Door and Window Sensor Automation Ideas - Using Contact Sensors in Home Automation

Check out my top ideas for using contact door and window sensors in home automations. In this video I show you how I use Aqara and Sonoff door and window sensors to automate things in my smart home.
If you want to use these automations for yourself, I've written a blog post that shows them in more detail:
www.homeautomationguy.io/yout...
Other Links:
What is Zigbee? • What is Zigbee?
Using Zigbee in Home Assistant: • Set up Zigbee in Home ...
Making My Washing Machine Smart: • Using smart power swit...
#SmartHome #HomeAutomation #ContactSensors #HomeAssistant #Aqara #Sonoff #HomeSecurity

[@thomastommy9864]

When I was younger my parents had sensors like these all throughout the house with a standard home alarm and keypad. He had one pad in his bedroom too to see if any door or window was opened. My brother found out if you placed a magnet near the sensor you could trick it to think it was still closed. That allowed us to open our bedroom window and climb out at night without him knowing. Oh those were the days. :)

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Hahaha, I love it!

[@Jmcinally94]

I never realized I was watching exclusively US home automation channels until I just heard it pronounced "Zed Wave" for the first time. Subbed.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Coming up next, my favourite "Autumn automations" 😉

[@liuesstuo9413]

One of the most helpful automations videos. Thanks 🙏🏼

[@athgt6630]

Just found your channel. A video full of great automations ideas, and *finally* not just "I put a motion sensor that turns on the light". Thank you!

[@t3chrs]

Would love to hear about your rain sensor talking to your irrigation system.

[@BrianRoy86]

Wouldn’t it be more helpful to not water if it’s going to rain later that day as well instead of just if it’s currently raining? Like looking at the weather forecast. Btw just found your channel, I like what I see so far, keep it up!

[@t33jaytube]

+1. It seems there aren't many choices of cheap zigbee rain sensor

[@rythediyguyintocraftingtec703]

As usual, you're right on time with a topic as I'm brainstorming ways to do accomplish exactly that. Thanks for the well-crafted video packed with timely wisdom. Thank you, Alan!

[@AS-os3lj]

The stair reminder is really handy. Thanks for the video home automation guy :)

[@RomeoGoesRetro]

thanks for the awesome videos and ideas! Plenty of rain here in the UK, so that may come in handy! Great use of the water sensor

[@PeterPetersNL]

I love the rain sensor.

[@oudoulj]

The scene snapshot you take of your lights at 7:38 is pretty handy. I applied that to one of my automations to simplify it. Thank you !

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Glad I could help!

[@BennProbett]

Another great Video. I love the simplicity of using a door sensor for your washing machine. I too am guilty of this... wasn't an issue when it was just me, sadly I still do the same thing with a family of 4 :|. I am going to copy this. I'd love to see a video on your conditional reticulation system using a contact sensor. I have a 700mSQ block. saving a bit of water would be great for the environment.

[@vpsrj]

Thanks, great automation ideas!

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

You are most welcome!

[@youknowit158]

Great video!!

[@sebastianschneider4345]

Currently I'm struggling with my tuya LEDs not being able to recreate the "smooth color change" effect. I think, you gave me an idea, how to create an elegant workaround for this problem. THANK YOU

[@sandphotoNL]

Would love to read/see more about that rain sensor!

[@desparky]

Great video. Lots of useful tips. Subbed.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the sub!

[@JoseBerruezo]

Nice video!

[@TruthMatters357]

Thank you so much! Because calling Amazon for support was a bust! lol

[@martindebes7070]

Hi, Great Video. I use NodeRed to trigger a RGB Hue Light to inform my cupboard-door is left open. I see you have this easily configured this by taking a snapshot scene. But I need to take two snapshots: one for the status and one for the attribs. Attribs are not readable if the device status is off. How dit you fix that? Or does that problem only exists in NodeRed/Zigbee2MQTT environments?

[@rslbrg]

Always enjoy your videos. You've got some great automation ideas! I do the same thing with the washing machine. The only difference is that I change a light to red when the washer has finished and still contains wet clothes. I turn the same light green when the dryer has completed and not been emptied. I figure wet clothes should be a "warning" and wrinkled clothes can just be an alert. I also have Home Assistant send notifications to my phone every 45 minutes if the washer hasn't been emptied.

[@chaystay978]

What sensor did you use and also how did you do that ?

[@rslbrg]

@@chaystay978 I don't have any Zigbee devices, my sensors are Z-Wave. I found a deal on a bundle of Wink Z-Wave Door sensors. I wouldn't necessarily recommend them. Out of the bundle I got, some work great...but a few were inconsistent so I replaced them. My washer is a top loader and the sensor fits perfectly under the lid and can use the magnet on the lid that is part of the washer's built-in safety switch. I use a Zooz power monitor plug to know when the washer is running by monitoring the wattage usage level in Home Assistant. I had to monitor the power usage over time to find the pattern of use between the washing, soaking, rinsing and spinning cycles. I advance the value of a numeric helper each time the power "spikes" so I can count the cycles and not get a false alert before the washer is truly finished. When the washer is finished, I reset the numeric helper and turn on a helper Boolean that indicates "Ready to be Emptied". When the Boolean is set to "on", that triggers my alert notifications and sets the light to red, indicating the clothes are ready to be moved. When the lid of the washer and door of the dryer are both open for 15 seconds (while the Ready to be Emptied Boolean is on), I have Home Assistant take that as a signal that the clothes have been transferred and the helper Boolean is turned off, which turns of the light and stops the recurring alert messages to my phone. Hope that description makes sense and helps.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Advancing a numeric helper is a really clever solution, I think that will solve the problem I have with working out when the dishwasher is finished! Thanks for the tips and I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@spokje]

Just don't stick the door sensor to the bottom of your washing machine door. When you add too much detergent , it might overflow and water may damage the sensor. Just my two cents :) otherwise great ideas!

[@ThingEngineer]

Son, why did you wet your bed? You should’ve just got up and gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night. But dad every time I get up at night the house is scary, there are spooky red lights flashing everywhere.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Happy Halloween!

[@scabezas147]

Do you recommend a contact sensor that does not require a hub such as smarthings hub. Would like to set up a scene on 2 contact sensors for my garage doors so they turn the garage lights on when either door is open as you did with the smarthings contact sensor but do not want an extra hub in my system when i have everything else in Google home. Thanks

[@chunwang1734]

I prefer the wifi door sensor from the new brand Erdiegle. Their door sensor has time delay function and you can set the arm timer on the app. Also, when the door is opened, the door alarm will make a sound, at the same time, it will push a notificaiton our your app. The sound volume is adjustable on the app too. Very helpful!

[@SnowyPe]

Do you have a blog post on the rain sensor?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I've also created a blog post that goes along with this video and explains all the automations I showcase in the video in more detail: www.homeautomationguy.io/youtube-videos/door-and-window-sensor-automation-ideas-using-contact-sensors-in-home-automation/ This is so that you can re-create these automations in your own smart home without having to constantly pause and restart the video. Let me know if you find this useful and I'll start doing it for all my future videos!

[@kevin4rsl]

Would love to see a video on the rain sensor please

[@scabezas147]

I desperately need help to set up a routine as shown in the video to turn on my garage lights when the doors is opened. Garage lights are controlled by a Levitron D26HD smart switch and for the door i have a smartThings multipurpose sensor with a smartthings station model ep-p9500

[@shaltondsilva5124]

Hi friend. So do you have a video where you show how to integrate the contact sensor in HA. I have wifi Contact sensors. Im new to this

[@RickFarris]

I'd like to see your rain sensor!

[@oudoulj]

Hello, what kind of double-sided tape do you use for your contact sensors on your wooden frame skylight ? 3M ? Does it hold ? Thank you

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I use the 3M tape that came with the sensor itself and it's held fine for the last 5 months (and still going strong)

[@sebastianschneider4345]

today i had some spare time to test your automation about the red flashing light (~min8). i rebuilt it 1:1 in my HA -It worked very fine and i learned a few new tricks about "call.service" thank you!! but sadly i can't see, how this could recreate/emulate the "smooth color change effect" of my tuya LED strips. in the tuya/smart life app this scene is available, but in the HA HACS tuya local integration these scenes dont work. any idea? maybe some sort of script: [start] change to red change to blue ... change to violet jump to start

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I think a script might be the best option here. Sounds like a fun project to tackle, good luck with it!

[@sebastianschneider4345]

​@@HomeAutomationGuy wow, your response to my question was quite fast! okay...so...the important question now is: HOW do i have to code the skript? noob way = my (current) skill level: * create one skript for EACH device with the GUI (groups aren't an alternative here, cause sometimes i only want to use one single device at a time) * containing a few color changes + pauses in between * BUT i dont know how to set it into loop mode * as soon as a different command is triggered, the effect stops/gets overwritten by the new command pro level might be something like this: * create ONE skript * every RGB device can use this very one skript (the device needs to be some kind of variable?) * ... by some (to me unknown) trigger * see last point above do you have any advice for me, where to get a few hints - or do you already have some code lines, i may try? ( ...or even -hear me out- this might become a new video on your channel, and we both profit ;-) )

[@sandphotoNL]

I was wondering if you had already tried the new IKEA Parasoll sensors. I'm trying to decide between Aqara and IKEA...

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

No - I didn't even know they existed, thanks for sharing! I might buy one to play with.

[@knallaff]

@Home Automation Guy how the hell did you string so many entities together in minute 5:34 ? How does the trick work?🤔

[@binceproductions4352]

Great video! One question, I tried to create a group for family but it doesn't work in configuration.yaml or groups.yaml and inside of the integration I cannot find the entity of my phone. Could you explain how to create a family group

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Take a look at this blog post, it should provide some insight: www.homeautomationguy.io/home-assistant-tips/better-presence-detection-in-home-assistant/

[@binceproductions4352]

@@HomeAutomationGuy Thanks for this but I have the same problem, I'm not able to create a group trhough groups.yaml, whatever I write in there, I can´t see it as an entity. The only way I can create groups is using the group entity via the UI but it is only for lights or switches, I don't see the wifi entity of my phone to add anywhere.

[@yawasamoah294]

Do you need the aqara hub for the door/window sensors to work in home assistant or any zigbee hub paid with home assistant can work with it?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I don't use an Aqara hub, I use a ZigBee stick connected directly to my Home Assistant. Check out this video I made about it kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIa6o4h4f7aFpqM

[@yawasamoah294]

@@HomeAutomationGuy Will this process work for most sensors as well? I have aeotec sesors as well and they will not connect to by zigbee stick that i have connected to home assistant

[@TravelinginMiniature]

I would love a suggestion on a door sensor that tells me if the door has been left open for more than say 5 minutes. With a teenager who sometimes forgets to close the door when he leaves, it would really help to know. I don’t need to know each time the door is opened. Rather when it is left open for a long time.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

You can use the same door sensor and automations that I show in the video for this. In the automation trigger just change the "For" part to 5 minutes rather than the default 0 minutes. That way the automation will only trigger if the door has been open that long

[@uae7001]

wat applicaton your using for home assistant notification at 11:44 ?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Signal Messenger

[@joshschultz5743]

How are you notifying the system that no one is home? Motion sensors don’t pick up movement for certain amount of time ?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

My partner and I both have the Home Assistant companion app on our phones so it knows if we've left or not

[@vmobile890]

Simpli safe has alert setting separate from alarm using contacts or motion . Can place inside or outside and get notice of motion or someone opens a shed door . Along with what ever camera some wants to use .

[@mrxmry3264]

i want to detect when i'm at home using my phone, but i don't know how. i've tried the home assistant app and the unifi network integration. the problem is that both methods have proven to be reliably unreliable. in the unifi integration the phone randomly drops from home to away, even when it's not going anywhere, and using the home assistant app, it NEVER goes to away mode. so what can i do?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Are you using Nabu Casa or some other sort of remote access to Home Assistant?

[@mrxmry3264]

@@HomeAutomationGuy nope. no nabu casa

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

@@mrxmry3264 You will need some sort of remote access solution, so that your phone can tell Home Assistant that you've left when you're no longer connected to the internal network.

[@JohnSmith-kb5ku]

I miss the old days when people used to go on the rob with a crowbar and a balaclava.

[@williampennjr.4448]

I wish I could find a two in one window opener and contact sensor. I dont understand whats so hard about making a smart device to jack a window open and closed. If they can make something to open and close blinds, doing it for windows should be a breeze.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Perhaps it's because there are many different types of windows that open different ways? I'm not sure. Try building one with some mechanical engineering and ESPHome! You could open up the market! (That skillset is way above my abilities though)

[@williampennjr.4448]

@@HomeAutomationGuy Most windows open just by pulling them up. All you need is a small jack-like device that can fit under the handle of a window.

[@CTZN1]

What app website is that? I just only to know smart life and wiz

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Home Assistant

[@AlexManMe]

Would love a video on the rain thing How will it stop? When the pad drys up? Also will it drain the battery faster if left out in the rain

[@Thxd_HD]

I have these so when my mom comes in my room i get muted on discord

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Sensible!

[@Thxd_HD]

@@HomeAutomationGuy smart huh

[@Thxd_HD]

but it was not so simple

[@SignedForFun]

The biggest challenge is to convince your significant other to allow you to put the sensor on the washing machine. Thanks for the video

[@AndrewDee]

Come on aqara claims 2 years of battery life and its legit

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I can believe that. Aqara make some really great sensors and my temperature ones have been going strong for over a year on the same battery.

[@MrDenwei]

Hello, are you able to update your guide? Really struggling how to do this. #yamlnoob Thank you.