Outside Wood Fence Gate - Aeotec Door Sensor 7

[ts1234]

Just a post since there had been a conversation about sensors on outdoor gates a bit back...

In mid-May I ordered a Aeotec Door Sensor 7, drilled the hole in my gate as specified and covered the end with a pass of electrical tape across the top and one around the cylinder. I'm not a big fan of the tape approach, but battery life is supposed to be 2 years so not really that much of an ongoing mess/hassle, and one wrap is pretty minor. I also colored the opposing part of the sensor with a sharpie so it would not show as much.

This has worked flawlessly so far for over 2 months though I know winter will be the real test. We've have had plenty of high wind storms with both strong rain and thunder though. My monoprice vibration sensors have worked well year round outside on my window wells so my hope is the will too.... BUT they do experience false triggers from lightning, bumping them doing yard work, etc. In this case that really sucks since when they trigger they set off the kind of alarms and lights you'd expect with an intrusion event. Eventually, I'll likely replace those with these, but that means drilling the 3/4 in hole in concrete, which is no big deal but a chore I don't particularly like to do.

The installation is all but invisible (see image). I didn't say pretty. I'm sure I'll do better next time. The first time I tried I sealed around it with caulk since I was leaving their cap on and that was messy and a waste of time.

For me, since someone could just jump over the fence if they really wanted in this seems an easy/quick/simple and hopefully stable long term solution.

My only other comment is I can't wait until the z-wave market starts to have more products that are actually made for outdoor environments.

[jbfoster]

Looks good. The sensor looks pretty well protected. I don't see why it wouldn't last for years there.

Jim

[mulu]

You said "bumping them doing yard work, etc. In this case that really sucks since when they trigger they set off the kind of alarms and lights you'd expect with an intrusion event". If you don't have an alarm system then I would create a "virtual" one that indicates if you are at home or not. Only when you are not home will this sensor set the alarm. It won't help with the lightning but at least you can eliminate some false alarms.

[mulu]

Btw, I think I will do the same. That's a pretty good idea and they are z-wave, too. Just kind of expensive at $35 each. I will need 2 for the gates and I am thinking of adding one for the shed. Except the door for the shed doesn't close well so I am not sure they would work. Thinking about it, the structure of the door doesn't lend itself for those sensors.

[ts1234]

Thanks Jim...hope so!

Mulu ...Thanks and you're right. I do have several house modes and they do alarm differently. Sometimes I go out my door without changing it on the wall tablet.. The lightning at 2am when the house knows I'm sleeping is a little tougher to deal with though. Usually, my wife isn't very pleased either.

[ts1234]

Just thought I'd update this saying 1/2 way through a Denver winter and these haven't missed a beat. I recently added a couple to replace my older triangle shaped Aeotec sensor on my front and back door since these don't show. It sure is nice to not have to recharge them constantly.

One side comment...I'm not sure if it an HS4 problem or an Aeotec problem with Gen 7 devices, but it was a real fight to get these to add any other way non secure mode.

[Uncle Michael]

.... BUT they do experience false triggers from lightning, bumping them doing yard work, etc. In this case that really sucks since when they trigger they set off the kind of alarms and lights you'd expect with an intrusion event.
. . . someone could just jump over the fence if they really wanted in. . .

I'm sure you have a good reason for wanting a noisy alarm if someone opens your gate, but a text message to your phone along with an obvious event that lets an intruder know that their presence has been detected might be just as useful . . .unless you are expecting an armed attack or something. I assume you have your house locked and alarmed as well.

[ts1234]

Uncle Michael - No audible alarms go off as long as the house mode is sleeping or less. That only happens if we're both away. It does send a text. What it does while we sleep is turn on lights. It really doesn't matter what the device type trigger is for the wife if it means there's a needless false alert that wakes her up .

Verses the vibration sensors ...these have been awesome. Not a single false trigger since last May. They are relatively cheap and being Gen 7 have fantastic battery life. The latter being really important since nighttime temps in the teens suck the life out of a battery. PS-Not expecting an armed attack...but expensive patio furniture and BBQ grills have been known to disappear.

[mulu]

<snip> and being Gen 7 have fantastic battery life. <snip>

What z-wave controller do you have? I am asking because it was my understanding to take advantage of the low power consumption one must have a z-wave controller based on the 700 chip set.I am actually waiting for HS to release the new z-wave stick which was supposed to come out end of 2020. Not that I expected it to be release then.......

[ts1234]

mulu - 100% chance ur right if this is something you know. I'd assumed the transmitting device itself determined that and used less power. Either way, I'm still on my first battery. My vision sec vibration sensors died long ago. They are still on my basement window well screens, but you can't open them from the outside and I have motion detection as well. It has been a while, but I think they even use the same battery type.

[ts1234]

mulu - what I got back from Aeotec on battery life of a Gen 7 device in a Gen 5 network...

Gen7 will benefit the battery life of the sensor regardless of the hub it is used with, so that part is not affected because this is based on hardware where communication from a Gen7 is much more efficient than Gen5. The hardware of Gen7 itself still consumes less power reporting Z-Wave communication than it does with gen5, so there are still benefits to using Gen7 hardware.

[mulu]

ts1234 Thanks for that input. That's great news. I thought the low-power Gen7 communication could only be used with a corresponding 700 series controller. I guess that's not the case and your experience regarding battery life is supporting that. I actually just installed one of those sensors about a month ago. I plan to add another one to the other gate.

[ts1234]

You do lose range since the Gen 7 is a 150% improvement...in the EU I think even more...something like a 250% There's no improvement with a Gen 5 on one end. I'd like to think since Habitat has a Gen 7 version hub HS will try to keep up. They "claim" many devices will have batteries that will last a decade, but I find that hard to believe. I will say, a bunch of my stuff is battery power and that's pretty much the suckiest part of taking care of my network. Back when we could actually travel (sigh) it was always a last minute rush to recharge things and put in new batteries. The funny thing is my Aeotec rechargeable door contacts were just about the most annoying thing from that perspective.

[Corvl1]

BUT they do experience false triggers from lightning, bumping them doing yard work, etc. In this case that really sucks since when they trigger they set off the kind of alarms and lights you'd expect with an intrusion even

I solved this with an event, only to fire when the gate is open for more than 2 seconds. Filters out the wind and bumping into it. If someone wants to go through it, it needs to be open a longer time.

Cor

[ts1234]

Corvl1 - Cool. Could you post that? My vibration sensors just came on and stay active like motion detectors. I'm curious what you do to get around that. With the Aeotec contact sensors the gate actually has to be opened. Things like vibration from thunder never trigger them.