Aeotec's new Temperature and Humidity Sensor-"aerQ"

[Atticka]

Any luck getting the aerQ working well? I now have three I'm trying to setup and I'm not getting regular temp readings...

[NetworkGuy]

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cr2450&ref=nb_sb_noss

Thanks for the link! I searched in duckduckgo and found some links, but didn't see Amazon one you shared. Guess I should have started there 😃.

Thank you!

[TC1]

is Spud part of Homeseer? I thought he was a third party developer.

He's taken over several official HS plug-ins, so either they hired him or he's a contract worker.

[mikedr]

Agreed 1000%. Spud is a great programmer, but it's obvious his attention is being pulled to other issues/projects. The Zigbee ecosystem is a mature and huge market, it will take them forever to catch up to support all the devices being used by a majority of folks.

is Spud part of Homeseer? I thought he was a third party developer.

[TC1]

Thanks, I will give either gearbest or aliexpress a try. I am looking at the Aqara motion sensor battery (cr2450). They can be as much as $5-6/battery (e.g. Target and Amazon). For 2 years, that may not be too bad though.

Any good place to buy reasonably priced cr2450 batteries for the motion sensors?

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cr2450&ref=nb_sb_noss

[NetworkGuy]

I use aliexpress exclusively and just get it the cheapest way possible. It can take weeks to get. However I never choose to get them shipped from RU, ES or anywhere else. Just get the ones coming from China whether you use gearbest or aliexpress. IMO

I order from Gearbest all the time, no need for special shipping. As racerfern said, just don't expect Amazon delivery times. They do provide tracking updates, just be patient.

Thanks, I will give either gearbest or aliexpress a try. I am looking at the Aqara motion sensor battery (cr2450). They can be as much as $5-6/battery (e.g. Target and Amazon). For 2 years, that may not be too bad though.

Any good place to buy reasonably priced cr2450 batteries for the motion sensors?

[TC1]

I don't understand why the HS folks are trying to build their own zigbee functionality. They aren't leveraging deconz or other existing tools, and the experience is not very good. Maybe the could pay Wim to support his excellent plug and make it part of the baseline package. It would be better use of resources than the existing effort.

Agreed 1000%. Spud is a great programmer, but it's obvious his attention is being pulled to other issues/projects. The Zigbee ecosystem is a mature and huge market, it will take them forever to catch up to support all the devices being used by a majority of folks.

[fresnoboy]

One other nice thing about the Jowihue PI and the Conbee2 is that it's easy to run them on a remote device like a raspberry pi. Deconz runs well on the RPi, so I can remote my Zwave stick (like a ZNET) and the zigbee controller and stick it in the best place for the mesh. I run HS3 on a guest VM on server in the basement, and that's not the best place for sticking these RF based Mesh network hubs! In fact, you can have multiple hubs located in different places and both the Zwave and Jowihue plugin can use multiple controllers.

Pretty nifty and works well when set up.

I don't understand why the HS folks are trying to build their own zigbee functionality. They aren't leveraging deconz or other existing tools, and the experience is not very good. Maybe the could pay Wim to support his excellent plug and make it part of the baseline package. It would be better use of resources than the existing effort.

[TC1]

Never ordered from Gearbest, but want to get a few of the temp/humidity sensors. For Gearbest ordering, anyone recommend using the "Shipping Guarantee"?

I order from Gearbest all the time, no need for special shipping. As racerfern said, just don't expect Amazon delivery times. They do provide tracking updates, just be patient.

[racerfern]

I use aliexpress exclusively and just get it the cheapest way possible. It can take weeks to get. However I never choose to get them shipped from RU, ES or anywhere else. Just get the ones coming from China whether you use gearbest or aliexpress. IMO

[NetworkGuy]

Never ordered from Gearbest, but want to get a few of the temp/humidity sensors. For Gearbest ordering, anyone recommend using the "Shipping Guarantee"?

[NetworkGuy]

Thank you both for the endorsements! I did get my Raspbee setup and working, but I have ignored my homeseer for so long, I am tempted to start over. Either way, I appreciate the references and links!

[TC1]

Generally I buy most of my Zigbee stuff from aliexpress.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3299...archweb201603_

Good point about AliExpress, the bulk pricing on the site can be better at times.

[racerfern]

I will vouch for anything Aqara along with zigbee with Raspbee or Conbee. I personally have a raspbee on an RPi3. AFA the Aqara motion sensor mentioned above, I've had one outside for two years including winters in NY with the same battery. It's in the alcove approaching the front door and brightens all the lights as soon as someone walks up toward the door.

I also use an Aqara small push button for the Aeotec doorbell since the Aeotec button has very poor range and is not z-wave. The Aeotec button has to be quite close to the bell especially if it's near the steel front door. The Aqara works flawlessly obviously using HS4 events to trigger the bell.

And yes, the JowiHue plugin is awesome along with excellent support.

Generally I buy most of my Zigbee stuff from aliexpress.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3299...archweb201603_

[TC1]

Thank you for the information! Have you tried the same brand motion sensors? If so, what are your thoughts on those?
[/QUOTE]

Yep! I just deployed one of these into my kitchen area:
https://www.aqara.com/us/motion_sensor.html

Compared to other Z-wave motion sensors I've tried (Aeotic, Monoproice, others) it is **tiny**! Very easy to position. You can easily "tune it" by using foil tape to cover parts of the lens, I had to narrow the field of view because it was too sensitive. There are no confusing parameters to set, one simply adjusts their motion events to get the response you desire. What's also great is that it reads light levels, so I can automatically ignore turning on the kitchen lights if it's bright outside (and inside the kitchen).

Since these things are so tiny and inexpensive I'm going to deploy them everywhere and create virtual radar arrays to correlate and track movements throughout the house. This should enable the ability to create lighting events that are appropriate based on occupancy and ambient light levels.