I think we are “stuck” (or is that “blessed”) with having to mix and match these technologies given their individual strengths and weakness… and the availability of products in different markets.
While I’d love to have only WiFi devices (I’ve got full WiFi all over my block) so I’d not have to deploy a 2nd (or 3rd) network type (Z-Wave / Zigbee). I just can’t find Electrically Approved Devices here in Australia to replace the Fibaro Wall Dimmers (which don’t require a seperate Neutral). I’ve also not seen a WiFi equivalent of the Aeotec 6-1 sensors (that I run off USB power) for WiFi. As pointed out… even if there were such devices, we would then also need a corresponding Binding.
I think WiFi is fine when you have line of sight to the router, but if you have dead spots in your house then it’s a pain in the ass. I have WiFi devices that have been running for years with no major problems, but every once in awhile some of them will start disconnecting/reconnecting repeatedly. Usually a router reboot fixes it, but that’s not ideal.
There are some really nice Z-Wave sensors out there, but as noted the switches/plugs are typically 2x the cost and CR123a batteries for sensors are expensive (and I can’t find rechargeables in Canada). Also, Z-Wave can be finicky when adding devices and difficult to troubleshoot. But when it works, it works extremely well. And if I’ve learned anything, it’s that reliability is worth a few extra bucks…particularly for things I use on a daily basis.
So if I were starting from scratch, I’d use Z-Wave as much as possible. And I’d probably supplement with Tasmota-flashed WiFi devices, which might offer the best bang for the buck.
People to just stare at the actuator price tag fail to understand where the hidden cost is.
It’s missing bindings so it’s about your time you need to invest to fiddle with scripts and generic bindings to get this to work.
It’s about the risk of a vendor or product line to be withdrawn from the market that you will need to replace (lack of compatible alternatives).
It’s about the risk of getting hit by a botnet or similar - ZWave/Zigbee, while not perfect, are a lot less susceptible simply because they’re not IP hence not directly attackable from the Inet or hacked devices.
It is about certification for electrical safety etc you need to have ready for your home insurance.
It’s about outages / malfunction / interference / debugging efforts due to WiFi coverage and the overloaded 2.4 GHz band.
And what if you want to sell your home one day - can you convince the buyer that all your selections are not just Chinese junk he needs to replace ?
I guess that’s “questionable” - I’d probably rephrase this in a way that is probably more in-line with what @mpuff is getting at…
WiFi routers designed for the home environment probably don’t expect to have to run 150 devices connected simultaneously. Sure - you can buy such routers, but then they are probably sold for business use, and that bumps up the selling price.
Conversely, systems like ZigBee and ZWave are specifically designed for this application.
Regarding battery sensors in general… If its a device which´s hardly every used, (read, triggers seldom), the battery will last for very long. On the other side, if its a sensor which is in use (triggers very often), like a doorsensor on a high trafic door, you will see Zigbee as well as Z-wave devices consumes the battery very fast.
In Z-wave there is a polling setup, which can be used to minimize the battery use. As far as I know, there are no such thing in Zigbee as the polling periode is fixed.
My impression is that zigbee is the way to go for battery sensors.
The Philips hue indoor and outdoor battery sensors works very well with the zigbee-binding.
The Aqara weather complement them well in my system.
That’s what really surprised me though, that my Aqara Zigbee sensors which get used/triggered a lot (70-150 times every day) do not show any more battery drop than the less used sensors. I know my above graph is a bit crowded - I have split them up in sensor type for better overview myself - but it does show no significant drop in a year of usage for any of the sensors. I wouldn’t call that very fast battery drainage at all and expect quite a few more months form the batteries.
No experience with Z-wave here, but some comparison with similar sensors would be interesting.
Nope. That’s true for specific edge case devices at best but untrue on average or on the technology level you made this statement on.
I’ve also got battery sensors in use that are based on a proprietary 433MHz RF protocol.
Like them as they don’t even do polling so battery life is even better, and it’s AAA batteries hence cheap to replace or to use rechargeables.
That’s not really correct. ZigBee allows changing of the reporting period from the device. Polling is generally a bad idea for any network (ZWave or ZigBee) and should be avoided.
This is one of those issues - everyone has an opinion based on their own experience, but I don’t think there is any reason at all for ZigBee to be better than ZWave when it comes to battery performance. Both systems use similar technology, so should have similar battery demands. We’ve all had devices that have chewed through batteries - but I doubt there’s one systematic reason that you can blame on a specific technology.
In my case I have some MS6 and some Fibaro eyes on zwave.
Both use CR123 batteries.
On zigbee I have Philips Hue indoor and outdoor and Aqara Weather.
Im slowly turning over to the Zigbee combination because in practical use I do not have to change batteries as often.
Yes, I am comparing apples and oranges.
A specialized sensor as the Hue indoor (lux and movement with temperature as a bonus) is always better than the multipurpose MS6 on batteries.
That is, when lux, movement and temperature is what you need.
I have a bunch of Miija (Xiaomi) door/window sensors. Two are used for garagedoor opened/closed status, and the rest ar used for doors opened/closed. They were all installed at the same time, but one door, which is out main door, uses alot more battery than the others.
I also have a tilt sensor (Z-wave) connected to my garagdoor… This has been installed aprox 2 years ago. And its still reporting 100% battery, even though its in use at least 8 times a day. (Im starting to wonder if the battery status works at all).
I then have a motion sensors (Z-wave). This one is placed in a central spot inside the house with lots of trafic. It has used aprox 40% battery within a year. The other motionsensor I have (different brand and z-wave as well) outside our frontdoor uses about the same. My Philips Hue motionsensor has had battery changes twice within a year. Another Zigbee motionsensor (Trust), has had battery changed three times within a year. Both are located in my home office (thats where I test stuff).
My worse device is a temperature/humidity sensor (Z-wave). I cant really recall how many times I have changed battery. At least 5-6 times in aprox 2 years… Its a very bad device… But its old, and I dont think its Z-wave plus compatible.
I agree the Aqua/Miija sensors use very little battery. But my experience are for all devices in general, it really depends on how often it triggers.
Particular this device I have not had good experience with regarding battery consumption
It can vary among individual devices too.
I have 3 cheap Neo Coolcam sensors. One I have replaced the C-123 battery twice in a year. The other 2 still have their original one. I am getting ready to replace the battery hungry one with a Zooz outdoor sensor using AA batteries. If it gets too power hungry USB power is an option too.
I have a Neo Coolcam as well. And just like yours, this one consumes more battery. But I´ve noticed after last change of battery, that it runs longer, The new battery is a different brand, maybe thats the reason.
and expect quite a few more months form the batteries.
Forget about any warranty too. They want you to pay to ship to China before they will even consider it.