigbee devices from the three main players for non-cloud operation. It is at https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/ho...ported-devices



I do not have door sensor. I do use many water leak sensors that were put in service in early January. I think they are suppose to run a year or so on a cheap 2032 button cell. They report battery status and are still reporting above 90%. Report is delivered about once an hour.
I also have a Zigbee remote (RGBGenie) that uses the same battery. I really have not used it that much but have had to replace the battery already after about two months. I don't recall what they advertised for battery life, but it was more than two months.

Mike,
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question in great detail. I should have stated that I already am using your excellent MQTT plugin on my hs3 system.

[mikepetro]

Can anybody offer an opinion on the battery life of these devices when they are in a somewhat heavily used application? Like the door sensor installed on your most used door.

Also, do these devices report battery level? I've come to realize that this is a requirement for me in terms of battery powered devices. My insteon devices don't report but the z-wave devices do.

I have Insteon door sensors that are really bad on batteries. One of my most used door sensors I have to replace every 2-3 months. Z-wave seems much better. Have z-wave on another heavily used door and it hasn't been replaced in over a year.

So far the zigbee sensors have been great on batteries, I have several in very high traffic areas, but temper that in that I have only 3 months of usage. They advertise 1-2 year battery life and I believe it based on what I have seen so far.

Also, most of the sensors use very common (and cheap) button batteries like the cr2032, instead of the expensive batteries used by most zwave sensors.
Yes, they do report battery level.

The thing is that the zigbee sensors are low power, so low energy consumption, vs zwave. The down side is most zigbee sensors only have about a 21ft range so you need repeaters every ~20ft to ensure a good mesh network if you have a large area to cover. I added 7 repeaters (Ikea USB repeaters ~$11) to a 3300 sqft home and I now have very solid coverage.

[mikepetro]

Well I hate to date myself, but I probably have 20+ X10 laying around that I need to eventually swap out with something.

Have half dozen Zwave, and half dozen zigbee added within the last year.

Would be nice to be able to control the zigbee's, so this may be the ticket. When I was buying the troller, I got the distinct impression that there wasn't a Homeseer zigbee solution yet.....but that seems to be incorrect.

I was in the exact same spot. I had used X10 for about 20 years and I had a pretty solid setup. Even as zwave started taking over I hung on to about 15 old X10 Hawkeye motion sensors because they worked well reliably, and the cost of zwave motion sensors was high, not to mention very short battery life. When I found the Jowihue plugin, and saw the price of (and long battery life) of zigbee sensors, I jumped on it.

Now I have about 15 (and growing) zigbee motion sensors, a few temp sensors, and even started playing with the RGBW lights. I am extremely pleased, and turned off X10 once and for all, and I dont miss it.

The cost of zigbee sensors damn near makes them disposable, kind of what X10 used to be back in the old days.

[Michael McSharry]

Can you provide more info about the USB dongle/zigbee2mqtt and mcsMQTT. With this solution do you have to have any zigbee on the homeseer controller or is the communications strictly MQTT?

1. On a Linux or Windows computer your network you need to have a zigbee interface. There are multiple, but the simplest is the USB one that I can provide for $10. On this computer the service Zigbee2MQTT is run.

2. On some computer (Linux or Windows) on your network you need to run a MQTT broker service. The most commonly used one is Mosquitto. Many places on the web that show how to install it. It actually does not need to be on your LAN, but somewhere on the WAN to which you have access. I run two locations in different states with one MQTT broker.

3. On some computer (Linux or Windows) on your network you need to run HomeSeer3.

4. On some computer (Linux or Windows) on your network you need to run mcsMQTT HS3 plugin.

The communication among 1,2, and 4 is IP using MQTT protocol. The communication between 3 and 4 is IP using the HS3 API.

Zigbee networks typically consist of zero or more routers and one coordinator. I flash the USB Dongle so it acts as a coordinator. I have also flashed them to operate as router. Quite often mains-powered devices, such as a light bulb, will also act a a router as well as a node. The routers can be anywhere within the Zigbee RF range and improve the total distance that may be covered by Zigbee.

From mcsMQTT you can selectively bridge HS devices (or via events) to specific Zigbee nodes or groups so it is transparent at the user level that the devices are Zigbee vs. any other technology. Communication is bidirectional so HS can control and HS can obtains status.

Yesterday I collected the supported Zigbee devices from the three main players for non-cloud operation. It is at https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/ho...ported-devices

Can anybody offer an opinion on the battery life of these devices when they are in a somewhat heavily used application?

I do not have door sensor. I do use many water leak sensors that were put in service in early January. I think they are suppose to run a year or so on a cheap 2032 button cell. They report battery status and are still reporting above 90%. Report is delivered about once an hour.
I also have a Zigbee remote (RGBGenie) that uses the same battery. I really have not used it that much but have had to replace the battery already after about two months. I don't recall what they advertised for battery life, but it was more than two months.

[logbuilder]

Can anybody offer an opinion on the battery life of these devices when they are in a somewhat heavily used application? Like the door sensor installed on your most used door.

Also, do these devices report battery level? I've come to realize that this is a requirement for me in terms of battery powered devices. My insteon devices don't report but the z-wave devices do.

I have Insteon door sensors that are really bad on batteries. One of my most used door sensors I have to replace every 2-3 months. Z-wave seems much better. Have z-wave on another heavily used door and it hasn't been replaced in over a year.

[jimbell]

I have been very happy with Xiamoi water leak sensor that I obtained from Gearbest for $9 a month or-so ago. About the size of a Silver Dollar so smaller than the Zwave one and uses a standard coin cell. Zigbee range has been very good. I interfaced it with $10 USB dongle/zigbee2mqtt and mcsMQTT. The devices report periodic status including batter level and RF signal strength every 50 minutes-or-so and of course the water detection event immediately.

When I was reading about zigbee vs. zwave the biggest advantage I saw was that zigbee networks are self-healing in 30 ot 60 minutes while zwave needs to be manually setup to add back a node that lost its connectivity.

Can you provide more info about the USB dongle/zigbee2mqtt and mcsMQTT. With this solution do you have to have any zigbee on the homeseer controller or is the communications strictly MQTT?

[Michael McSharry]

yes, provide shipping address to mcsSolutions at CenturyTel dot net

[outbackrob]

CC2531 that has been flashed with zigbee firmware per https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqt...etting-started. For most it is likely easier and lower cost to give me your email address and I will send one already flashed for $10. I ordered some from China at around $5 each. I also 3D-printed a case. USPS charges $3.50 for US and about $15 for international shipping. US shipping has typically been 3 days. International was 7 days. Right now I have a only one that has not been shipped. I did order more from China, but don't expect to get them until after Christmas. There are all sorts of these available on the web at a wide price range. Delivery times are the issue as they come from China. I'm just trying to make it easier for those who are interested.

Hi Michael. Are you still making and shipping the

CC2531 ZigBee boxes?

[NetworkGuy]

this works awesome for me, it controls both lights in my living room as well as my gas fireplace.
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/...-art-30338849/

Paul.

Thanks Paul. Looks like a nice device! I've checked the US Ikea site, but didn't find that item available unfortunately. :-(

EDIT: Never mind, I seemed to have found it! Thanks, Paul!

[sirbooker]

this works awesome for me, it controls both lights in my living room as well as my gas fireplace.
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/...-art-30338849/

Paul.

[NetworkGuy]

i had some issues at first with 10 sensors and no lights/routers
i picked up 2 repeaters from ikea $9.00 cdn moved 2 lights from hue over to raspbee and it has been rock solid since.
i tested 2 of my water leak sensors last night after a month in service and everything worked great.
i too am lovin Zigbee Cheap sensors !

That's what I've heard, and that's my hope as well - cheap alternative to sensors and other devices! Right now I have next to nothing Zigbee. I did add a light in my bedside lamp, but now I must turn it off/on with my phone. Not very convenient, so I'd like to get some type of button/remote that I can use to turn on/off and/or dim my lamp.

Anyone have a good suggestion for a button or remote that will turn on/off/dim my lamp?

[sirbooker]

i had some issues at first with 10 sensors and no lights/routers
i picked up 2 repeaters from ikea $9.00 cdn moved 2 lights from hue over to raspbee and it has been rock solid since.
i tested 2 of my water leak sensors last night after a month in service and everything worked great.
i too am lovin Zigbee Cheap sensors !

[NetworkGuy]

Turns out Woot.com is selling the CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 B+ 32GB Ultimate Starter Kit (today only), so I ordered one. I then ordered the Raspbee card from Amazon. And I also grabbed the SD card image from the Dresden site too. I'm going to give it a try putting it together and see how it works. If it's accessible via wireless, it's better than the Philips' Hue Bridge.

[NetworkGuy]

just get yourself a raspberrry pi 3 which has wifi then just plug the zigbee module in it will take you 2 seconds.
then download the image file from dresden site and burn it to a sd card.
boot it up hard wired to start and set it up from there.
if you have any question just ask i will be happy to help.
i am new to all this as well and was a little over whelmed at first.
Paul.

Appreciate the post. I'll look a little closer into the Phoscon Gateway, but also into putting together a Pi. I'd probably buy a (Pi) kit with case and power supply.

Any recommendation for a good kit with everything needed (except the Raspbee)?