Hi, I’m looking for a relatively cheap temperature sensor that is compatible with VeraPlus. I see the SmartThings multi-purpose sensor and Monoprice sensors are decently priced but I see different opinions on whether they are compatible. All I need is temperature, so anything else would be a bonus, but not required. Does anyone know if either of these work well with Vera or if there is another good, cheap (<$25) one that works well?
Hello,
We strongly recommend our customers to check our device compatibility list, prior to the buying process. Here is the link:
http://getvera.com/compatibility/
If you will have a device which is not showing up on that list, probability when you will add it on the Vera’s network, it will not be fully configured and you might need to contact support to assist you with this.
Thank you and Have a nice day,
[quote=“Cristina, post:2, topic:200089”]Hello,
We strongly recommend our customers to check our device compatibility list, prior to the buying process. Here is the link:
http://getvera.com/compatibility/
If you will have a device which is not showing up on that list, probability when you will add it on the Vera’s network, it will not be fully configured and you might need to contact support to assist you with this.
Thank you and Have a nice day,[/quote]
Thanks for the reply. I did look through the compatibility list and the ones I was able to find are more than I want to pay. Since cheaper alternatives exist that are not listed as ‘officially’ compatible, I was curious if anyone had any experience with these.
If you need a lot of them, then going to RFXtrx way might be a good option - see the plug-in sub-forum. Essentially a USB dongle that let’s you use sensors in the 433 Mhz range. (So NOT on the device compatibility list). So you have to buy the transceiver which isn’t particularly cheap (~$150?) , but then you can use sensors like those from Oregon Scientific and La Crosse that can be had relatively cheap (~$25? - May be hard to still find 433 mhz sensors from these brands - look over the list of supported devices). Support from the plug-in developers at http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/board,45.0.html, RFXtrx Gateway, and guides can be found such as https://www.vesternet.com/resources/application-notes/apnt-116/ and https://www.vesternet.com/mwdownloads/download/link/id/1605/product/2399/using_rfxtrx_with_vera_quick_start_guide.pdf I use one of these with my office Vera and 5 La Crosse sensors.
For true z-wave I use the Everspring ST814 Thermometers with Humidity sensor (~$50). I use 4 of these with my home Vera due to issues with 433 mhz interference. Note these are hard to find as well, I think they are updating to Z-Wave Plus - Everspring products in general are hard to find in the US Z-wave frequency…
I started with the Fibaro Universal sensor ; you can connect up to 4 temp sensors (DS18B20) on this module.
But now i use Arduino with the MySensors platform, very easy and not expensive.
Thanks for your replies. I really only need one temperature sensor at this time and don’t want to get into extra hardware or configuration due to general lack of time to mess with things. I’m hoping the ZOOZ sensor goes on sale on Black Friday or someone can confirm if the Monoprice or SmartThings sensors work well with Vera.
I had multiple monoprice pirs working as temp sensors on ui5 and ui7 with the temp plug in, however those were the older models (not zwave plus).
I got one of the 4-in-1 sensors from monoprice yesterday. It connected easily as a generic z-wave device and added 4 devices (motion, temp, humidity, and light). The temp, humidity, and light work well, but I get an error on the motion device saying “Waiting for wak-up to configure device.” I’ll haven’t messed witht he motion portion of it to see if it works or not, but the other sensors seem to work.
Unfortunately the Vera Compatibility list is not entirely accurate. My Neo Cool Cam Motion Sensor is listed, however I am having major issues to get the temperature read out to work correctly.
Indeed. I have been in touch with support but so far this has not been fixed. It’s very strange. I would imagine that if the device is supported then it should be plug and play out of the box without need for coding.