Any views on GoControl glass breakage sensor

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience or views on the GoControl glass breakage sensor. I noticed Hubitat has a driver for this sensor. The reviews on Amazon are more negative for what hub its not compatible with rather than if it works or not. We've had a number of burglaries in the area and just looking for another layer of protection.

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I have 5... 4 in the house, one in the RV. I've never had anyone break a window so I cannot say how they would work during a real break in. However, I have had them cause false alarms due to loud sounds, such as someone dropping keys on a tile floor. So I can say that they are at least listening.

They also emit a few battery events per day so you can tell if they are connected. Battery life is in the 18-24 month range. I have no complaints so far.

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Also if you have Amazon Echo devices you can enable Guard which can listen for smoke, CO and glass breaking.

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Great! Thank you for your quick response!

Do you know if it will work with first alert already connected to HE?

I do have Guard enabled but I haven't tested it with my First Alerts, (I will next time Donna is out). It is just listening for the sound so it should just work regardless if it is a connected device or not. I will report back after I test.

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Tread lightly, my friend. I hope to visit Minneapolis soon! :grin:

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I'm just wondering how I am going to explain the broken window after my test. :wink:

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Alexa doesn't have a way to get in "external" smoke detectors that I know of (and certainly not from Hubitat), so Guard would be separate. It's basically Amazon's Alexa-only version of the Ecolink FireFighter plus a glass sensor. :slight_smile:

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Don't know if this would help but Alexa Guard can be triggered to arm itself through Hubitat's AWAY mode with the use of a Hubitat virtual contact sensor and the Alexa App which will see the virtual contact sensor. The issue with this is Amazon will not allow you to turn OFF Alexa Guard remotely so when you get home you have to remember to tell Alexa "Alexa I'm home". For my forgetful mind, i have a rule to remind me with the use of Pushover and RM to send a notification 5 min after the mode has changed from Away to remind me to turn off Alexa Guard.

The Alexa Guard is suppose to recognize a smoke alarm because smoke alarms have to conform to a standard of beeps and therefore SHOULD recognize your First Alert as long as it emits the standard warning tones.

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I had a Utilitech glass break sensor which worked for a few weeks then stopped sending battery level so I figured it dropped off or the batteries died so I replaced the batteries but it still hadn't updated anything after a few days so I removed it, had to force remove it as it wouldn't exclude then I tried to exclude it from both Hubitat and SmartThings for a while before (multiple times over multiple days trying the reset procedure as well) I finially gave up and through it in a box to eventually be thrown away most likely.

I got a wired glass break sensor and connected it to a Konnected board and that one works fine although getting the sensitivity set right is a challenge given that it is in my shop and some of the power tools set it off so I had to restrict it's use to night and away. With the wired sensor they said to use a 6" plastic ruler and hold one end against the window and pull the other away and let it slap the window to get the sensitivity set if you don't have one of the specialty testers or somewhere I read said to fill a jar about a 1/4 full of coins and shake it near the window.

Donna will be please that I don't need to break a window to do the test for April. :wink:

Awesome. I’m sure she appreciates that.

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No experience with the GoControl sensor but just in case you think you want to use the Monoprice Acceleration Sensor... don't. Just don't.

My findings can be read intermixed between complaints here:

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Wait, does Zarthan live in the MPLS area?

Have you tried adding them to a dashboard? I installed mine. They were recognized by Hubitat but when I try and add them into my dashboard, if I choose GLASS BREAK as the template no tile appears. Yet if I choose GENERIC as a template I do see a tile, but don't know if it will acknowledge a glass break.

Finally looking at other threads, I changed the Template to ATTRIBUTES and was able to choose SHOCK as the attribute and at least it shows CLEAR and a tile is now appearing. Wonder what you did if you added it to a dashboard since you have so many.