which wireless window contact/sensors for DIY Home Automation system?

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  • yesyes
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • May 2014
    • 11

    which wireless window contact/sensors for DIY Home Automation system?

    Hi,
    my first post here, so I hope this is the correct section...

    A friend and I are developing our own HA system. My friend had a new house built and so he was able to have contacts integrated into his doors and windows and wires run to a central place. I've then built a device that reads those contacts and reports the state of each door and window to the HA system.

    I, however, live in an old house where I can't just run wires to each door and window. So I'm looking for a wireless / RF solution for the same thing. I found a lot of these sensors but they are all for some sort of commercial stand-alone alarm system.

    Does anyone know such a system that can be connected to a computer somehow that would allow me to read the state of each contact individually (not only "all closed")?

    Thanks,
    Chris
  • yesyes
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • May 2014
    • 11

    #3
    They look good (as long as you can see them ;-) ). But what is on the receiving side? There must be some sort of "base station" that communicates with these sensors. Does that have a way to connect a computer and read the states of the sensors?

    Or did you mean adapt the sensor itself so that it speaks my own protocol? This has crossed my mind but the electronics I use for my own devices (Arduino Minis and 433MHz RF transceiver modules) would be way too big to fit inside that sensor or to package in any nice way that the wife would approve being stuck to each window Also they use too much power to run on battery for any appreciable amount of time.

    There's got to be a way for us tinkerers and DIYers to use RF window sensors and read the data from a computer. I just can't find one...

    Comment

    • b_weijenberg
      Automated Home Sr Member
      • Sep 2006
      • 54

      #4
      For door/window sensors you could also use X10 DS90 sensor and use an RFXCOM RFXtrx433 to receive those sensors.

      With the RFXtrx433 you can also control LightwaveRF and HomeEasy and receive Oregon scientific sensors and a lot more.
      For software developers an SDK is available or use one of the supported Home Automation systems (Homeseer, VERA, Domoticz, Domotiga...)

      Comment

      • Otto-Mate
        Founder
        • Jan 2004
        • 882

        #5
        You'd need a PC or other controller to receive the Z-Wave traffic and interface with your own system.

        M.
        Editor AutomatedHome.co.uk


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        Comment

        • Andrew Millne
          Automated Home Ninja
          • Nov 2007
          • 269

          #6
          This is a problem I have too. I have a fair few sliding sash windows that I am unable to retrofit traditional reed switches to. I did come across some enocean products that could fit the bill http://www.enocean.com/it/enocean_modules/stm-250-oem/ in combination with possibly http://www.enocean.com/it/enocean_modules/rcm-250-oem/. I believe you can pair several transmitters to each receiver so you could have a single receiver for whole-house or per room/window.

          I haven't looked in any great detail at these however so there may be some pitfalls I haven't seen yet. It's just an idea of something to possibly look into but whatever you decide on it would be great if you could update this thread.
          Visit my blog and Follow me on Twitter...

          Comment

          • chris_j_hunter
            Automated Home Legend
            • Dec 2007
            • 1713

            #7
            how about adapting one of these :




            eg: a reed-switch on the window, wired across the switch of one of these (mounted very near-by) :



            communicating with one of these - mounted in Node0, perhaps :



            used to switch a digital input to the HA system ...
            Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 13 May 2014, 12:59 PM.
            Our self-build - going further with HA...

            Comment

            • johnwharrison
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Oct 2005
              • 18

              #8
              Originally posted by yesyes View Post
              They look good (as long as you can see them ;-) ). But what is on the receiving side? There must be some sort of "base station" that communicates with these sensors. Does that have a way to connect a computer and read the states of the sensors?

              Or did you mean adapt the sensor itself so that it speaks my own protocol? This has crossed my mind but the electronics I use for my own devices (Arduino Minis and 433MHz RF transceiver modules) would be way too big to fit inside that sensor or to package in any nice way that the wife would approve being stuck to each window Also they use too much power to run on battery for any appreciable amount of time.

              There's got to be a way for us tinkerers and DIYers to use RF window sensors and read the data from a computer. I just can't find one...
              You could either use a Z-Wave controller such as a VeraLite or a Fibaro HC Lite. (around £150 and £250 respectively)

              Alternatively, you can get the Aeon Labs Z-Stick (£40 ish) for controlling directly from a PC.

              Comment

              • yesyes
                Automated Home Jr Member
                • May 2014
                • 11

                #9
                Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

                Originally posted by chris_j_hunter View Post
                how about adapting one of these :




                eg: a reed-switch on the window, wired across the switch of one of these (mounted very near-by) :



                communicating with one of these - mounted in Node0, perhaps :



                used to switch a digital input to the HA system ...
                I haven't mentioned that, but I'm talking about 8 windows and doors. As I understand it I would need one switch and one relay unit per door/window. This looks like a rather bulky and expensive solution. There has to be a better way, sorry.

                The Z-wave devices look promising. There are USB sticks that are controllers, so it's easy to connect to a computer and get the data out. The protocol doesn't seem to be openly documented but I found the OpenZwave project, so I could use that to integrate it into my system. This is definitely an option, though I was looking for something a little easier to implement.


                Originally posted by b_weijenberg View Post
                For door/window sensors you could also use X10 DS90 sensor and use an RFXCOM RFXtrx433 to receive those sensors.

                With the RFXtrx433 you can also control LightwaveRF and HomeEasy and receive Oregon scientific sensors and a lot more.
                For software developers an SDK is available or use one of the supported Home Automation systems (Homeseer, VERA, Domoticz, Domotiga...)
                This looks also quite good so far, though I can't find any info on the SDK. I especially like that the RFXtrx433 supports several protocols. I have an Oregon Scientific alarm clock with outdoor sensor


                Originally posted by Andrew Millne View Post
                This is a problem I have too. I have a fair few sliding sash windows that I am unable to retrofit traditional reed switches to. I did come across some enocean products that could fit the bill http://www.enocean.com/it/enocean_modules/stm-250-oem/ in combination with possibly http://www.enocean.com/it/enocean_modules/rcm-250-oem/. I believe you can pair several transmitters to each receiver so you could have a single receiver for whole-house or per room/window.

                I haven't looked in any great detail at these however so there may be some pitfalls I haven't seen yet. It's just an idea of something to possibly look into but whatever you decide on it would be great if you could update this thread.
                Another interesting product. I like that it's solar powered. But it would have to be on the inside of the window!?


                Thanks again for all the pointers. A lot more research needs to be done. But I will definitely report back what I end up using. And I'm still open to any further suggestions...

                Chris

                Comment

                • chris_j_hunter
                  Automated Home Legend
                  • Dec 2007
                  • 1713

                  #10
                  >a lot more research needs to be done ...

                  do you have some overall objectives - or is it going to grow ad hoc ??

                  for an idea of what's possible, did you see :



                  AlertMe & Dupline & Nico could perhaps be added ...

                  altogether, they vary a lot in how clever they are - from being not much more than remote-controls to quite intelligent / context sensitive ...

                  some examples / case-studies here, too :





                  Insteon is the most reliable and simplest way to turn your home into a smart home. Control, monitor, and automate lights from anywhere




                  Find inspiration from these smart home case studies. From apartments to family homes, these showcase smart lighhting, heating, security and more.
                  Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 14 May 2014, 09:24 AM.
                  Our self-build - going further with HA...

                  Comment

                  • b_weijenberg
                    Automated Home Sr Member
                    • Sep 2006
                    • 54

                    #11
                    Originally posted by yesyes View Post
                    This looks also quite good so far, though I can't find any info on the SDK.
                    Chris
                    The DS90 is an X10 security sensor and is received as Type: Security1, Sub type: X10 security door/window sensor.

                    Another option are the HomeEasy (AC) door/window sensors. These are cheap but have a problem that they transmit RF packets for about 3 to 5 seconds. During this period no other RF signals can be send. If you want to switch an RF module in response to this sensor it will be delayed.
                    To know why, read this http://www.domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=7337
                    Another advantage of the X10 DS90 above the HomeEasy sensor is that the DS90 transmit every 2 hrs an alive signal and it reports the battery status (full/empty).

                    Comment

                    • johnwharrison
                      Automated Home Jr Member
                      • Oct 2005
                      • 18

                      #12
                      Another thing to be aware of is that some of the cheaper wireless door / window sensors will only give you an open signal, not a closed one, and also most are not of the type that can be polled. You will need to listen all the time and track the state of the sensors yourself.

                      Comment

                      • yesyes
                        Automated Home Jr Member
                        • May 2014
                        • 11

                        #13
                        Originally posted by chris_j_hunter View Post
                        >a lot more research needs to be done ...

                        do you have some overall objectives - or is it going to grow ad hoc ??
                        The objective for the window / door sensors is for me to be able to see at any time for each individual window / door whether it is open or closed (I'd prefer locked / unlocked, but open / closed is good enough). A few seconds delay for any state change to "propagate" through the system is acceptable. Basically, when I leave the house or go to sleep I want to see if everything is closed and if not, which window / door is still open. In my case this has to be wireless between window / door and "the system" as I cannot run cables to each window / door.

                        The whole system is growing in an ad-hoc fashion depending on what ideas my friend or I come up with. So far we have temperature and humidity sensors in every room (well, almost, I'm still building a few more sensors), we have RGB LEDs we can control remotely (most of them in the form of cove lighting with those RGB LED strips), IR transmitters and receivers that act like IR remote controls, mains switches (relays) to switch non-dimmable LED lights on and off and a device that reads my friend's wired window / door contacts (he built a new house, so he was able to run wires and have the sensors integrated inside the window frames). Those are all designed and built by myself and based on Arduino Minis and 433MHz RF transceiver modules. All these devices communicate with my software (basically a data packet router) running on my HA server using a protocol I came up with. I also added support for Current Cost energy monitors reading and parsing the XML stream they send via serial port. Support for other devices / protocols can be added easily by writing a new "port DLL".
                        The main objectives of this whole system are:
                        - develop as much as possible ourselves (because we can and because it's fun and cheaper) ;-)
                        - all the communication and data storage is local, not on some manufacturer's servers. We don't want any 3rd party to (potentially) collect our data.
                        - web front end with LCARS (Star Trek) interface (yeah, we're both Trekies)

                        Everything else we basically make up as we go along and have new ideas. We've been developing this for just over 2 years now...

                        Comment

                        • yesyes
                          Automated Home Jr Member
                          • May 2014
                          • 11

                          #14
                          Originally posted by johnwharrison View Post
                          Another thing to be aware of is that some of the cheaper wireless door / window sensors will only give you an open signal, not a closed one, and also most are not of the type that can be polled. You will need to listen all the time and track the state of the sensors yourself.
                          That's a good hint, thanks. it would be no problem to listen all the time (I already do that with the other devices I developed) and keep track. I could build in a "manual sync" function in case I lose communication and miss some state changes. However, if they don't send a closed signal, how would I know when the window has been closed again? Would the absence of an open signal mean that it is closed?

                          Comment

                          • chris_j_hunter
                            Automated Home Legend
                            • Dec 2007
                            • 1713

                            #15
                            >when I leave the house or go to sleep I want to see if everything is closed and if not ...

                            we did that with our set-up, too, but also with the intercom speaking the information - seemed a good idea at the time, but we've found it better than that ... very convenient check, plus we also use them for telling us when doors have been left open for more than seems appropriate (larder door, doors to the outside, etc, depending on circumstances), when children are going where they shouldn't, when visitors let themselves in, etc, etc ... ie: way more than we first envisaged ...

                            >temperature and humidity sensors in every room ...

                            how about light-level & motion sensors, too ?
                            Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 18 May 2014, 10:07 PM.
                            Our self-build - going further with HA...

                            Comment

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