Looking for water sensor

[Kentinada]

I am looking to add a few water sensors to my Eisy/Zmatter environment.  I've seen problems albeit a year ago here with ZSE42 and Aoetec sensors.  Are those issues resolved?  Anyone have a suggestion for a solid product that works today? 

[ldb]

I have both Homeseer LS100 and Zooz ZSE42 sensors.  I exercise them every other month in conjunction with a EcoNet EVC200 valve actuator.  I prefer the Zooz unit due to smaller size and use of a common battery.  I have found battery status reporting to be unreliable for both devices but leak reporting has never failed.

 

[dwengrovitz]

I've used Yolink sensors and they've been rock solid for me. They transmit over long distances, use a readily available battery (and battery life is very good), and they integrate well with the Eisy/Zmatter environment via a plug-in.  They do, however, require a Yolink hub.  

[BobM99]

I bought Ecolink Z-Wave Plus Indoor Flood / Freeze Sensor FLF-ZWAVE5-ECO from The Smartest House 2 years ago and they have been working well. They are out of stock on The Smartest House website, but available at Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/Ecolink-Zwave-Freeze-Sensor-FLF-ZWAVE5-ECO/dp/B0716YVPLG

Bob

 

[RRalston]

I also have Zooz ZSE42 leak detectors and the Zooz Titan valve actuator. Water detection has been solid. But like @ldb I have found battery reporting is very unreliable, although the eISY could easily be part of that problem. I have given up trying to resolve that. Too much finger pointing between UD and Zooz. I do not have any other brand of Zwave battery devices to compare to.

[stevehoyt]

I have used the yolink for almost 2 years now. I second what @dwengravitz said. Great Product

[Kentinada]

@dwengrovitz and @stevehoyt  are these the sensors/hub you refer to?   https://a.co/d/e0xp0WS

[TJF1960]

@Kentinada, I to have been using the Yolink system for almost a year now. They have been rock solid for me as well. So much so as I branched out to using their remote switches for some doors and the fridge and freezer doors, motion sensor as well as their temp sensors. All have been one of the best purchases I have made in a long time (with exception to my UDI products of course). They are very responsive, and quick to report in IoX thanks to the plugin.

Yes, that link is that you attached is correct.

-Tim

[dwengrovitz]

@Kentinada  I think the link you provided is for their Leak Sensor 1.  It's fine, but they do have several models to choose from depending on your needs. The Yosmart website has a good overview and comparison. I believe the Leak Sensor 4 is like the Leak Sensor 1, but with a siren and the ability to also report on cold temps (in case it's in a place where pipes might freeze). I have some of each and they both work just fine. Just want you to be aware that, depending on your needs, you might want to look at some of the other options they have.

On that note, they also have options for the hub. I have a couple of their Speakerhub devices because I wanted the ability to easily integrate custom audio alerts. The hubs aren't expensive, and the delta to go to the Speakerhub versus the regular hub wasn't much more than the cost of a cheeseburger these days (maybe even less). There are multiple ways one can integrate audio alerts, but having something announce "the leak sensor detected water under the kitchen sink" can be a lot easier to work with than trying to figure out where that beeping is coming from. Of course, you can also use the eisy to generate email and instant messages, and support from the plugin developer has been great. Again, the hub in the starter pack is fine, just want you to be aware there are options. 

Edited August 9 by dwengrovitz

[Kentinada]

@dwengrovitz Thanks, this is great info. I was looking at the Sensor 1 on Yosmart's website and it says it works with Alexa.  I was hoping to build alerts into Alexa if water was detected.  Did you try that?  

[Geddy]

47 minutes ago, Kentinada said:

I was hoping to build alerts into Alexa if water was detected.  Did you try that?

I did use with Alexa for a vibration alert device (attached to our dryer that the end of cycle buzzer has gone out on). The process uses automations within the YoLink app. They are fairly simple based and are easy to setup, but leave a lot of customization out of the process that many take for granted with IoX/Polyglot. 

While the alerts usually worked, it did seem to have similar issues that many have reported here with links to the Echo system. I experienced a few days where the alerts didn't work. I since started using the YoLink plugin, programs, variables, and notifications to get alerts more reliably. The good thing is you can use both Alexa/Echo connection and the YoLink Plugin to keep the IoX/PG3x system to deliver alerts just as well. You don't have to only pick/rely on one.

Note if you get the Speaker hub it doesn't have an ethernet connection so only uses wifi (2.4GHz band only) to connect to the network. When I got my system I got the 1st hub so I could hardwire it into my network. I know 2.4GHz has "long" range, but it also has the most trouble in some mesh/long-range wifi systems where 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz SSID cannot be split (or aren't split). Making troubleshooting connection issues for a system like this more trouble than I want(ed) to deal with. I think the 3rd gen hub has an ethernet port, but doesn't appear to have a speaker.  My points for this is that you could get the speaker hub and not have to rely on Alexa for voice alerts, but it's drawback (for me) was wifi only. The other hubs don't offer the speaker so you then rely on the links from hub to other (3rd party) systems for voice alerts (which may not always be reliable and difficult to troubleshoot). 

[Kentinada]

@Geddy very useful information!  Thanks.  I planned to integrate the Yolink stuff with the plugin so this was helpful to know.  I also would prefer to have the hub plugged into an ethernet port.  

[Ross]

Just curious.  Can one have 2 YoLink hubs?  One plugged into an ethernet and the other for a speaker?

[paulbates]

10 hours ago, Ross said:

Just curious.  Can one have 2 YoLink hubs?  One plugged into an ethernet and the other for a speaker?

EDIT: My recollection is that it was one device per hub, but that was wrong, here is yolink supports page. 

Can I use multiple YoLink hubs within the same network?

Yes, you can set up multiple hubs within the same network, and it is recommended doing so. Having two or more hubs increases system reliability. If hub A is offline, devices will automatically connect to hub B. Additionally, placing hubs in various locations throughout your home will expand their communication range

 

Wrong:

Yolink devices can only be associated with one hub, so the answer is no from a practical point of view.

However, the range and reliability of yolink devices allows you a lot of flexibility in the hub's placement; like right next to your router. My announcement capable, Wi-Fi only hub 2 is near my router. It talks to all my yolink sensors, even fridge/freezer seniors across the house in the garage. I have no Wi-Fi connectivity issues either

Edited August 10 by paulbates
I was wrong about multiple hubs

[Geddy]

2 hours ago, Ross said:

Can one have 2 YoLink hubs?  One plugged into an ethernet and the other for a speaker?

According to YoLink’s FAQ you can have more than one hub, but not sure if they’d connect at the same time. 

Quote

Can I use multiple YoLink hubs within the same network?

Yes, you can set up multiple hubs within the same network, and it is recommended doing so. Having two or more hubs increases system reliability. If hub A is offline, devices will automatically connect to hub B. Additionally, placing hubs in various locations throughout your home will expand their communication range.

Source link

Didn’t specifically see if you had speaker and non-speaker if they’d announce if not connected to it at the time. But like @paulbates suggests the range is amazing. So ideal would be get the hub that fits your need/want. 

 

[dwengrovitz]

9 hours ago, Ross said:

Just curious.  Can one have 2 YoLink hubs?  One plugged into an ethernet and the other for a speaker?

I have three hubs ... two are Speakerhubs and one is not. All are WiFi connected and are online at the same time.

One Speakerhub is in a place where it can be heard throughout most of the house. The second is in my office/workspace, which usually has the door closed so the first Speakerhub can't easily be heard there. A third (non speaker) was placed in a location at the far end of the house to get a bit stronger signal and better reliability from a particularly remote sensor (at the recommendation of the Yosmart support staff). 

Audio alerts don't happen at exactly the same time, but my hubs aren't really within earshot of each other so that doesn't matter much to me.  

[Kentinada]

I just installed my first hub and 4 type 1 sensors.  Is there a limit to how many sensors I can connect to this hub if I want to add more which I'm sure I will?

[Geddy]

34 minutes ago, Kentinada said:

Is there a limit to how many sensors I can connect to this hub if I want to add more which I'm sure I will?

Not really a limit. According to the hub faq:

Quote

What is the maximum number of devices one hub can connect to?

There is no specific limit on the number of devices you can add to one hub. In tests, a single hub was capable of supporting 200 devices without issues. It is recommended customers consider adding another hub if they have between 100 and 200 devices.

While YoLink has a main FAQ some of your questions are answered in the specific product FAQ. Also, doesn’t look like they have a support forum, but they do mention a Discord channel for help, but think you need to request the link to it (from what I saw in their FAQs.

Which hub did you get? It’s a slippery slope….I started with maybe 4 or 5 temp sensors to test and now up to about 10 sensors of various kinds. Mostly I’d say I’m very happy with the product. Hope the water sensors do what you want them to. 

[Kentinada]

I got the hub without speaker.  So far, so good.  I need a few more sensors though.  I might buy another 4 pack and hub from Amazon even if I don't use the 2nd hub.  it's the cheapest price for the sensors I've found.  Would there be any benefit to having a hub on the main level and a 2nd one on our lower level and connect the sensors to the hub on the same level?  Or just go with the single hub and 8-10 sensors connected to it from both levels? 

[dwengrovitz]

As far as I know, one doesn't connect sensors to a specific hub, so I'm not sure you can specify devices on one level should connect to one hub and devices on another level connect to the other. You just add all sensors and hubs into the app, and what connects to what is transparent to the user.   

With the great range of these devices, having a second hub online within a reasonably sized house for a small number of sensors won't hurt, but it might not help much, unless you have connectivity issues and one hub goes offline. In that case, I think the second hub will take over. BTW - for each sensor, you can check signal intensity as well as battery levels from within the app. So in your case, you might want to install the sensors and one hub, then check the signal intensity on the sensors. If for some reason you don't have good signal, install the second hub, and check the intensity again. 

Again, the range of the these devices is so good it might not make much difference. As an example, I placed a contact sensor on the door of my mailbox. The mailbox is about 150 yards away from the house through a somewhat wooded and hilly landscape, and there's no clear line of sight. I've setup an audio alert that says "you've got mail" on the Speakerhubs when the mailbox door is opened (and I also get text message notifications through eisy), mainly so I can avoid walking out there when the mail hasn't been delivered yet. The signal intensity of the sensor even at that distance still shows as "strong". 

[Kentinada]

@dwengrovitz thanks for the great info. 

[Ross]

@Kentinada I have 2 YoLink hubs (both non-speaker) connected via ethernet at each end of my house.

I can't tell which hub my devices are talking to, but they all work nicely.

I was having issues with a temperature sensor being offline at one end of the house (surrounded by concrete blocks).  Adding a 2nd hub fixed the issue.

Good luck,

Ross

[Kentinada]

@Ross Thanks, maybe I should install the 2nd hub on my lower level.  It's just sitting in a box now.  Probably couldn't hurt. 

[stevehoyt]

FYI I have 26 YOlink devices all running from a single hub in the center of my 2 story house. At least 5 are about 250 feet away from the hub. No issues. 

[dwengrovitz]

@Kentinada  Definitely won't hurt to have two hubs online ... and might help depending on the construction where the sensors are located. Though I have to warn you ... once you have two hubs online, you may start wondering why you don't have more of their sensors. 

Edited August 18 by dwengrovitz