Has anyone compared the Fortrezz and new SmartThings Moisture Sensors? It seems they are the same price, but the Fortrezz includes the Temperature Sensor and the SmartThings unit does not. I also like the fact that the Fortrezz uses regular AA batteries.
Also, there is a note that the SmartThings can be used to trigger a Siren; is there a recommended Siren Module to make this work?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
I have two of the Lowes Iris moisture sensors. They work great and they’re only $30. That’s $20 cheaper for the same basic thing.
Thanks @vitamincm ! Do they do temperature also? Are they easy to add to SmartThings?
They Do Not do temperature, but they are very easy to add to SmartThings. They immediately fire off a notification if you touch them with a wet towel, so I’m assuming they’ll do well if the real deal occurs.
@bigjay2050 the new SmartSense Moisture does do temperature. https://shop.smartthings.com/#!/products/smartsense-moisture-sensor
Thank you @urman, the temperature component is worth it to me for the extra money. It seems then that the only difference in the two units is appearance and battery type.
@vitamincm
Is the $30 Lowes moisture sensor made by Utilitech? Battery type? Battery last a long time?
Thanks, I’m just getting started.
Yes - it’s by Utiltech. It takes 3 AA batteries. They lasted abut 6 months before I changed them.
@vitamincm
Thanks. Can you monitor the battery level on the ST app?
My unit seems to only report two battery levels within the first day I insert the batteries. Some have this issue and other don’t. I never contacted the manufacturer over the issue.
When I pop out the batteries and check them I have over 80% after six months. Go figure.
Monitoring battery level has been a pet peeve of mine, so this device isn’t significantly different than others on that front.
Low battery alerts are automatically handled by SmartThings. Low Battery Alerts
Yeah - same here. Mine say 100% after 6 months. If I pull them out and reinsert them, they go down to 75%. That’s still pretty good for 6 months.
any chance of getting the original FortrezZ units to show temperature or participate in freeze alarm apps?
Anyone having issues with Fortezz battery reporting? I got 90% one day, down to 1% three days later. It’s a pain to get to but I’ll try pulling out batteries and reinserting this weekend.
2014-11-26 4:06:12.686 AM PST
1 day ago DEVICE battery 1 Crawlspace Moisture Sensor has a low battery
2014-11-23 5:53:12.096 AM PST
4 days ago DEVICE battery 90 Crawlspace Moisture Sensor battery is 90%
2014-11-11 2:52:22.777 AM PST
2 weeks ago DEVICE battery 91 Crawlspace Moisture Sensor battery is 91%
2014-11-07 1:49:04.496 AM PST
3 weeks ago DEVICE battery 92 Crawlspace Moisture Sensor battery is 92%
Having trouble installing the original Fortrezz moisture sensor…
SmartThings doesn’t appear to find it.
thanks
@Badger51 If you haven’t already, try putting your hub in exclude mode and pushing the button twice. Then try to add it again.
Thanks, Duncan…I didn’t have the original instructions anymore…
But I did find some instructions on the web site and once I placed the sensor closer to the hub, it was recognized and I’m in business !
thanks