Recommendation humidity sensor for bathroom

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1

I'm looking for a good sensor for my new master bathroom. The two options I care about the most are motion/humidity. I will be powering this device via USB or adapted power to AC so it will NOT be on battery. I would like a sensor where it has great reliable motion and frequent enough humidity to trigger exhaust fans for the shower. So ideally something that reports frequent and minor changes in humidity. Most important in this is humidity to me. If I can't find a great combo sensor I'll consider adding a second sensor for motion/temp.

I was thinking Aeon Multisensor 6 because of the nice ceiling recessed mount. However I don't have one currently and found a lot of threads on here with different answers about humidity reporting.

So which humidity sensors are you guys using for this?

Since this is a new room for me I'd like to be one and done and build in this sensor so it looks clean.

2

With USB power I would highly recommend the Aeon Multisensor 6. As you mentioned the recessed installation option is awesome, and it fits all of the requirements you listed. As far as humidity reporting frequency/thresholds, they are fully configurable in the advanced settings options, although the stock HE driver doesn't expose them directly. You can use @mike.maxwell z-wave settings tool to tweak them to your desire. You can have it report humidity level as frequently as 30 seconds (not recommended due to excessive network traffic) and/or based on level change as low as 1%.

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3

I have used both the aeon and zooz, both in battery power. The Aeon has the USB power advantage, and is very configurable, the zooz is faster for motion, and that is its main advantage.
Both do humidity well. If you want lots of control over the sensor the aeon wins.

4

And that's not a huge concern. Another sensor will be picking up the initial motion in the room. I need this one to continue to detect motion, so how fast it does it isn't terribly important. Humidity though...I'd like it to be fast for obvious reasons. x% change in x time = fan on, same for off

5

I am using the Xiaomi Temp/Humidity sensor. It does not detect motion though.
They are cheap, extremely small and work well. I've been using for 18 months now (alongside Xiaomi/Aqara motion sensors) with no issues and it is still on its original battery!!
Might be worth considering.

EDIT: Just for completeness, I have an RM rule that turns on my shower fan when humidity goes above 80%. When humidity drops below that I have a wait 7 minutes before turning off.

6

Nyce has a zigbee, never used it.
I would use the Aeon as it is very configurable on time. There are a couple of apps for controlling a humidity fan around. The zooz is every 3 min or so and only if the humidity changed enough (which I am not convinced works)

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7

Stay away from Zooz! I have two in two bathrooms and they're more pain than solution to my use case(s).

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8

I use the zooz. They're ok. I agree they have flaws, but for a battery powered humidity sensor it is not bad, just a little slow. As a motion detector or lux measurement, they suck out loud.

9

I have a Zooz 4-1 and use it for Lux/motion, seems to do OK for me

My humidity readings seem suspect, we have been in the single digits/teens here over the past 2 weeks and the lowest reading I could find were mid 20's

Rick

10

Thanks, going to try the Aeon Multisensor 6 and usb power. Now I just gotta find a settings list somewhere so I can go in with the basic zwave tool and get it setup...anyone? List of settings?

11

It comes with a manual that includes all the advanced settings and their website has a decent FAQ that has recommended settings.

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12

Found it all online...didn't realize they had that. Thank you very much. Looks like I just need selective reporting and lower the % humidity change from 10 to 1%. That should do it. I don't think I need to be reporting it every 30 seconds in addition to the % change.

13

Yes selective reporting is what you want but you may find 1% is a little too sensitive. I find 5% to be perfect but YMMV. I use 5% combined with a 10 minute normal report to work well for me.

14

What type of Humidity differential are you seeing and how quickly?

15

I use an Aeotec Multisensor6 driver I found and made cosmetic updates. It exposes most of the valuable parameters.

23%20AM
Screen Shot 2018-11-19 at 8.44.23 AM.png913×635 51.7 KB

16

Quickly looking at that DH it actually turns OFF selective reporting. So is the % change actually working for you with that DH?

    //6. disable selective reporting only on thresholds
    zwave.configurationV1.configurationSet(parameterNumber: 40, size: 1, scaledConfigurationValue: 0),

And I don't see anywhere else where it's being turned on.

17

I've set it for an hour, and get hourly reports:

app:8482018-11-19 08:40:51.165 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 75.7
app:8482018-11-19 07:40:51.133 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 75.4
app:8482018-11-19 06:40:51.208 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 73.8
app:8482018-11-19 05:40:51.237 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 70.4
app:8482018-11-19 04:40:56.500 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 71.2
app:8482018-11-19 03:40:51.264 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 72.0
app:8482018-11-19 02:40:57.030 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 72.9
app:8482018-11-19 01:40:51.384 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 73.9
app:8482018-11-19 12:40:51.422 am infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 75.0
app:8482018-11-18 11:41:01.226 pm infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 76.4
app:8482018-11-18 10:40:51.791 pm infoOffice Fan Automation: MultiSensor6C (office) temperature 77.5
--- Live Log Started, waiting for events ---
18

understood. I'm looking to turn on:

  • Parameter 40 [1 byte]: 1 (enable selective reporting, automatically updates reports when passing a threshold)

Then change Parameter 42 which is % change to report. Default is 10.

This way it will report WHEN the humidity changes by that % amount.

19

I set the report interval on the multisensor6 physically closest to me to 1 minute. It's USB powered so it should work, and as far as I can tell, it is:

dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:21.833 am debug raw uv index = -1
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:21.832 am debug In multi level report cmd = SensorMultilevelReport(precision:0, scale:0, sensorType:27, sensorValue:[255], size:1, scaledSensorValue:-1)
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:21.734 am debug raw illuminance = -32768
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:21.732 am debug In multi level report cmd = SensorMultilevelReport(precision:0, scale:1, sensorType:3, sensorValue:[128, 0], size:2, scaledSensorValue:-32768)
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:20.876 am debug raw humidity = 29
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:20.875 am debug In multi level report cmd = SensorMultilevelReport(precision:0, scale:0, sensorType:5, sensorValue:[29], size:1, scaledSensorValue:29)
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:19.078 am debug In BatteryReport
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:18.082 am debug finalval = 72.5
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:18.079 am debug scaled sensor value = 22.5  scale = 0  precision = 1
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:18.074 am debug raw temp = 22.5
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:18.073 am debug In multi level report cmd = SensorMultilevelReport(precision:1, scale:0, sensorType:1, sensorValue:[0, 225], size:2, scaledSensorValue:22.5)
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:16.623 am debug raw uv index = -1
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:16.621 am debug In multi level report cmd = SensorMultilevelReport(precision:0, scale:0, sensorType:27, sensorValue:[255], size:1, scaledSensorValue:-1)
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:16.513 am debug motion active
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:15.407 am debug raw illuminance = -32768
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:15.405 am debug In multi level report cmd = SensorMultilevelReport(precision:0, scale:1, sensorType:3, sensorValue:[128, 0], size:2, scaledSensorValue:-32768)
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:13.262 am debug In BatteryReport
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:07.439 am debug raw humidity = 29
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:07.438 am debug In multi level report cmd = SensorMultilevelReport(precision:0, scale:0, sensorType:5, sensorValue:[29], size:1, scaledSensorValue:29)
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:03.042 am debug finalval = 72.5
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:03.041 am debug scaled sensor value = 72.5  scale = 1  precision = 1
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:03.036 am debug raw temp = 72.5
dev:285 2018-11-19 09:25:03.035 am debug In multi level report cmd = SensorMultilevelReport(precision:1, scale:1, sensorType:1, sensorValue:[2, 213], size:2, scaledSensorValue:72.5)

Ignore the illuminance = -32768 -- it's known to be defective on this specific device.

20

understood.

However I don't need it to report frequently. I really only want it to report when something CHANGES. So this isn't about TIME, it's about change.

Parameter 40 turns on: automatically updates reports when passing a threshold

So when it's set to (1) one. Then the other options 41 through 44. Come into play. Those options define how MUCH change must happen to temp/humidity/etc. Then the sensor should report the change when it changes by the set amount. Hope this makes sense.

What I don't want to do is have an overly chatty sensor sending updates every 30 seconds or a minute when what I'm really looking for is when the humidity jumps (shower on) and then record the % it started it...and likely leave the fan running until we are close to the initial reading.