Just moved into a new house that was pre-wired for a security system, but does not have any equipment. Looking for recommendations that work great with Konnected. Already have window and door sensors. Any other suggestions?
It really depends on the layout, use case, and what is important to you to monitor. In general Honeywell makes some great, long lasting, wired sensors. Also some things you can install will have mutliple sensors. For example Smart Thermostats will have temperature, humidity, and many times motion sensors built into them.
The other thing to consider is how you want them all wired. You might want to mix wired and wireless sensors depending on what you want and what you want to monitor.
Is there something specific you want to monitor?
I’m curious about leak sensors specifically. The best zwave leak sensors these days are $50-60 per unit. With Konnected, it seems like we could have more options, at least in places where we have wiring.
On second thought....regarding leak sensors, is there a reason one couldn't just leave open two conductors coming from the Konnected board, with the leads exposed placed very near each other, allowing water (assuming it's conductive water) to close the circuit? A "naked" leak sensor.
Seems so simple -- would it work?
Thanks for the heads up on the Honeywell products. Im more so looking fo suggestions/ideas on what wired gear i should get. At this point all i know i need is a motion a sensor and a siren. Not sure if someone makes a stand alone wired Temperature Sensor that would be used with Konnected. Just looking for ideas on how to expand the Konnected system.
@Mark Olson, did you ever try your "naked leak sensor" idea? Did it work? Was thinking about doing something similar.
I've been using a simple rain sensor as a leak detector for my hot water heater. You can find them multiple places but I've purchased mine on AliExpress for $0.55 (yes 55 cents). You can even adjust the sensitivity on them using the pot of the little PWB card. Of course with AliExpress you will have to be patient with the delivery from China. Mine took about 2 weeks to be delivered.
-Greg
Thanks, Greg. I had seen you had posted about those elsewhere. I had actually watched the following tutorial here, and in the video the guy uses both the sensor and the control board (with which there are three wires - one of which supplies the actual data values of the sensor). I'm assuming when you hook yours up to Konnected, you just don't use that third data cable? Or do you instead skip the use of the control board and just use the sensor itself?
Thanks,
Alex
@Alex,
Here is a picture showing how to interconnect the ESP8266 NodeMCU with the Rain Sensor PCB and the Rain Sensor. Note: It doesn't matter how you connect the 2 wires between the Rain Sensor PCB and the Rain Sensor. Hope this clarifies how to make the connections.
ESP8266 Rain Sensor PCB (3 Pin End) Rain Sensor PCB (2 Pin End) Rain Sensor
Pin PIN Pin Pin
5V ------ White ------ VCC (+) ------------- Blue --------------- 1
GND ---- Black ------ GND (-) -------------Green -------------- 2
D0 ----- Yellow ----- DO
Cheers,
Greg
Greg, thanks for this. Just got one in the mail (about 2 weeks from China like you said). I did a quick test, and the sensor actually works without the rain control board, so is there any reason why one would need the PCB?
Thanks,
Alex
Alex, I'm no expert but my simple understanding of this PCB is it provides an adjustable potentiometer which can adjust the sensitivity of the Digital Output (Pin-DO) signal. In addition, the PCB also contains an analog output capability (Pin-AO). It also has two LED's, (PWR LED) indicates the PCB has power and (PWR DO) which indicates when PIN-DO has been triggered.
I'm only using the DO function to detect leaks at the base of my water heater and washer and may at some point install them underneath the dish washer. I'm not using this sensor to determine moisture levels in soil.
If you'd like a better explanation of its operation and more I would view this YouTube video by Andreas Speiess (https://youtu.be/udmJyncDvw0). Why most Arduino Soil Moisture Sensors suck (incl. solution)
-Greg