I have a unheated detached garage that is a distance from my house.
I would like to Smarthings-enable the garage. The distance from the house to the garage is likely too large to extend my existing Zwave or Zigbee networks so my plan is to extend internet access to the garage and put a separate Smartthings hub in the garage.
According to the tech specs for the hub the operating temperature for using the hub is down to 32°F. I live in NH where it frequently gets colder than that outside, and hence, colder than that in the garage.
Anyone have any experience or thoughts on setting up a hub to operate in those conditions? Is 32°F really the cut off?
Yes, freezing really is the cut off. This is true for many kinds of electronics unless specifically designed for that environment. You run into two problems: the cold itself, and then internal condensation when things start to warm up again.
What about insulating the hub? I’m not sure how much styrofoam would affect range or signal, but maybe a cheap gas station cooler with a small hole cut for the wires. Set it up and plug the hole around the wires the best you can?
You would probably need to leave it open when its not freezing so that it doesn’t overheat.
if it was my hub then I would try it anyway. If condensation became a problem then I would dunk the board in Corrosion-X (or WD40 but I think it might dry out), and locate it someplace fireproof. ESPECIALLY HUB-v2!!! DON’T INSERT BATTERIES IN HUB-v2!
Every year or two check to see if the coating is still wet.
plus the range is pretty good, wireless devices in the garage might just work.
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