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.
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.
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