Need a solid outdoor temp sensor that can handle cold,with a long battery life
Used an Aeon kept dying on me …
How cold?
Any battery powered device is going to have difficulty once you go below freezing for a prolonged period, although some do better than others.
Cao Gadget Kumo Wireless Sensor Tags are exceptionally weatherproof, but will require that you also buy one of their ethernet bridges for each 40 tags.
There are a number of community members using them.
You can either get integration through IFTTT or through a community created service manager:
Or
There are some other options as well, but I think those handle the widest range of temperature variation.
But again, it depends on the exact conditions. Are we talking about a Minnesota winter?
I’ve been using an Iris motion sensor on my porch for a little more than a year. It made it through a Colorado winter and summer, no problem. It drops off the network sometimes, though. I’ve also been using a Netatmo, and I’ve been very happy with that. It’s a bit expensive, but it works great.
I have a Monoprice Z-Wave PIR+temperature sensor on my porch, too, but it doesn’t report the temperature correctly when it drops below freezing. There’s a possibility I did something wrong with the DTH, but still…
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I liked these for a while, but over time I’ve had more and more problems. Battery life, randomly dropping the wireless connection, randomly saying the door has opened when it hasn’t, etc. I still use them, but I don’t know if I’ll replace them if they get damaged or add any new ones. If you’re using them for simply things and can handle the blips, they would probably work just fine. If you’re using them like I am, such as in a deep freeze and a safe, then I’d reconsider.
In regards to being weatherproof, if you only need temp and not humidity, you can easily vacuum seal one.
I just use the weather app to pull information from the web. I am using that info to control my water timer. I can also use it to change the heating/cooling mode of my thermostat.
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Sorry to hear about the problems with the Cao wireless sensor tags. I know there have been a number of people in the community who have been using them for a couple of years. Might be a good idea to ask in the other thread and see if those failures are a typical experience.
Meanwhile, I wouldn’t vacuum seal anything that has a battery except in a manner specifically approved by the manufacturer. Batteries outgas. And separately, many electrical devices are designed in a specific manner to prevent overheating. Sealing the case can interfere with that. From an engineering standpoint, I think it’s generally better to find a device which is spec’d to deal with the environment where you want to put it.
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I had used Aeon sensor too but I decided to let the meteorologists do their job 
I am super happy with Netatmo products.
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I’ve been using an Iris contact sensor (which reports temperature) to monitor my freezer and it has been working perfectly in continuous near zero degree temperatures; it is still using the same CR2 battery as when first installed (one of the few sensors I own that is still on its original battery, probably over 9 months now). I also use an Iris contact sensor in a mailbox and it is eight months since I proactively replaced its battery in November (still running fine after a typical New York winter).
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Xiaomi Temperature and Humidity sensors. Working fine for me outside. Got it running for +6 months now. Summer, rain, frost - still working. And cheap!
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What is the minimum temperature you have recorded on xiaomi temp sensor?
Have you tried the SmartWeather Station App using your zip code? That should be pretty accurate…I think…
-10 celcius degrees. I live in a country with alot of moist. Still works 
Do you control the Netatmo weather station with SmartThings ? Have you found battery life problems with the outside unit? Cold weather is usually difficult for batteries (I live in Canada ). Thanks for answering.
Have one of these outside for the last year. Claims to operate -4-140° F.
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