Door Sensor Recommendations?

Devices & Integrations
1

Hi all-

I moved to a new house and need to get new door & window sensors. At my last house I had a mix of ecolink and iris sensors. After doing some research, I’m leaning towards either the SmartThings or Visonic sensors. Any recommendations?

The visonic look a little thinner, but was curious what experiences others have.

Thanks!

2

I love my Iris sensors, but I just got these today and I’m really liking them: (they are zigbee)

They’re about the same dimension as the Visonic sensor (which I was also very interested in), but I like the look of the Ecolink sensor better.

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3

There’s no one “best” because different people have different preferences, setups, and budgets. So we need to know a little more about what you are looking for.

  1. Do you have a preference for Z wave, zigbee, or are you open to anything?

  2. How quickly do you need to be able to act on a sensor report? For example, if you want to Turn on a light as someone enters a room, that will require a very quick response. If you just want a notification because the window has been opened, that doesn’t have to be as quick.

  3. Are these all for indoor use?

  4. does it have to be splashproof?

  5. Do you care how big the device is? Do you want “invisible“ sensors that fit between the door and the frame or that are embedded in the wall?

  6. what battery life do you require as a minimum?

  7. do you care what kind of batteries it uses? Some people only want sensors which use double A’s or AAA‘s

  8. What country are you in (the device selection does vary somewhat). Again from the examples that you gave I’m assuming it’s either the US or Canada, but just want to be sure.

  9. What’s your budget per sensor and how many total sensors do you need?

  10. Do you care about the color of the sensor?

  11. Do you want the sensor to have any additional features, such as reporting for temperature or lux, or an accelerometer?

  12. Do you want a sensor that also has dry contacts?

  13. Do you want the sensor to work with Amazon routines as a trigger?

As you can see, there’s no one right answer to any of these questions, but different people will have different answers, which then affects the recommendations. :sunglasses:

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4

@JDRoberts - Thanks for the great list of things to consider. Here is a little more info about what I’m looking for (answers in bold)

  1. Do you have a preference for Z wave, zigbee, or are you open to anything?
    Either is for me
  2. How quickly do you need to be able to act on a sensor report? For example, if you want to Turn on a light as someone enters a room, that will require a very quick response. If you just want a notification because the window has been opened, that doesn’t have to be as quick.
    Just notifications
  3. Are these all for indoor use?
    Yes
  4. does it have to be splashproof?
    No
  5. Do you care how big the device is? Do you want “invisible“ sensors that fit between the door and the frame or that are embedded in the wall?
    No, mounted to the frame is fine. Smaller profile would be preferred
  6. what battery life do you require as a minimum?
    Ideally at least a year
  7. do you care what kind of batteries it uses? Some people only want sensors which use double A’s or AAA‘s
    Not a big decision factor for me
  8. What country are you in (the device selection does vary somewhat). Again from the examples that you gave I’m assuming it’s either the US or Canada, but just want to be sure.
    USA
  9. What’s your budget per sensor and how many total sensors do you need?
    Prob need 10-15 sensors. Ideally under $30 per sensor
  10. Do you care about the color of the sensor?
    White is fine
  11. Do you want the sensor to have any additional features, such as reporting for temperature or lux, or an accelerometer?
    Temperature would be nice, but not mandatory
  12. Do you want a sensor that also has dry contacts?
    Not needed
  13. Do you want the sensor to work with Amazon routines as a trigger?
    I mainly just use smartthings for workflow
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5

then I think these Ecolinks may do the trick for you.

2 Likes
6

Agreed… Loving these so far. We will see how the battery life is.

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