I’ve been a lurker here for a while and have a limited ability to set things up (was able to install my own Rachio set up modification to connect soaker hoses into a manifold using stuff from the forums here this summer).
Now, I would like to have a string of glimmer lights or something similar in my backyard to illuminate a sign for when I have guests over. I would prefer not to have to dig up 25 feet of backyard to deliver electrical power to the back fence, so was wondering if there are any good battery operated outdoor LED lights that can be operated via Smartthings to illuminate for a certain period of time before/after sunset or even to turn off after a certain number of minutes after locks are triggered? If there are already discussion topics on this, I am happy to be directed to those, I just wasn’t sure how to search for this without sifting through thousands of posts. I would prefer zwave as that is what most of my system is based on currently.
No battery operated zwave or zigbee lights That match this use case, unfortunately. The short answer is that the radio requires too much power.
Your best bet is to find battery powered lights that you like that have an IR remote, and then there are a couple of different device options That would allow you to substitute for that remote and control the lights with a smartthings integration. (Harmony, Switchbot, Bond, zmote, etc)
If you can’t find one with an IR remote, if you find one with Ifttt integration, that would work too.
Or worst-case if you find one that has its own button push remote you can use a SwitchBot like a “robot finger“ to physically push the buttons. But you need one switchbot for each button, so that can get expensive.
As far as searching the forums more quickly, that’s what the quick browse lists in the community – created wiki are for. in this case, look down near the bottom of that page for the “project report” section and then choose the list for “yard“ and you can see what other people have done. But I think all the project reports there are for plug-in lights. There just aren’t a lot of battery powered options.
BTW, if you’re willing to do without smartthings integration, I can highly recommend any of the Mr. beams lights, including the new ones which are part of the ring security lights system. (Ring bought Mr. beams last year.)
You might even be able to get some ST integration by using echo as a man in the middle, that doesn’t work with the model I have, but it may with some of the newer ones that use the Ring bridge like the following:
Thanks for the quick reply JDRoberts, it’s what I suspected in my quick browse of available options. I have managed to find some battery operated light strings on amazon that do have a remote control. Unfortunately, the range on the remote control is only about 5 steps away from the light box (at which point I might as well have walked to the light string and pushed the button) and I found that the battery box was not waterproof as advertised, corroding the batteries and electronics, even when I tried backing up with grease from a grease gun. So, clearly, even the remote base strings have some flaws. I will definitely take advantage of the Christmas season to see what is on display this year for Christmas lights to see if there is anything there that will work for my purpose. Worst case scenario, I dig a trench in the spring!
in this case, look down near the bottom of that page for the “project report” section and then choose the list for “yard“ and you can see what other people have done. But I think all the project reports there are for plug-in lights. There just aren’t a lot of battery powered options.