This one nothing specific, just gave it as example how the cloud services sometimes can’t be trusted as the reporting station may be far away from you, out of sync, old values and so on.
But the biggest need I have is during the summer. I am remodeling my HVAC and planning to install controllable damper for outside air. In my climate, quite often summer nights are 65F outside, but when the day was hot, AC would run on/off till 1-2am or even later to keep inside 70F degrees. I want to factor the humidity as well, and if conditions are favorable, bring outside air instead of running AC. There are other details, like why I can’t sleep with open windows and so on that would be too boring to explain.
So I’ve been comparing different cloud services to actual temp around my house and more often they report lower temp and different humidity (the latter is arguable). For example, weatherbug would report 65F and it’s actually 70F at which point there is no need to bring outside air in with the HVAC.
I actually wouldn’t mind 433mhz. I was even considering the smart tags at some point but many negative reviews about the company and claims of poor integration with SmartThings put me off.
As far as the wireless tags, there have definitely been complaints of poor customer service if you get a defective unit, and yoh may have to go to your credit card company if that happens. But most of the units are good, and there are quite a few community members here using them successfully for two or three years . You can ask more in the thread I linked to above. And if you want a simpler integration, they do have their own IFTTT channel.
But it is a very small company, and you’re right that if they stop supporting their cloud then the sensors will stop working. So that may be too high-risk for your use case.
FYI,
here are the sensors I am currently using - proof of concept that battery powered devices in the cold can exists. We get -20 - 25C sometimes, they are rated from -20 to 60c. With only 2 AAA batteries, LCD screen, and reports every 40 seconds I change batteries once every year to year and a half.
It’s not just about batteries: It’s about battery-operated Z wave devices. There’s a reason Qubino isn’t using Z wave sensors with their weather station, and that’s a brand new device just released this year.
There are many different wireless communication protocols and they all have different pluses and minuses. Z wave is great for a lot of things, but not for battery-operated outdoor weather sensors at a price and form factor which can compete with the existing devices on the other protocols. Which is why there aren’t more of them.
Sensative is a different story because they hold a patent on their battery design and because they are aiming at a higher margin price point based on aesthetics. So if they think there is a demand for humidity readings, maybe they will come up with a Z wave device that will work for you. We can always hope.
It’s been a while, I still can’t find any outdoor temperature + humidity sensor. @TheSmartestHouse was mentioning that the Everspring will be updated (the old one is out of stock everywhere).
I see some ZigBee products that are outdoor rated but most are from overseas. If anyone has found decent outdoor temp/hum sensor (direct connection to ST hub) please share.
We still don’t have a release date for the new version of the Everspring device. It’s also not rated for outdoors so it may not be the perfect solution for you.
I think there will be a market for it even if it isn’t “affordable” compared to indoor sensor. I will be happy with $75 price tag, considering the lack of alternatives. Most users should only need 1 unit though (vs multiple indoors). I also see there is demand for outdoor motion sensor.
The outdoor motion sensor should happen in 2018. For the temperature and humidity sensor, we’ll see if we can persuade Sensative to add humidity to their new sensor since it looks like a great outdoor solution, it’s super low maintenance with the 10-year battery and it can withstand quite extreme temperatures. We’ll keep you posted once we get an update on this.
