Skylight Open/Closed Sensor?

[smorgasbord]

I have a bunch of Insteon and YoLink devices connected through Eisy and the YoLink plug-in. I'm now adding a 5 skylights to be controlled. I just figured out the contact closure end of things, but the Velux integration hub does NOT report the state of the skylight. Since the skylight can be controlled not just through Eisy, but also directly through Velux's remotes or the Velux App, I can't just track the commands Eisy sends.

YoLink has a door & window sensor: https://shop.yosmart.com/collections/door-sensors/products/ys7704 for $17.

Insteon has one for $40 https://www.insteon.com/products/open-close-sensor

The problem I have with both of them is that the skylights have screens that don't move. So I'd have to put one piece (say the magnet) on the moving skylight window frame, and other piece just inside the fixed frame on the other side of the screen. I'm worried that even when closed the distance between the two pieces will be too large and the sensor will always report open.

Any thoughts on either sensor's ability to span, say, ½" of distance with a metal frame in between and still report closed?

YoLink's contact sensor that uses a small magnet and the sensor is also small, connected with a short wire to a battery pack. I've used that on my front gate, but it requires the magnet and sensor be able to be very close to register closed, so i don't think that'll work and while the thing is outdoor rated, don't really want to mount it outside the skylight due to battery replacement concerns.

Insteon also has a single piece plunger-operated door sensor, but I can't drill a hole deep enough in the skylight for that to work.

Maybe the best idea is the YoLink Garage Door sensor, which I think can tell when the tilt changes. Given my skylights are on an angled roof it may be that when they're open they're horizontal enough to report as "closed", but I could invert the logic in Eisy. Anyone try anything like this?

[IndyMike]

On 8/15/2025 at 1:51 AM, smorgasbord said:

I have a bunch of Insteon and YoLink devices connected through Eisy and the YoLink plug-in. I'm now adding a 5 skylights to be controlled. I just figured out the contact closure end of things, but the Velux integration hub does NOT report the state of the skylight. Since the skylight can be controlled not just through Eisy, but also directly through Velux's remotes or the Velux App, I can't just track the commands Eisy sends.

YoLink has a door & window sensor: https://shop.yosmart.com/collections/door-sensors/products/ys7704 for $17.

Insteon has one for $40 https://www.insteon.com/products/open-close-sensor

The problem I have with both of them is that the skylights have screens that don't move. So I'd have to put one piece (say the magnet) on the moving skylight window frame, and other piece just inside the fixed frame on the other side of the screen. I'm worried that even when closed the distance between the two pieces will be too large and the sensor will always report open.

Any thoughts on either sensor's ability to span, say, ½" of distance with a metal frame in between and still report closed?

YoLink's contact sensor that uses a small magnet and the sensor is also small, connected with a short wire to a battery pack. I've used that on my front gate, but it requires the magnet and sensor be able to be very close to register closed, so i don't think that'll work and while the thing is outdoor rated, don't really want to mount it outside the skylight due to battery replacement concerns.

Insteon also has a single piece plunger-operated door sensor, but I can't drill a hole deep enough in the skylight for that to work.

Maybe the best idea is the YoLink Garage Door sensor, which I think can tell when the tilt changes. Given my skylights are on an angled roof it may be that when they're open they're horizontal enough to report as "closed", but I could invert the logic in Eisy. Anyone try anything like this?

Assuming that your screen and window frame are aluminum, your should be able to make the magnetic reed switch work over a 1/2" distance.  You may need to tune the magnet (increase strength, stack, etc) to get things to trigger reliably.  There is nothing magic about the magnets included in the sensor kits.  You can replace with stronger versions and stack them to increase flux strength/close distances.

Neodymium Magnet

The Insteon sensor is easy since you have the ISY, but the battery life isn't the greatest. That could be an issue with skylights.  The Yolink has good range and battery life, but you'll need a hub and a plugin.

The garage door tilt sensor is elegant, but you probably don't have enough range of motion on your skylights.  I use Zooz tilt sensors on my garage doors and they work well.  They are not tunable (most are not) and require ~ 60 degrees of motion to trigger reliably.

I have played with some Tuya Zigbee tilt sensors (ZG-103Z) that report X,Y, and Z axes tilt angles.  These would require a Zigbee interface/mesh and probably are not supported by the EISY (requires Home Assistant).  Not sure if there are other devices available that report actual angles rather than just Open/closed.