Need a sensor recommendation for a metal door

[JDRoberts]

@Mike1616

What about this… I have one and they are rather compact so this might suit your needs. Certainly not as much drilling required…and Z Wave Plus (and a 10 year battery life…or so they claim).

https://www.thesmartesthouse.com/collections/sensative/products/sensative-z-wave-plus-strips-invisible-door-window-sensor-with-free-z-wave-plus-motion-sensor

That’s still a magnetic sensor even though it’s a different form, Unfortunately it’s not going to work on the metal door.

You can use the traditional box sensor if you lift it up off the metal surface and put it on a plastic or maybe a wooden block. But a lot of people don’t like the look of that. See the following thread for discussion of metal gates, which is a similar issue (this is a clickable link)

Ecolink door sensor won't work around metal

I installed an Ecolink door sensor on my wrought iron gate. The magnet is on the gate and the sensor is on the 1.5" square post. It worked for about two weeks and then stopped working. I went out to troubleshoot it and found that when I remove it from the gate, and move the magnet over it several times, it begins to work again. I can “open/close” the sensor without any issues at all. The moment I put it back up against the gate, it stops working and it remains in whatever state it was at when I placed it against the metal. I have tried so many variations to this process that I am convinced it is the gate metal that causing the problem. The weird thing is that it worked perfectly for the first couple of weeks. I have tried taking a 1/4" piece of wood and using it as a backing for the senso…

I do like the accelerometer idea if you’re OK with the looks and you can keep the sensor from getting smashed against the wall.