I'm looking for a zigbee illuminance sensor to turn on my front yard lights when it gets dark.
I've found a topic about aqara/xiaomi motion sensor, but it doesn't fit my needs as it only measures light when motion is detected.
However I've found this device on AliExpress
Xiaomi Mijia Smart Light Sensor Zigbee 3.0 Light Detection Intelligent Linkage Waterproof Used With Smart Multi-mode Gateway
I haven't found any information about this device here, Am I missing something ?
If not, is it possible to have this device working with any already existing driver ?
Thank you
The Hue outdoor is excellent. I agree on that. Expensive, but an Amazon Warehouse deal comes up every so often on them. That’s how I got mine and it has been great.
The new Xiaomi Mijia light sensor is Zigbee 3.0 and they warn that it won’t even work with their older Xiaomi gateways with Zigbee 1.2. That’s what they mean by “For use with Smart multi-mode gateway”. That’s what they call their new Zigbee 3.0 gateways.
So unless you’ve got a way to bridge one of their gateways and use the light measurements in HE via the bridges connection, then I’d suggest the Hue Outdoor motion sensor instead.
@Ryan780 I live in Brazil and virtually the only way to get zigbee devices is from AliExpress. I mean, sometimes I buy from Amazon, eBay etc (i.e. Hubitat hub ), but most of times shipping and custom taxes are prohibitive, unfortunately.
Only thing I can think of you being able to possibly do is use a HomeKit automation with the new Mijia gateway to trigger an HE virtual switch when a light value is reached, But that's about all you can do with HomeKit. They can't compare one value to another. They can only trigger off a reference value.
And then of course, you need to be already in Apple's ecosystem with an iOS device and an Apple TV 4, or iPad (with latest iOS), or a HomePod. So if you are an Apple user, you're half-way there. If not, you can begin to see how it's probably going to be much less expensive to import a Hue Outdoor motion sensor.
Smart Home Motion Sensor Human Body Sensor ZigBee 3.0 Wireless Connection Light Intensity Motion Sensor switch for xiaomi https://a.aliexpress.com/pqV6kUkg
Does it also measure light only when motion is detected ?
No way I'm going to buy all this Apple stuff to simply turn my front yard lights on, it doesn't make sense to me.
Actually if I can't find a way to automate this function with hubitat and a zigbee device, I'll leave it as it is using this kind of relay :
Automatic Light Sensor Photo Control Switch Mayitr Relay Photoswitch 180-240V for Outdoor Street Llighting Lamp LED Lights https://a.aliexpress.com/nYx3IDaC
It's not ideal and not what I want, but at least it works and I don't need to sell a kidney to buy it.
Anyway I appreciate your help.
The goal should be automation and convenience, no matter what form it takes. Unless you gain something from the endeavor of making it hub controlled, then it just ends up being expensive for no particular reason.
That is a brand new product, just introduced to the Chinese mainland market last November. As mentioned, it requires a Xiaomi Mijia Multimode Gateway (hub).
From my reading, nobody has gotten it working with a non-Xiaomi hub yet, but DeConz users and Koenkk zigbee2mqtt users are attempting to get it working with their respective HA solutions.
As for a Hubitat driver, I would probably be the person to make one - if it even works with the Hubitat hub. As inexpensive as they are, I haven't bought one of these yet because I'd like to see if the light sensor can be gotten to work with the two above-mentioned HA solutions.
If anyone has ordered a few and wants to ship one to me, I will gladly take a crack at it, though!
TL;DR:
There is no Hubitat driver for the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Light Sensor (Zigbee 3.0) and it will probably be a while before any driver is available - if the device works with the Hubitat hub at all (which is unknown at this time.)
Thanks for replying.
I'd be happy to send you this device, but I can't find it on Amazon. Give me your address so I can ship it to you through AliExpress.
I have some of these, bought on a whim. I did have it working with ST, but so far I've not got them working with HE yet - but I'm only just switching over to HE so yet to work out what all the differences are in terms of device handlers etc.
The raw numbers reported back are somewhat on the high side from what I saw under ST.
Hi mate, did you get this driver working, just received my sensor today and really desperate to get it working. Happy to test for you if you want a guinea pig
