I am going to be canceling our digital life service and their contact sensors apparently only work with their hub. Does anyone know where I can get 14 contact sensors that are both small and fairly priced? Most I see are $30 or more. Which I am fine with but I want to see if there is a cheaper way of doing this.
This is hand down the best contact sensor for price, size and reliability. They have sale often for $10.
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I have had a lot of success with these tiny things...
https://www.gearbest.com/access-control/pp_626703.html
Drivers for Hubitat
Andy
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I got a bunch of the Aqara Door/Window sensors during the Black Friday sale, when they were only $7 each!!!
If you can get the Visonics for $10, I'd definitely go for those, as they also do temperature reporting.
However, he Xiaomi (Aqara and the "original" versions) are smaller than the Visonic sensors.
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Be careful with the Visonic devices. I have 10 (down from 15) and some were problematic to get connected even with IRIS ZigBee repeaters. The ones that work are great, flawless, perfect, work every time. The ones that don't drop off, stop responding, are a PITA to get connected etc. So far I've replace 5 of them with Z-Wave ones ..
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N13BYN9/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They are a few bucks more than the Visonic, but all of them have worked out of the box. So far I'm hitting about a â…“ failure rate with the Visonic. I've ordered a few more of the CoolCam and will replace the Visonics as needed.
I have 20 visonic contact sensors on Hubitat now. No problem so far. I did have 2 with that won't update state but a mesh heal fixed them. Took about 10 hours for the heal to get them back online. I have quite a few repeaters around the house for sure.
That’s probably the issue I have. I don’t want to keep “healing” my ZigBee mesh when one of them loses their mind 
That said, I have 15 I’d be happy to pass on for $10 a pop 
Usually you don't have to heal the mesh if you paired the device at the mounting location. I couldn't for a couple so I paired it near the hub and have to do the heal after mounting the sensor. Doesn't make sense to heal it everytime the sensor goes wonky unless you remove the repeater.
Now I don’t. Those that were giving me problems, I’ve just replaced with Z-Wave
So, coming back around to the question, and sounding somewhat cliche, you get what you pay for. ZigBee is a great technology. It’s affordable and works in lots of environments. The two things to be aware of are: 1 - make sure you have your wifi and your ZigBee channels separated. There are threads elsewhere on this site to help ensure that. 2 - If you need to use some for of repeaters and you lose power to them, it’ll take a while for the ZigBee mesh to “heal.” Once again, there are threads on this site which talk about that.
Z-Wave is a great technology too. It’s a bit more expensive due to the cost of licensing the “Z-Wave” technology. It also has a mesh approach to connectivity. If you have light or fan switches installed then you already have repeaters built in and things will run along nicely.
My Visonic sensors worked GREAT with my ST hub. I needed to purchase a couple of IRIS repeaters to make them work with my Hubitat. My theory is that there was more room in the ST hub for a larger antenna. I stress the word theory as I don’t know for sure. I have migrated over to the Dome Z-Wave sensors and I’m pretty happy with that. As I posted above. I’m willing to sell mine for $10 a pop (provided I am no violating any rules on this site).
Regardless, read through a few of the threads here to make sure you get a bunch of different perspectives.
I thought zigbee also had repeaters built in. I have hue bulbs through out my house, so wouldn’t they act as repeaters? I thought that was the case.
Sort of. Some don’t. Some devices are better as repeaters than others, and some devices won’t work through repeaters, or won’t pair through them. If you read through the forum you’ll see people reporting issues and finding solutions for them.
I am new to the whole home automation thing. Just ordered a Hubitat. Looking to purchase z-wave devices. Where do you go to find deals on z-wave devices? I looked up monoprice but couldn't really find anything for less than $20.
What did you chose to go with in the end for the 14 contact sensors that you needed?
$20 bucks is pretty darn cheap for any sensor that's legit when the name brand devices can be $50 or more each.
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You pretty much can't get a lower price than these Xiaomi and it is not the lowest price I've seen for them. Zigbee, not Z-Wave. Some have great success, some do not. I have no contact sensors, but I do have their leak sensors and buttons. Both have stayed connected, work every time and are well made.
I do recall reading some bad reports about Monoprice sensors, but then you'll find lots of bad reports about Xiaomi sensors too. If there is a money back guarantee, what do you have to lose. That's a really low price for Z-Wave sensors as @mike.maxwell points out. Before you click "buy now", I would check into what others have said about the Monoprice devices here and on the ST forum too, since the groovy code is similar between the two platforms. There's lots to read about the Xiaomi, but I have no idea about what info is available for the Monoprice sensors.
Start here
Feedback on pairing, performance and repeaters is here
[Update] use IKEA TrĂĄdfri outlets for a compatible and inexpensive repeater to get a consistent connection with Xiaomi devices.
I have just started using GOCONTROL DOOR & WINDOW SENSOR from zwaveproducts
So far they seem to be working well. They were on Sale 5 pack for $50 they come with batteries and adhesive. Can also be wired to external switch.
John
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Thanks for sharing. Where did you get that deal from?
They are not ZWave plus. Are battery devices able to be plus?
I've only just made my first foray into ZWave, and and unsure. Previously zigbee.
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Yes, absolutely. My door lock is plus.
I did not expect that they were Z-Wave Plus, but if I were able to get it at that cost in Canada I would go for it and not care.
