I want to have my dehumidifier come on/off automatically at a set humidity… I don’t trust the auto settings on it as it’s old and not very reliable in that sense…
I recently got a Ecobee4 and have a bunch of the Visonic Door/Window sensors but they don’t do humidity…
I was thinking of a Peanut Smart Plug as they are only $18 to control the power to it…
Now I’m wondering what I should get as far as a sensor… If there is something that would make sense to also somehow tie into my Ecobee4 that would be great too…
You might check the thread below. I’d just use the humidity sensor in the ecobee. Aeon Multi 6 motion sensors also have a reasonably decent humidity sensor. Then, you can use SmartLighting or WebCoRE to turn the dehumidifier on or off. I have my dehumidifier on a plug using a WebCoRE piston. The thread will have examples and thoughts:
Just another note, I use the Aeotech Smart Switch’s power monitoring feature to send me a notification if the Wattage drops below a certain value. Because the bucket is full, although now that I set that up the gravity drain to my sump pump is working properly… go figure…
Also very important! Make sure whatever switch you buy can handle the amperage! Dehumidifiers are power hogs! Last thing you want to do is melt a switch or start a fire…
FYI “Peanut Plug” (the round one with 2 angled buttons) in ST did not and perhaps still does not report power, though it was advertised to do so.
Also the “ST Outlet” (the rounded-square one by Centralite) reported power at 0.1 increment, very noisy logging for little-improved information.
I think the Zooz Zen15 plug-in is pretty good with ST default Device-Type-Handler. With custom DTH by krlaframboise , this device reporting is deeply configurable.
I have 3 of the ones I linked… I just use them to control on/off and don’t care about the power reporting… I have a Sense which does whole house reporting… Would be nice if it did, but don’t need it, personally.
I have a bunch of Peanuts and Iris Plugs. I use the Iris Plugs when I need to measure power. I use the Peanuts when I just need to turn something on and off.
Although I have 2 Ecobee Therms, the humidity sensors are not enough for my needs.
I have found great success with the Zooz 4 in 1 multi sensors when dealing with humidity. I had to hard-wire these as the batteries don’t last long enough.
I am also checking out the Xiaomi Humidity and Temp sensors which seem to work just as good thus far. These are a little tricky to pair. I am using these for 4 humidifies that I have in various rooms in the house in conjunction with Peanuts. So far, so good.
As far as accuracy, I have a regular digital calibrated hydrometer that I check the “important sensors” with. The Xiaomi Sensors are actually pretty darn accurate!
I have a couple Aeotec multisensors and a Honeywell 9580 thermostat. They are scattered throughout the house and the readings from all 3 are within a percent or 2, unless someone showers then the sensor closest to that bathroom will increase. We have a small humidifier in the bedroom and I use the Aeotec gen 5 in the bedroom to control the humidifier.
I haven’t checked any of these devices against a calibrated hydrometer. I just set my humidity deadban to coincide with online charts for comfort. I also made sure that the windows don’t steam up.
Here in Florida, I just turn the humidifier on and off with the inside humidity levels. When we were in Michigan, I also took into account the outside temperature as that makes a big difference as to what the humidity levels should be to keep the windows and walls from "steaming up .
I’m Michigan I also used a Aeotec gen 4 to control the exhaust fan in the bathroom. It worked for well.
I have had good luck with the Aeotec devices. They have been in service for several years.
Thanks a lot for the reply… Dang, almost $60 a pop… But, as with most things… You get what you pay for… You’ve had reliability with $60 sensors… I’ve had junk with $10 sensor…
I have had the Aeotec since 2015 and the other Aeotec gen 5 since 16 or 17. They have been installed, moved 1300 miles and reinstalled. Still going strong. Not sure on the new ones but these use 4 AAA batteries. The batteries typically last 3-5 months. If you have an AC outlet nearby the sensor has a micro USB port. The motion sensitivity is not as fast as the Ecolink or Iris but I’m happy with it.
I just ran across this thread randomly, but there are lots of devices out there that will do what you want (measure the humidity) as well as lots of others that will control the power of the dehumidifier. The key is how you control the whole thing.
Let me shamelessly plug an app I wrote and have been using for over a year:
In this case I use my Halo fire alarm as a humidistat and the Zooz appliance plug. Works great with the app to run only as much as needed and now I just leave the setup running year round. I’d say pick whatever device that you like to measure the humidity as long as it is located appropriately (not near the dehumidifier, not near a door or window, etc.).
I purchased 2 WiFi Temperature Controllers from Amazon that operate either by humidity or temperature. I have one that operates on the finished side and the other on the unfinished side of my basement. The app that is associated with the outlets is called ewelink. It offers two operating modes: auto or manual. In auto mode the user is to select the relative humidity level percentage or temperature that will power on the outlet. Manual mode only allows for the outlet to be turned on or off by using the app as a switch. I am having an issue trying to figure out what to set the value to . The first option is higher than X and Lower than Y. I would like the unit to run when the humidity reaches above 50%. I am unclear if I have to set a value for lower than Y. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PYPC47W?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
So there’s no native DTH for it?