So....interesting.
we have typically always bought fresh meat the day we planned a BQ and rarely had meat in the freezer.
When this whole pandemic started i slowly built up a full freezer full of meat.
Someone (wife) pulled something from the freezer yesterday and left the door partially open. Luckily i found the door open today and so really only lost the items in the door ( ok...we cooked a lot today) and really didn't lose anything as the items in the racks were still solid....but cant have that happen again. especially as i have the means to detect this.
I am certain there are several ways to address this in HE but if you had a preference....how would you approach this?
I have spares in my spare cabinet of
Iris V1 and V2 motion sensors....they read temp as i recall
Iris V1 and V2 contact sensors...also read temp
a centralite water sensor
Iris V2 keypad not being used ( no idea if it does temp)
Its an upright. Not sure of the signal inside a metal cabinet but i can place a zigbee / zwave centralite 3210l within feet of it for signal strength
Ideally...i don't want to know that someone opened the freezer...but i do want to know if it didn't close.
i'm going to poke around options tonight but if you're all as bored as me....appreciate thoughts. Prefer to use what i have but honestly - if this saves me a freezer full of food..open to buying a new sensor too.
I dealt with this recently as well. I went the route of using WirelessTag sensors. I put one in the freezer to monitor the inside temps and alert based on fluctuations and drops.
I just replaced my fridge and stuck a Samsung multi sensor inside both compartments. I didn’t expect the freezer battery to last long but it did last a few days
Anyway, my hub is 20-25 feet away from my fridge and up to two days ago only had battery operated sensors on Zigbee so no repeaters. Both sensor talked fine. Fridge one is still ticking along. Will need to get a different power source for the freezer.
thanks for that. Interesting. The v2 contact sensor gets really confused when the magnet part is placed on a metal door. When i test it off the door...i get about 1.5" apart before it detects open. When i put it on the door...it needs to be a half an inch away to detect closed.
will look at both wireless tag and samsung multi sensor.
If you can't get a signal with the sensors inside the freezer, nothing says the contact sensor needs to go inside the door. You could mount it on the outer side of the door and on the freezer body. You'd lose temp but you'd at least have door state.
I should have mentioned that I was using it for temp only. I was not using the contact magnet.
And I am lazy so far and just threw a couple tiles on my dashboard to see if it would continue working before I set up a RM. but for the fridge I just plan to set a - 0C to 5C window. If it moves outside of that I will send a notification to my phone and close a contact sensor to make Alexa talk.
If I get my freezer sensor operating reliably I will just have it notify if it rises above -18C.
I have a similar setup for my five ST leak sensors. I could show you that one but it’s a little bit involved. I can cancel a leak alert from one sensor and still leave the others armed.
I tried using HSM and didn’t like it. Not enough info to understand what’s happening behind the scenes.
Fridge and freezer should be simpler with only two sensors.
I have Iris v2 contact sensors in both my fridge and freezer in the garage. The CR2 batteries last months even at cold freezer temps. I set the magnet so it logs open and close and then use the stock notification app to alert me if either stays open for more then 5 minutes and repeats every 5 minutes until it’s closed.
This one makes the most sense to me. Have always scratched my head at why one would need to track temp for this sort of thing. You just need to know that eventually the door was closed. This is exactly what I do on our fridge/freezer, just a shorter period before notifications.
I would use a combination of the above, and I have been contemplating doing this project.
Use a AA battery holder, and mount it on the outside of the freezer. Run the wires through the gasket, and have them attach to the sensor which mounts (glued, screwed, magnet, or whatever) inside the freezer. That way you can sense the temp without killing the battery with the cold.
I would put one of these on the door. You might need a tab extending from the door.
I would remove the arm and roller from the switch and use just the white button.
I would run the contacts to one of the contact sensors that accept external inputs.
Reasoning:
By setting the switch in the correct position you can determine if the door is open just a small bit. No need for the temperature to drop inside.
I use ST contacts on the outside of the doors of my fridge and freezers.
Then one of my apps ‘message central’ to scream at me if it is left open too long
It takes a while to get the correct position but has been reliable and saved us a couple of times.
Thanks. I have a contact sensor on the outside of the door. I also wanted to have temp so I put a contact sensor and motion sensor inside. I can get temps. But what a difference between the contact and and motion sensor. I think the contact sensor is correct. And updated more frequent.
Regards.
makes the most sense to me. Have always scratched my head at why one would need to track temp for this sort of thing. You just need to know that eventually the door was closed. This is exactly what I do on our fridge/freezer, just a shorter period before notifications.
