I bought a few of the quirky door/window sensors and on the doors they work great but I have a problem with using them on the windows. Our windows, I think like most, open from the bottom half upward and the top half can also slide down. I can put the sensor on the side of the window and the other half on the frame of the window which will cover the bottom half but what if the window is opened from the top? There is no way I can think of to position the sensor on the top half and bottom half and still be able to actually open the window.
It would be nice to be able to lock the top half of the window so this is not an issue but once the window is unlocked it frees the top and bottom. What does everyone else do? Do I need 2 sensors for each window? Here is something like what the window looks like:
Get a Z-Wave sensor with wire terminals (e.g. Ecolink) and connect an extra magnetic switch to it for the other half.
monoprice also has door window sensors that can accept external contacts.
Would buying an extra switch be cheaper than just buying a second sensor. Sorry, I am still trying to understand how this works. Do you have a link to one with an extra switch?
Thanks!
zwave contact sensors are in the $25 to $30 range, standalone magnetic contact switches are like 5 bucks.
Then there’s the batteries and fuggly factor to consider, two sensors = two batteries, and twice the fuggliness…
and
Oh…I was not thinking the external contact would connect to an actual cheapo alarm sensor. Sometimes I need a visual 
So one of these and a monoprice zwave that has an external connector is what I need.
Thanks so much!!
Mike, so I take it the Ecolink door/window sensors are compatible with ST? I like the fact Ecolink has brown sensors for my brown doors! ST only has white.
Scott, I am too dumb to understand. How does this one sensor work for your windows?
Thats the thing, one sensor does not work. You would have one sensor (zwave) for the bottom half then a wire coming out of it with a cheap basic alarm sensor on the other end protecting the top half. A trigger on either would trigger the zwave sensor.
Does that make sense?
Yes. Now that makes sense. Thanks! Also, I just read about the Ecolink door/window sensor. I guess the sensor comes with both white and brown cases so they are interchangeable. Pretty sweet!
But I feel like a traitor buying devices from some one other than SmartThings, since this is their website. Am I too sensitive?
LOL…yes you are too sensitive. ST products are more expensive but do offer more features. I buy the Quirky Door/Window sensors for $40 for a 2 pack. The ST door/window sensor cost around 40-45 but will also do temperature and vibration along with open/close. This is useful for alot of reasons, I just don’t need that on every door and window. Maybe one in each room for temp and maybe the front door for the vibration/knocking feature.
The great thing about ST is you are not tied to just ST sensors, they made it that way
EDIT: Oh and I think the ST sensor does motion too. Again I would only need that for certain circumstances, but great to have
Well, so far I have used only ST. The Open/Closed ones work great. I bought one Multi Sensor and tried it on the garage door and can’t get it to work at all! I don’t need the Temp thing at all, I just want the open/closed feature.
This will give you a start as to what is compatible:
http://www.smartthings.com/product/works-with-smartthings/
There are a number of things that are not on the list. The best thing to do is if you find something just search for it on the forum, odds are it is either not compatible or someone already made a device type for it
What is a “device type”? Does that mean someone wrote a code for it that makes it compatible? Because when I was really just starting, I bought a door sensor from Lowes because it was really cheap. But it does not work.
Yes that right and yes the lowes sensors don’t work, only for the Iris system. I too was bummed at that as they are nice and cheap. As far as the lowes stuff, there are 2 different products, one built specifically for the Iris system and ones that are compatible with Iris and other systems. For example, the GE toggle switches work with Iris but will also work with other Zwave systems like ST. I have one of their 3 way light switches (2 switches) hooked up, a Lowes brand CT101 thermostat (which is just a 2gig ct-100 re-branded for Lowes) and plan on getting one of the Smoke/Carbon monoxide detectors.
Like I said, if you fins something just do a search before you buy it.
Cool. Thanks for all the info!
No problem. I am pretty new too but am learning
@swindmiller, I did something similar as what’s in this video except using ST, not a Vera controller, but this gets the idea across. I’m using the same Ademco sensors as the video, and an Ecolink sensor:
Cool…thanks. I will take a look!