Sliding glass door lock status: I've mounted contact sensors on three sliding glass doors to tell if they are locked or not. The sensor is mounted on the glass and the magnet is on the locking lever. When the lever is in the lock position the contact closes. When that and a second contact sensor on the door tells me the door is closed, I know the door is closed/locked.
Cooktop safety: I use contact sensors hidden in my cooktop that tell me if any of my stove burners are on - if any are on an LED strip at the cabinet baseboards lights up red. When any burnder is turned on it also turns on the under-cabinet lights so we have task lighting.
Outside Electrical panel: I have a contact sensor on my electrical panel to remind me if I leave it open (HE also notifies me when it is initially opened).
Fridge/Freezer door & temp: Contact sensors on fridge and freezer doors to remind me if they are open too long...not really creative, but important. Contact sensors (and I also use a button in one case) in fridge and freezers to monitor temps. (I had some extra contact sensors that do temp, so using them in the freezer allowed me to make use of them.)
I have a usb lead with the power wires connected to a small 5V electromagnet that is placed next to a samsung multipurpose sensor. It is plugged into a USB port on the TV so I know when the TV is on or not.
I had to resort to this as the TV is a Samsung and none of the IP controls I have tried could accurately and reliably detect when it was on or off. I could have done it by monitoring the TV power but I had a spare sensor and I thought why not?
Unfortunately the USB port remains powered for several seconds after the TV turns off, presumably to allow any connected HDD to spin down, so its not instant for off but it works.
Some creative ideas here. I know contact sensors aren't glamorous and such but some really good ideas here. Anybody have some less than practical waaayyy out there ideas?
Here's a really stupid idea how about a contact sensor on a ceiling fan. That data though probably too fast could trigger a trippy seizure causing led exhibition using a freaky long rule machine integration.
I have one that I have not figured out how to implement it. I have a tall case clock in the foyer and I would like to be reminded when it needs winding. A contact sensor and a magnet on the weights could be used to alert me, but of course I would have to rig it in such a way that it would not be visible.
Yes, that's right. My stove coincidentally supports this kind of setup, as I can easily remove the front panel and mount the contact sensors to the back of it, magnets in the knobs. Post about it here that includes pics.
Contact sensor positioned so that when clock needs winding magnet is low enough to close sensor
The fishing line would probably "disappear" from normal view of anyone not inspecting closely. Depends on whether there is enough hidden space at the bottom of the cabinet to hide the contact sensor, and also so the magnet isn't visible when the clock is fully wound.
This could throw off you while clock, but what about a vibration sensor like the Aqara one...but not the stupid pos Aqara one. When the swing arm stops it needs winding.
I soldered wires onto the external terminals of a Monoprice contact sensor. The other ends of the wires were terminated with alligator clips. I clipped them to a rat trap, one to the staple holding the latching arm of the trap and one to the staple anchoring the spring. Contact was made through the continuity of the trap parts themselves. The Rule Machine app I made sends a notification when the contact is open. Around a couple of months later I received the notification, "Another rat just got his wings". Nice to be able to empty the trap before things get stinky.
