Outdoor Lux Sensor

Bert, I'd like to be there. That control console with WS-2k is sweet. 'Just need to get some basic things working now (new house). I do want a weather station. I might ask you for that driver code :slight_smile: ...

In any case, thanks!

I use @iharyadi's awesome Zigbee Envrironment Sensor on my screened porch. It provides Temperature, Humidity, Illuminance, and Pressure in a nice simple and reliable solution.

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Looks good. Just build it into a super small IP65 box, add a louvered vent--might be baller!

There is solar radiation and UV sensing built into the ultrasonic wind sensor on the Ambient Weather WS-5000 Array which can be used by several of their systems (including the WS-5000).

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loving my new Tempest weather station, but might be a bit overkill.

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How do you think it compares to the Ambient Weather WS-5000?

I have an old Honeywell/Meade system that has mostly died and I am looking to replace it.

One of the flaws of the Honeywell/Meade sensors was the battery compartments didn't have durable enough weather seals. This caused the batteries in the rain collector and the UV sensor to crap out due to corrosion. The barometers and the wind sensor worked for a long time (5 or 6 years).

I never owned one so it wouldn't be fair to try and compare. I can say this one the the sexiest weather station of the bunch. The 1st one my wife actually said "oh that's kinda nice" SOLD!!

I've only had it a set up a couple months, I'll give an honest opinion once the "newness" wares off.

Fair enough. I probably won't make a change until warmer weather here anyway. I don't want to be on the roof in this weather.

I disagree. I have two of the new versions and I like the look. My observation is that is doesn't give you good granularity (if that's the right word) on lux-it's really meant to be "dark enough to turn on the light" accurate, in my opinion .

What it does lend itself is associations, if you're into that. The advanced driver allows associations. I have it so that it turns on three switches, independent of the hub.

No temperature sensor.

OK, perhaps "beast" is a bit rough. It just seems large and industrial to me. It is by far the largest motion sensor I own. It's fine for what I use it for - it's on the ceiling of the carport. It's definitely good that it runs on USB so I don't have to climb up on a ladder to change batteries. People probably mistake it for a PTZ camera . . . that's probably a good thing.

I don't have all the fancy features on the original version. They have improved it considerably.

I have 2 of those (ZSE-29) on my gutters down spot elbows. They fit decently tucked up in the 90 of the soffit and "aren't very" visible. I mean if you wanna see them you will.

Nice thing is they only trigger after dark (unless you change it), so no readings all day means super battery life (year plus here and still at 80%)

Aeotech Multi sensor 6 is my fav if your have a plug on a porch or somewhere dry.

I use NR to average all my outdoor sensor to give me "ambient" temp/hum/lux/etc...

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Its second worst feature, in my experience, is that it has ridiculously long reporting intervals, as it only reports lux changes after a doubling or halving of lux. This is too coarse for creating delightfully consistent automation. Eg if you create a rule to turn on a light when lux is <= 50 and the last lux value was 51, your rule won’t trigger until the lux level falls to 26, by which point your room is in near darkness. The much cheaper Xiaomi sensors report within seconds of any change in lux level.

I use an Inovelli LZW60 4-in-1 in the front yard. The LZW60 does motion, temperature, illuminance, and humidity. They are not outdoor rated, but I have it protected, so it is not directly exposed to rain. It survived our moderate winter (only got down to 26F this winter).

Tech, The Tempest WX station you have, how well does the solar work? I mean, I get you might want that to face that panel in a southerly direction (given, well, the Northern Hemisphere), but say you have three "grey days" in a row--is it still running?

How do you pass-along the data to the Hubitat enviroment?

I've used one these in my work (racing, during tests) accurate, but expensive:

I believe that. I used it to switch on/off outdoor lighting and it was sensitive enough and quick enough to do that.

I use the Hue motion indoor for lux and just point them out a window. I have two setup on the East/West sides of the house and it works well for lighting.

There is a community UDP relay by @anon81541053 who might be able to speak on the solar side too.

https://community.hubitat.com/t/release-weatherflow-tempest-udp-relay/51062

I have only lost power/connection to mine once so far (only 3 months old). However I don't have it mounted well as I ran out of time before the ground froze. Come spring I plan to get it up higher. The direction placement is for the panels yes, but mainly for the wind sensors TMK. Otherwise your direction might be slightly off, but speed would still work.

micolino,

That looks nice, I like the modularity. And, yes, the Canadian package is the way to go (I was born in Toronto, family everywhere, I'm sure I can work something out!)...

I'm brand-spanking-new to Hubitat, and groovy. What my noobie-hide isn't getting is how to move data from the three, more sophisticated weather sensors suggested herein, into the Hubitat environment to be used as conditionals, etc.

-Jeff

Eric,

Just to get started, I did get the basic Hue sensor you recommended, and just got to play with it this AM. Went into Hubitat in two minutes, had a Rule Machine app triggering three switches based on lux controlled by a variable (yeah, a variable, lol). Had it going before sun-up, worked fine.

I'm brand new to Hubitat, that was my first Rule Machine, lol, I'm such a noob!

-Jeff

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Gotcha. I'm familiar with various networks and quite a few languages, but this environment is new. I appreciate that high-level view from both yourself and @TechMedX-thank you.