Just got an email for a new z-wave product from Aeon Lab. It’s a recessed door contact sensor. It looks to be similar to the magnetic connections that are usually part of a security system.
Oddly though the email has links for Australia and EU/UK stores selling the device even though they are supposedly based in California. I have yet to find a link to a US store selling these but hopefully they will start popping up soon.
Looks interesting to me and I like the idea of being able to ‘hide’ these in the door frame and door.
I’m curious if anyone has seen these around or maybe even tried them or had any thoughts in general.
You could always reverse it - put the small magnet in the door (shallower hole) and the sensor in the frame. You wouldn’t want the electronics inside a metal door anyway - you want a good RF signal back to the nearest repeater or hub. (Which is the suggested configuration according to the product description, in any event, which makes sense - the electronics don’t get jolted when the door is slammed, etc.).
I ordered one off Amazon to check it out. If they work well, I’ll start installing them on all my doors. I have z-wave switches next every door, so I am not worried about range issues.
I like the Schlage door sensors (using them in a few places) but I haven’t been able to figure how to use them on my doors without cutting into the trim. Now I just need to figure out what size drill bit I need.
We have one of these at the office. It will pair as a Z-Wave Sensor for the moment. It can easily be manually retyped as an Aeon Door/Window sensor and work with no issue.
I have just purchased two of these sensors. Turned on the first one and it pairs as a ZWave sensor and reports status correctly, but it doesn’t show up in the list of available sensors when I try to assign it to a door. Any thoughts?
@johnmagrane, you have to do it in the IDE online. Log in to ide.smartthings.com and then go to My Devices. Then select your device… at the bottom of that screen you will see an Edit button. Click that and on the next page you will see a “Type” pulldown - change that to “Aeon Door/Window Sensor”. Save and then you should be good to go.
I have it in a hollow knocked down frame door and it works without a problem. Cant say much about its range, I have a zwave outlet 2 ft away from the censor.
It shouldn’t matter much whether the door itself is metal or not, but what the door frame is made of. Per the instructions, the magnet goes in the door, and the sensor goes in the door frame.
I suspect this is for two reasons:
The door frame never moves, so you’re not jostling the sensitive electronics every time the door opens, closes, or slams, subjecting them to wear and tear, and possibly premature failure.
You’re more likely to have a wooden frame than a metal frame, even if you have a metal door. (Two of my doors are metal, but the frames are wood.)
I suspect that if you do mount the transmitter in metal, signal range would be pretty heavily affected.
I was finally thinking about picking up a few of these but they are a little harder to come by now (amazon doesn’t have them, SmartThings doesn’t sell them anymore but TheSmartestHouse still has them) but it’s got me wondering why they suddenly disappeared.
Has anyone who uses these have any comments to share on reliability, battery life, etc…?
Since SmartThings stocked these but no longer do, I’m wondering if they aren’t that great in general or some other reason why.
I’ve been using two since April 12 with no problems. I notice their price shot up. I bought mine for $19.55, but they shot up in price since then. One place is now selling it for over $130.00.
I definitely will buy more when they get back down to a reasonable price.