Monoprice Z-Wave Plus Door/Window Sensor($17.25 + Free Shipping)

I have mostly zigbee (aqara) type door sensors. They've been pretty reliable and are $11 normal price (long shipping from Ali). I have z-wave gateway too, wondering if this is an advantage at all. Uses CR123 instead of coin cells, but doesn't list battery life.

Quote from coachclass : I have mostly zigbee (aqara) type door sensors. They've been pretty reliable and are $11 normal price (long shipping from Ali). I have z-wave gateway too, wondering if this is an advantage at all. Uses CR123 instead of coin cells, but doesn't list battery life.

Not sure if I have this specific brand or not, but the similar ecolink that uses the same type of battery lasts 2-3 years. I love the ones that run on these batteries.

Quote from coachclass : I have mostly zigbee (aqara) type door sensors. They've been pretty reliable and are $11 normal price (long shipping from Ali). I have z-wave gateway too, wondering if this is an advantage at all. Uses CR123 instead of coin cells, but doesn't list battery life.

If the aquara ones work for you, no reason to swap out. I used to have all the xiaomi ones but had really bad luck with them personally. My house originally did not work well with zigbee but after i got that mostly straightened out (it was conflicting with my wifi), i still could not rely on the xiaomi zigbee devices and they would eventually stop reporting and the battery stats were unreliable as well. I've switched most of these to these monoprice ones and they always just work. Just my personal experience though, my friend uses mostly xiaomi devices and while he has an occasional device stop reporting, he didn't have the issues i did. He did switch all his leak detectors from xiaomi to dome leak detectors since that is one area you can't afford unreliability 😁

Quote from ngtwolf : If the aquara ones work for you, no reason to swap out. I used to have all the xiaomi ones but had really bad luck with them personally. My house originally did not work well with zigbee but after i got that mostly straightened out (it was conflicting with my wifi), i still could not rely on the xiaomi zigbee devices and they would eventually stop reporting and the battery stats were unreliable as well. I've switched most of these to these monoprice ones and they always just work. Just my personal experience though, my friend uses mostly xiaomi devices and while he has an occasional device stop reporting, he didn't have the issues i did. He did switch all his leak detectors from xiaomi to dome leak detectors since that is one area you can't afford unreliability

From what I've read from developers of Hubitat, Xiaomi Aquara is NOT fully Zigbee compliant. It's fine using Xiaomi hub but might not work reliably with other Zibgee hubs.

While Z-Wave sensor is preferred for its longer range and less interference with Wifi, I'd recommend SmartThing multisensor instead of other Z-Wave or Zigbee sensor if using on glass door or window. It was last on sale at $17, cheaper than this (generally Z-wave devices cost more)

The SmartThing multisensor is also a shock sensor, so you will know rather than opening the door or window, someone breaking or cutting the glass to get in. I also have it at an outside gate (in a waterproof box) to sensor the door open, anyone climb over the fence as well as the outdoor temperature.

Q&a on battery life


0
BEST ANSWER: Mine has lasted through a Maine winter and a good part of this summer on the original batteries. During the winter, it regularly reported 30-40degree F temperatures, so the battery got good and cold. Of course, we weren't opening and closed that door a lot over the winter, but I have not seen much effect this summer when we are opening and closing the door frequently.
Reply Inaccurate David L on Aug 9, 2018 Purchased on Aug 18, 2017
0
For the doors that I open regularly (the one I use everyday entering/leaving), it's a bit under a year on the batteries that came with the device. For doors that get opened less regularly, the batteries will probably last about a year and a half. They don't seem to last nearly as long as some of the motion sensors that use CR123 batteries.
Reply Inaccurate Craig J on Aug 8, 2018
0
Had 10 of these on my windows since last August so going on a year and no replacement needed as of yet. These windows are occasionally opened only. The status in my Smartthings app has said 100% since day one so I check them from time to time to make sure they are still reporting.

I have bad experience for smartthings sensors. One broken one sent back for replacement 2-3 years ago. Samsung smartthings still process it. The others eats the expensive battery very quickly. I have a couple of visonic windows/door sensor. They are really good , none is broken and runs many years without any issue. The battery last very long . It costs about $15 and $10 for on sale.

Quote from megazone23 : From what I've read from developers of Hubitat, Xiaomi Aquara is NOT fully Zigbee compliant. It's fine using Xiaomi hub but might not work reliably with other Zibgee hubs. While Z-Wave sensor is preferred for its longer range and less interference with Wifi, I'd recommend SmartThing multisensor instead of other Z-Wave or Zigbee sensor if using on glass door or window. It was last on sale at $17, cheaper than this (generally Z-wave devices cost more) The SmartThing multisensor is also a shock sensor, so you will know rather than opening the door or window, someone breaking or cutting the glass to get in. I also have it at an outside gate (in a waterproof box) to sensor the door open, anyone climb over the fence as well as the outdoor temperature.

Quote from megazone23 : From what I've read from developers of Hubitat, Xiaomi Aquara is NOT fully Zigbee compliant. It's fine using Xiaomi hub but might not work reliably with other Zibgee hubs. While Z-Wave sensor is preferred for its longer range and less interference with Wifi, I'd recommend SmartThing multisensor instead of other Z-Wave or Zigbee sensor if using on glass door or window. It was last on sale at $17, cheaper than this (generally Z-wave devices cost more) The SmartThing multisensor is also a shock sensor, so you will know rather than opening the door or window, someone breaking or cutting the glass to get in. I also have it at an outside gate (in a waterproof box) to sensor the door open, anyone climb over the fence as well as the outdoor temperature.

Showing $19.99 @ BB or Amazon.

Quote from coachclass : I have mostly zigbee (aqara) type door sensors. They've been pretty reliable and are $11 normal price (long shipping from Ali). I have z-wave gateway too, wondering if this is an advantage at all. Uses CR123 instead of coin cells, but doesn't list battery life.

Quote from ngtwolf : If the aquara ones work for you, no reason to swap out. I used to have all the xiaomi ones but had really bad luck with them personally. My house originally did not work well with zigbee but after i got that mostly straightened out (it was conflicting with my wifi), i still could not rely on the xiaomi zigbee devices and they would eventually stop reporting and the battery stats were unreliable as well. I've switched most of these to these monoprice ones and they always just work. Just my personal experience though, my friend uses mostly xiaomi devices and while he has an occasional device stop reporting, he didn't have the issues i did. He did switch all his leak detectors from xiaomi to dome leak detectors since that is one area you can't afford unreliability 😁

I echo ngtwolf. If they are working, use them! But the Aqaras can be hit or miss for some folks and it is hard to track down why. Sometimes its Wifi channel interference, sometimes its the zigbee adapter, etc, . So for a door/window sensor, especially if tied to some sort of security system where you want that level of reliability, switching may be warranted. Like you, I primarily use Aqaras for door/window sensors and temp sensors because their price point is so good. While I'm having trouble with sensors on one side of the house, I think its a signal strength issue since all others work fine, so I'm waiting on a Tradfri repeater to come in.

One tip if you are planning to use both zigbee/z-wave in your house (I recommend using both) is to use a mixture of zigbee/z-wave light switches throughout. They will act as repeaters and help build a proper mesh for each network. I prefer Zooz switches so I went all z-wave for my initial deployments, but plan to swap in a zigbee switch here and there too, if necessary.

These monoprice switches can be had in AAA battery form: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24259 for $17.99.

The CR123 version has built-in external sensor connections (not sure about AAA, manual seems to say no), so you can use these for things other than a door/window sensor using the built -n reed switch:
* wire to a fire alarm interconnect to signal a fire via z-wave
* wire to any kind of switch, such as a pressure switch for a bed occupancy sensor

Basically, any on/off signal you want to transfer to z-wave, these can be used as a gateway.

One tip: the connections are small, so you will need precision screwdrivers. You will also need to drill the case to provide access for the external wires. I suggest removing the electronic innards first, drilling case, running wires to connections THEN reinstalling electronics. Otherwise, it will be difficult to make the connection.

Also, if you use the electronic sensor you need to change the relevant parameter via your software.

Quote from ylin1900 : I have bad experience for smartthings sensors. One broken one sent back for replacement 2-3 years ago. Samsung smartthings still process it. The others eats the expensive battery very quickly. I have a couple of visonic windows/door sensor. They are really good , none is broken and runs many years without any issue. The battery last very long . It costs about $15 and $10 for on sale.

As said the reason of SmartThings sensors (2nd gen) is it includes shock/vibration sensing to sense breaking or tampering/vibration of the glass (and I use also for outdoor fence). If you don't use that, other sensor are cheaper (magnetic sensor is the simplest sensor of all, just a on/off magnetic latch inside)
And if you don't use doorbell, you can use it to know someone is knocking or banging on your door.

I found none of other door/window sensors include vibration sensing that so you will need to install another sensor (extra cost and extra battery) or use some other means.
E.g. Visonic has another sound sensor to sense the sound of breaking glass, but I doubt it works if using a glass cutter.

The downside is battery as you have noticed. It's a open/close sensor, vibration sensor, temperature sensor, tilt sensor (which can be turned off from hub), so reasonably consumes more battery. It's like 50% for 6 months and hub should allow you to set notification if battery is down to certain percentage. I'm not worrying about the battery (CR2450 is like $1 from Amazon when buy in bulk) for extra protection.

Quote from ronlee00 : Showing $19.99 @ BB or Amazon.

As said it was last on sale like 17 and was sold like hot cake, OOS a day later.

Can this sensor be used outside, like on a fence door/gate?

I bought a few weeks ago when it was $16.99. Not a fan. I'm having the hardest time getting it to connect to Smartthings. When I finally did get it connected, it was terrible at sensing open/close. My intention is to use with an interconnect smoke alarm system to get notifications when the smoke alarms go off. I'm going to keep plugging away at it, but it is swiftly approaching piece of crap territory.

Quote from peebody01 : I bought a few weeks ago when it was $16.99. Not a fan. I'm having the hardest time getting it to connect to Smartthings. When I finally did get it connected, it was terrible at sensing open/close. My intention is to use with an interconnect smoke alarm system to get notifications when the smoke alarms go off. I'm going to keep plugging away at it, but it is swiftly approaching piece of crap territory.

Did you try the RBoy device handler?

Quote from Cheapsk8Dude : Did you try the RBoy device handler?

I am using a device handler. RBoy one costs I think $40 bucks. Using this one: https://github.com/krlaframboise/...sor.groovy

However, I just want to see the Monoprice work with Smartthings as intended out of the box and it doesn't. At least not yet.