Aliexpress Z-Wave Stuff - does it work OK with OH?

Can you recommend another supplier? It’s 2 dual modules. a single module and an adapter that I’m after in AU/NZ spec

All z-wave stuff I’ve found so far on Ali either has the same price or is more expensive compared to online stores in Europe, at least in Germany …
the module looks like a philio:
http://amzn.com/B00K5G9MUS

Yes, the first is a Philio PAN04 module which I’m happily using. It’s a chinese company (“TZI” it was, I believe) to build these. Can confirm that it’s more expensive on Ali than elsewhere, even Amaz*n.
Also check out Fibaro modules (FGS-222 is the dual-relay one, FGD-212 is the single dimmer one), that’s what most people use with OH, and they’re even slightly cheaper (at least over here in Europe).
The adapter is the Aeon Gen 5 stick.

Thanks for the replies. I’ll have a look around, I tend to avoid Amazon as they let you get all the way to the checkout before deciding to tell you they don’t ship that item to New Zealand where I live.

Yes. Actually I haven’t seen any good-priced Z-wave Device on Ali yet. Probably because Sigma requires certification and it’s not so easy to make a clones.
Anyway in Germany you can get Z-wave Relays/Rollershutter as cheap as for 40€ and dimmers for even lower price. Fibaro is usually the cheapest, but I got for example some Rollershutter Controller from Düwi for just 34€. Unfortunately I have problems with it’s configuration in Habmin, but otherwise it works just fine.
Also Qubino is now coming out with quite nice Z-Wave portfolio. I’m expecting that due to competition with Fibaro prices should drop soon, but check if you get better prices in New Zealand.
I guess in USA Everspring is cheapest.

Kevin, the problem is that you have in Zealand uncommon Z-Wave Radio Frequency of 921 MHz, which is used only in Australia, Brazil and New Zealand. This is common situation for Russia, for example. This results in lower quantities and higher prices for you. Therefore many people forget about it and build their systems on EU or US devices. This is much cheaper and availability is better. I don’t think that you will be penalized for that.

Hi Kevin - have you seen this thread? I’m in Aus so know all about the Aus tax!

I’d concur with the ditch the NZ frequency.

I’m in NZ and did the same ages ago. I was running a Vera with Aeotec Z-Wave Euro frequency equipment (switches, thermometers etc). My Vera has died so the plan is to migrate across to Openhab when I get a chance.

I justified the Euro standard on a) cheaper equipment b) wider selection of equipment and c) if I decide to ditch it there is a far bigger market to sell into second hand then the 3 Z-Wave users in NZ :slight_smile:

Euro works on the right electrical frequency and all I do is use plug convertors if required.

As for Amazon not showing if it’ll ship to NZ. It does when browsing if you are logged in and have your address set to NZ (clearly says for me that doesn’t ship to NZ before I take it to the cart).

Thanks for the replies everyone, after considering it for a while and looking at the costs, I think I may cobble something together with an additional slave Pi.

Cost of Pi + Case + Power Supply $100,
cost of 4 port relay $12.50,
cost of 2 port relay $8.50
add another $38.50 for boxes and bits
and it works out at around $160. NZD

Way cheaper than 6 relays with Z-Wave when I don’t have anything to start with, and the Pi can do other things moving forward.

Alternatively I may get some more of these
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/433MHz-Practical-AK-RK01S-220-A-AC-220V-1CH-Wireless-Remote-Control-Switch-controle-remoto-P4PM/32536382182.html?spm=2114.01010208.0.1050.jFyrpG
sure they have limitations, but they are also only $3.86 USD plus the cost of a fuseholder and fuse.
I already use these with an RFXCOM interface and they work well.

Just be careful as it will be illegal to use these in NZ and if NZ customs get hold of them they could be confiscated. It’s probably low risk, but…

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Hi Kevin, have you looked at mysensors.org ? If you are willing to go the diy route then mysensors is ideal and cheap as chups! :slight_smile:

You can buy for $20 a board with 4relays ,and all you need to add is a $2 radio to it https://www.itead.cc/rboard.html

If you are interested I can advise further.

Greg

Greg,
DIY is what I do best :slight_smile: I’ve been around Electronics / Radio / Computers all my life!
Please continue
Kevin

Then check out this thread.

@kevin Then you will find a lot of fun and enjoyment in using mySensors.

Go have a read. on the mysensors site.

I use this as my gateway:
https://www.itead.cc/iboard.html

These for controlling a gas heater ( which has 4 toggle switches )
https://www.itead.cc/rboard.html

Some of these as actuators ( garage door controller)
https://www.itead.cc/mini-rboard.html

about 6 or 7 of these as battery based temp/humidity sensors

For each sensor and the gateway you will need a radio…Buy em in lots of 10

You do not need to use the boaurds i linked above, i just like these as they are plug and play.

Naturally this all works great Openhab!

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Fantastic stuff.
Do you have any recommendations for a very low power consuming, wifi or Ethernet relay that will give me a 220V ideally or if not 5V normally closed contact that I can switch from a web browser or MQTT? Having got most of my system installed and working well I’d like a way of power cycling the Pi remotely if it locks up. Normally closed means it recovers after a power cut and uses minimal power.

Check out the Wemos D1 Mini, available from AliExpress. Tiny little WiFi device which can be flashed to run Homie which is an mqtt framework for esp devices. Wemos have a number of shields for these, including a relay shield. I am a Kiwi also so keen to hear how you get on.

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Thanks Ben, will let you know how I go

@ben_jones12 I’ve just ordered a Wemos D1 Mini V2 and a relay shield for the top of it to switch the 5V into my Pi remotely. I also intend using it for 1-Wire sensors, A to D for my Wind Sensor and for extra GPIO Pins as my Pi is pretty full.
Once its installed and working I’ll update this thread.

Thanks everyone who contributed, you’ve likely saved me a heap of money.

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Not on Ali, but some similar stuff - Wi-fi MQTT module with ESP chip in it. Plug-and-Pray, without any soldering, in the box. Just 5$
https://www.itead.cc/smart-home/sonoff-wifi-wireless-switch.html

Thinking of testing one of these.

Yep I have a few of these which are very similar (but have two relays). These can both be re-programmed with your own firmware, i.e. Homie, and thus allow very easy integration with openHAB.

I have yet to put mine into use but have tested the relays and they work well.

To update this thread a little, I got a Wemos D1 Mini which I’ve been playing with.
I originally experimented with Homie which is configured from the Arduino environment. The developer Marvin Roger is very helpful, and on the main Homie thread on this forum he’s provided a way of working around the current 5 node limit which will be removed in the next version. As a package Homie works well, and allows the sketch running on the ESP to be used for simple rules such as “if this input, send that output” as well as interface with Openhab via MQTT.
Right now by way of a contrast I’m trying ESP Easy, which after the original Flash, is configured with a simple web interface, it exposes its basic I/O over MQTT which can be used with Openhab, this seems to be a simpler solution for those that just want to expose a bunch of devices to Openhab over MQTT as it doesn’t require any Arduino Sketch knowledge.
This ESP will be used to control 6 relays, and provide inputs for at least one 1-Wire temperature sensor and an analogue wind sensor, the only issue I’ve found so far with ESP Easy is the topic length in the command topic only seems to work at one deep. For example
Topic “MySensor/” works
Topic “MySensor/Basement/” doesn’t.
The full topic to access the GPIO Pins is:
“MySensor/gpio/14” with a message of either “1” or “0” depending on whether 0V or 3.3V is wanted on the GPIO Pin.
The ESP Easy wiki mentions instability when controlling items but doesn’t mention whether this extends to simple relays so I’ll update the thread when my AliExpress $2 relay boards arrive and I can test it properly. For now I have 2 single relays, an LED, a relay shield and a 1-wire probe hanging off it that I’m keeping an eye on. I’m also pinging it every 10 seconds to check for wifi dropouts. Will update this if any of them fail.