I need a sensor to detect when I open my washing machine so I can dismiss a reminder. Would be nice to have something that doesn’t require an hub and off course works with OH.
Any suggestion? I was thinking about sonoff WiFi with Tasmota but maybe there are other options. Actually I do have a Switchbot hub sonthats also an option.
Thanks for any suggestion
Anything with Wifi usually need to be mains powered.
For battery powered, zigbee is the best option.
I have been using Xiaomi Aqara contact sensors, purchased from Aliexpress. They are Zigbee based, powered by a CR2016 battery. You’ll need to have a Zigbee coordinator (aka hub), I’d recommend zigbee2mqtt. You’d need a zigbee dongle. I got a Sonoff dongle.
IKEA also has a zigbee contact sensor although I haven’t tried one.
Ok thanks, then i guess i need one, seems like ZBDongle-E 3.0 is the best for OH
that depends on whether you are going to use openhab’s zigbee binding, or zigbee2mqtt. I use and am familiar with zigbee2mqtt and not the openhab zigbee binding. This however requires you to be familiar with mqtt and with how to set up openhab mqtt things.
on the other hand, the openhab zigbee binding is probably simpler to set up, because you don’t have to deal with mqtt, but I don’t know whether the xiaomi aqara contact sensors are compatible with it. From what I read, the binding has stricter criteria and doesn’t support some of the “cheap” / nonstandard zigbee devices.
Zigbee2mqtt has a far wider device support and I highly recommend it.
I’ve been testing the Aqara Matter P2 Door Window Sensor with the beta Matter binding. It works with no issue for me. And I bought a cheap Matter Door Window Sensor from Aliexpress that also works. These are Matter over Thread, so you will need a Thread Border Router. But you may already have that. Some of the Amazon Echo devices have built in TBR’s, and some of the Google speakers and displays and Apple TV’s have a TBR. If you have one of those, no need for any dongle.
This is not trivial to set up, you need to follow the instructions carefully in the Matter beta binding page, and you can expect a few issues here and there. But the future appears to be Matter. It’s really nice to have interoperabiility with Apple Homekit, Alexa, Google…
how much do they cost?
I can get 12 zigbee sensors for AU$170 (incl tax) (USD$91+tax) from aliexpress (a random link, from a quick search, not specifically endorsing this seller)
How do you “link” the aqara thread device?
In my case I have an Amazon Echo (has a Thread Border Router), so I used the Alexa app on my phone to pair the device. Scan the QR code on the device or packaging, then follow the steps to pair. Once paired, there is a way to share the device in the Alexa app with another system through a generated QR code. Do that, get the number, scan from the Matter binding in OH. It’s not glitch free yet, but it works. OH then communicates via IPv6 with the TBR to talk to the device.
I just found the Tuya for $11 USD on Aliexpress. The Aqara P2 is about $25 USD on Amazon (not what I would call cheap). Hopefully the price on these decline as Matter ramps up. Lots of Matter devices are becoming available. The one I miss so far is a Thread temperature sensor.
Wow this is cool, unfortunately i only have an Amazon Echo Spot (latest gen) which doesn’t seem to be able to act as a border router. Is there any device i could use which would make me able to use both zigbee and thread acting as a TBR?
My understanding is that ZBDongle-E 3.0 works both with OH binding and zigbe2mqtt, i do prefer the mqtt option honestly i already use mqtt for a few things. I mean from the sonoff comparison table i do not see any reason why someone should buy any other model. Am i wrong?
I use a Zigbee dongle P but I guess the E version should work fine or even better.
I actually have 2 dongle Ps (one as a cold backup), and an E (unused).
The Sonoff dongle you mention above can be flashed to run as a TBR, but I don’t think it can do both that and Zigbee simultaneously: How to Flash Firmware on SONOFF ZBDongle-E: Step-by-Step Tutorial - SONOFF Official. I suspect almost all Thread users on OH have been using Apple, Google, or Amazon devices, though I think Dan mentioned he used a different TBR.
HA has a device that can do both, but if you read the section on simultaneous multi-protocol you’ll see they don’t recommend it.
Thanks, i decided starting with something simple as i do not really need thread right now, so i purchased an Aqara device and the 3-E Sonoff bridge, should arrive today, will need to make it work on my K8s cluster with zigbee2mqtt but that shouldnt be too complex 