I’ve been looking and it doesn’t seem that something like this exists but I would like a Zigbee or Z-wave keypad that can be integrate with my SmartThings that I could mount outside my garage doors and use to open my garage doors, trigger scenes, etc.
I’d settle for the ability to directly integrate my August Lock and have my August Keypad do something including but not limited to ensuring my door gets locked when when everyone in my house leaves… controlling the state of my SHM monitor and modes… being able to trigger other events, etc.
I don’t know how waterproof it is, but the Lowe’s iris second-generation keypad made by Centralite is popular in the community here. You could ask in that thread for how sheltered it needs to be.
It cost just under $40, and you can typically find a Lowe’s coupon to bring that down another 10%. It gets low ratings on the Lowe’s site because the first generation keypad included a door chime and the second generation does not and people are mad about that. But it seems to be a reasonable device when looked at on its own. (Only the second generation will work with SmartThings).
You could also mount it inside a clear plastic box with some air holes, that’s pretty common for security keypads. Just don’t get a metal enclosure or you’ll have trouble getting signal through.
@desertblade yep… I know that I can do it with the Schlage keypads but my wife didn’t like these devices so I settled on August…
@JDRoberts I have definitely considered the Iris 2nd Gen keypad… and may try and figure out how to make it work… it would just be nice to not have to be concerned with covering it.
I’m actually a bit surprised that nothing like this is out/available yet…
It would probably triple the cost, so I think it’s just a marketing decision. Most of these keypads are put near the front door where there’s a sheltered area anyway.
Alternatively, you can use a plastic enclosure like the one I mentioned above. That adds some cost, but not as much as weatherproofing the keypad itself.
I understand although garage door manufactures have been doing this for a while with keypads and although many of these only have RF transmitters it wouldn’t be much to develop something similar with Zigbee and Z-wave.
I agree that an enclosure is a definite option… and am likely to go this route in the end… or at least for the time being.
Edited to add: In fact this appears to be Z-wave although from what I can tell it only appears to work with the Wayne-Dalton Wireless Gateway.
Although it may be that the Gateway is Z-wave enabled and this only has an RF transmitter… it’s hard to tell from the description at Amazon.
Also, the BeNext/Zipato keypad was first manufactured in Europe and is available on both the US and EU zwave frequency and might be easier to get in Spain. (If you order that one, make sure the zwave frequency matched your hub.)
Right! I saw that one… I was actually considering it… but I’m not too sure about the codes that can be used with it… since it only has the numbers 1-4… lol! Will it depend exclusively on tags/cards?
I agree… and I would be satisfied with just that… but take a look at the zipato keypad… it’s only got the keys for the numbers 1 thru 4… Not all that secure now… or is it me being picky?
will think about it… I think this should be the way to go for my use case…
Having the family input a code when entering or leaving the home… that activates (or not, depending on who’s left at home) the lock and sets the presence accordingly…
I’ve always had headaches with presence detection… living as I do in an apartment building…
The smartpresence tags never worked for me… they eat thru batteries like mad…
If I use the built in presence in the app, then while I’m having dinner at the burguer place down below, the house thinks I’m home…
If I use wifi and for whatever reason the signal gets lost, the alarm goes off… not to mention that the wifi signal reaches the swimming pool 6 floors down! lol!
In any case, if I want to give access to someone else… they would have to install an app… that’s a no no…
I have researched using a raspberry pi 3 as a bluetooth radar… but it seems hard to do…
SOooooo… in short… the best option is having a keypad that when you input your own code, you’re marked as entered/left and then the door opens or locks accordingly…
Does it sound right?
2 Likes
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
16
The problem is that this is highly subject to human failure.
Sure: A family member can’t neglect to input their code when entering the home, because otherwise the alarm will be triggered.
But there is no way to reinforce input before exiting the home. This step will frequently be forgotten, unfortunately.
That’s how many security systems, both residential and commercial, have worked for decades.
As @tgauchat said, the issue is whether the people will remember to arm it. But many security companies, including ADT, still consider a manual arming system more reliable than one based on Geopresence.
It’s just something each household has to decide for themselves.
2 Likes
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
18
I agree with that perspective on reliability.
I wonder, though, with the real-life statistics are of average families frequently neglecting to activate the armed mode upon exit. I’m in a simple 2 person household without children, and I doubt even we would do it consistently.
Unquestionably there are a lot of people who forget to arm it, but then it becomes a matter of personal responsibility for your own home. as a security company, ADT feels it’s better for people to have forgotten to arm the system than for them to think that the system was armed when it wasn’t.
I know when I was a kid my uncle’s house had a security system that had to be armed when you left. We never remembered, but he always did. Kids weren’t given the responsibility of arming/disarming the system.
So again, I think different things will work for different families.
