You will find many forum threads where people discuss mailbox notification, it’s a very popular use case.
Tilt sensors are popular for this.
By far the best, cheapest ($27) and easiest sensor to integrate into a mailbox, simply mount to the door, the tilt mech is the best for triggering when mail arrives. The Ecolink works just like a door switch, you can have a push notification and even add a text to let you know when the mail man arrives. Nice to also add an alert if the door is left open for more and 5-10 mins (wind might have blown open)…
The nice thing is this unit works on 3 VDC, so instead of using the 2 watch batteries which don’t work well in cold environments like Buffalo NY, I added a battery holder for 2 AA in series. This gives me over 10 times the capacity with a much cheaper battery. I got a plastic electrical box from the hardware store and bolted it on the door of a Step2 MailMaster Plus Mailbox. I packe…
Some people use a contact sensor:
I get push notifications from an Aeon contact sensor when my mailbox is opened. However, sometimes I get false signals for multiple reasons. Thus when the door is opened, I sometimes want to check it remotely to see if there is any mail and maybe the contents. And a camera may help catch a thief.
So I added a Blink camera to the door: [image]
Here is how it looks from inside the mailbox:
[image]
You can see the Aeon sensor on the opposite door.
Of course the Blink is not rated for outdoor use.
EDIT: To get a more flush mount, drill a hole in the knockout and screw it to the door. To stabilize it, super glue the knockout to the cover. [image]
This 1/2 inch reduction brings about 1 1/2 inch more of the mailbox contents into view.
Kumostat sensors have the longest range, but you need to get their Ethernet bridge as well.
I have the first pass of an integration ready for Wireless Sensor Tags. There is a service manager SmartApp that allows you to log into your Wireless Sensor Tags account and reads what tags you have registered. You can then choose which tags to connect to SmartThings.
The main support so far is for the Wireless Motion Sensor Tags (temperature, humidity, motion, and open/close plus more). The moisture / water sensor should also work, but I didn’t have one to test. The other types of tags should mostly work as well, since their system reports data consistently from the different tag types.
You can get the code here:
I’ve tested it quite a bit locally, but there may be a few bugs left to iron out. I need a couple beta testers to verify.
And discussion about some of the specific issues with putting a sensor inside a metal box. This thread is talking about zigbee, but the exact same issues apply to Z wave or Wi-Fi.
Zigbee is usually used for outdoor sensor-nets because it’s somewhat better than Z wave at traveling through water. Rainy days can kill Z wave connections outdoors.
Regarding your mailbox, anything RF inside a metal box has trouble, wired or not. Often the best way to handle this is to create some kind of “window” that the signal can travel more easily through. Sometimes it’s just a matter of drilling a hole and then sealing it with something that is waterproof but allows the signal to pass. Some people just replace the mailbox door with a slightly smaller one and use weatherstrip around the edge and that’s enough to let the signal through.
You might also try healing the network. It’s one of those “can’t hurt, might help” things, and is considered a best practice for any time you move a…
