Awesome Tips 5 Unique Smart Home Sensors I NEVER knew I needed!
You’ve never seen smart home sensors like this before!
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*Sensor links in chronological order (affiliate)*
Thirdreality vibration sensor:
Apollo TEMP-1 sensor:
Humidity and temperature sensor:
Water leak sensor:
Apollo mmWave sensor:
IKEA rechargeable AAA batteries:
Rechargeable cr123a batteries:
How I set up the automation for the dryer using the vibration sensor:
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0:00 Intro
0:22 Accurate vibration sensor
2:19 Temperature probe
5:47 Humidity and temp sensor
6:49 Water leak sensor
8:03 Tiny mmWave
9:44 Holding myself accountable
#roborock #robotvacuum #vacuum #saros10 #saros10r @roborockglobal
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Rinse Repeat by DivKid
All of the music throughout is by Nihilore.
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Ending song is The End by EVA.
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Links to everything in the description! I'm excited to slowly transition away from coin cell batteries.
My clothes drier is natural gas not electric. I just put a smart plug that can monitor electric usage. Was easy to figure out thresholds on energy usage and have Home Assistant send alerts.
After considering options for my outdoor propane tank appliances (grill, fire pit, heaters) I went with a mechanical timer/valve that simply closes the valve when the timer runs out. Have to set the timer (3 hour max on the timer valves I went with) if you want gas.
A mechanical timer valve for your propane devices is smart, even if it will never integrate into your SmartHome system.
Personally I’ve gone for the BLE (Bluetooth) temperature and humidity sensors with ESPHome proxies rather than Zigbee as its just one less network and I don’t have any Zigbee devices. The Govee devices work very well and are surprisingly inexpensive. For the freezer I use an Inkbird battery powered T&H sensor which is rated to -40 degrees C I think. Works well
Another way to detect the dryer finishing is to check the power being drawn by the appliance. I have my clothes dryer on a smart plug so I can turn it off automatically when cheap rate electricity finishes, can also use this to detect the power consumption dropping off
I have been using the Apollo MSR-1 for quite some time. It works perfectly with my office light automation. I do like the switchbot temp/humidity sensor. It uses bt and 2xAAA. I use an SLZB-06 as a btproxy device with pretty good range for it. For my freezer fridge sensor, I already have an Accurite 00515M and use Lithium AA cells which last way longer in cold environments. It's a "dumb" device but using an sdr stick and rtl_433 with home assistant, I should be able to intercept the broadcast and process the signal from the accurite sensor to the base. This should mean the sensors in the fridge will last for a ton of months based on the tech and gets around the frequency broadcast issues. Accurite is working perfectly already, I just need to configure the sdr pieces.. hopefully this weekend. In some cases, you might be able to read other devices like electric and water meters since they also "dumb" broadcast.
You think coin cells are wasteful but you like AAA?? AAA cost the same thing as AA, but the AA cells have 4x the capacity! Can you say, "Rip off" ?
Question. I have a hue bridge for my hue Philip lights in my home. You mentioned this devices uses zigbee. Would i be able to pear using the hue bridge? If not what product would i need to purchase.
Do any of those work with Apple Home? Great video.
That third reality vibration sensor might be just the thing for my front door. I live in an apartment where the units are flipped, so the frontdoors are just a few inches apart. It makes it extremely hard at times to know whether it's my door or the neighbors that's got people waiting. A vibration sensor with an appropriate automation would likely be just the thing.
You could use the wall-powered version of the freezer sensor to detect that there’s power to the freezer too! That’s what I did with a smart outlet on my freezer, after tripping the breaker that the freezer is on with my garage air compressor.
third reality is a criminally overlooked brand
I like that some of these sensors are moving to AAA batteries. These are a lot cheaper, and a lot easier to get in both standard and rechargable style. How do you find the battery life reporting working with rechargables? Often rechargables have lower voltage than standard ones

I've been using a deriviative helper for humidity for a long time for the bathroom fan, along with an Aqara Temp/Humidity sensor. This has served me well and I think in 4 years I've replaced the battery once. Maybe I've been lucky with battery life. I haven't felt the need to replace it as it just works
Thanks Reed.
I really need to mess with mm wave
Thank you for calling it a "millimeter wave sensor" not an "em-em wave sensor." Inexplicably, the latter just pokes me right in the ear and makes me cringe.
For washer and (gas) drier I've found using TP-Link EP25 smart plugs work well, especially with Home Assistant. I have an automation that detects when power goes to zero for 30 seconds, and then alerts me "Washing machine has finished", "Drier has finished". They're really cheap these days (under $10 each). And it's interesting to see the power load during the wash/dry cycle.
But for exercise work outs… does this actually work? Or was it a joke? I was thinking of using some magnetic reed sensors to detect every time a pedal goes round (need one on both sides to prevent cheating) and an ESP8266 to monitor/report to MQTT. But if these vibration sensors work… that might be an easier solution!
For temperature, I know you hate coin cells, but the Xiaomi Mijia stuff when flashed with PVVX (hmm, I did this 3 years ago; I dunno if the current batch is still hackable!) works well. Yes it's bluetooth but an ESP32 with a simple sketch can publish to MQTT (I have 3 ESP32s in my house for full coverage). I just had to replace a couple of batteries in the Mijias; they were Panasonic brand which I don't think I bought so maybe they were original with the device, so lasted 3 years? I've not put them in a fridge/freezer though 'cos I know low temperatures really impact battery life; the one in my garage definitely shows reduced capacity when overnight temperatures drop to freezing!!
Use a current sensor for your 220V dryer (those ones that just loop over your wire). Otherwise if it is only 120V and 15A or less you can just use a regular smart AC switch. Reasons are…they are cheap, easy to install, will tell you how much electricity your dryer is using and you'll have absolutely no problems setting up automations to know when your dryer is drying or not. Using a vibration sensor is really the wrong way to go for the dryer and is janky at best. The wash machine is just as easy especially if it runs on 120V. Just throw a smart AC switch from ThirdReality onto it. They are rated for 15A and I've been using one for my wash machine for more than a year without any issues. Wash machine automation just requires a 'when no current is flowing for a couple minutes' routine rather than immediately since some cycle changes and soaks will cause temporary no current draw. I tried the motion sensor thing a long time ago (ThirdReality and another brand…both of which have the sensitivity adjustments) and it took a couple days of fooling around with it to quickly realize that wasn't the right way to monitor the washer or dryer. To bad too many people keep recommending the vibration method over the current monitoring method. Even if you have to do the extra wiring for the 220V dryer…it is SOOOO much worth it in the end.
Fed up with your home assistant moronic comments
The third reality water sensor dies without any alert.
how many of these sensors are cloud?
I use the Govee freezer and refrigerator sensor. Had them a year and haven't had to change the batteries yet.
Thank brother you always come through. My aqara vibration sensor did not work either for the dryer. Buying the one you suggested.
What happened with the other channel? It is really helpful showing how things are set up
Rechargeables are fine if the item is not sensitive to the lower voltage. I used to have so many problems with my portable radios shutting down because it thought the battery was dead due to the voltage sensing since the rechargeables are .3 volts lower than a standard alkaline. Or just incessant low battery warnings when there was plenty of juice left.
OMG yes, I'm tired of buying stock in 2032s and running around the house almost weekly replacing one.
Great video yet again, having
withdrawal symptoms waiting for a new one to drop but definitely worth the wait. I have the third reality leak sensor under my main kitchen sink and tbh it’s helped out more times than I thought possible. Only downside is if it goes off and won’t stop beeping as you have to remove the three screws to get to the battery and they’re very small slotted screws which do not help when your trying to take it to pieces with it beeping in your hands.
I realize the video is focused around sensors but I’m curious why you prefer the dual spinning mops of the 10r versus the 10.
I've been losing a prolonged game of hide and seek with one of those 3rd reality leak sensors for over a year. No idea where it is. I think the drywall crew sealed it in somewhere during a project. I know it's here somewhere because it still reports a battery level every day to the hub. I just hope it will chirp when the battery gets low, but that could still be a couple years out.
Yolink sensors work great for freezer monitoring. Signal works from inside freezer chest and goes long distance. Batteries last a really long time
Hey @smartHomeSolver in reference to monitoring your dryer, have you ever looked into something like the Emporia Vue energy monitoring system? I installed one in my main electrical box and it integrated into HA really well and you can even flash it with ESPhome. Works great for monitoring things like your dryer or dish washer's power and use it in automations.
I've been using small e-ink temp/humidity displays for a couple of years now. I was using some with standard LCD displays but they were hard to see at certain angles or when there wasn't much light. I can see the e-ink displays from across the room and basically any angle even if it's dim (and the batteries last forever).
For washer and dryer I use an inline voltage sensor and when it falls below a specific value for X amount of time I trigger an announcement.
Whatever you showcased in this video, Yolink has a sensor and provides those features and settings (except the mm sensor). Yolink natively supports Home Assistant. They use LoRa technology, which offers a great range, but the downside is the limitations on local control. I'm looking forward to their upcoming Matter support for the hub.
so an add for Apollo and Third Reality :), but I agree.
I believe you reinstalled the "AA" battery backwards in the vibration sensor from the way you took it out. GREAT video!
Why use a vibration sensor for a dryer? you have beefy smart switches from sonoff that also measure the power.. and they are wifi so they are fast.
I've found the AAA powered SwitchBot Indoor/Outdoor Thermo-Hygrometers work well in the freezer and refrigerator.
I was looking for a better sensor for my dryer, so this video came at just the right time. My current method uses temprature and is ridiculously slow. I did try vibration before, but the aqura sensor i was using has too long of a cooldown such that opening and closing the dryer door triggered it (cause it also senses tilt), and by the time the cooldown expired, the next event would be when the dryer finished, bypassing the reason i have it there. So thank you for your perfect timing!
I look forward to your upcoming video about the personalized notifications, something else ive been meaning to implement.
I love the vibration sensor. I had this same scenario. The Aqara vibration didn’t work reliable on the dryer but the third reality is great
I use the TP-Link Matter power reader plug you recommended for my dryer. Once it registers no power being used, I get an alert that the dryer is done.
I built my own esphome sensors, the 3d design is on thingyverse and is called: "ESPhome mmWave + Temp + Humidity esp12E sensor with Home assistant Logo" its small and compact and if you like micro soldering a really cheap build, im considering selling them, leave a comment on thingyverse if youre interested in a fully developed one with a pcb and great user experience and better code. Some friends have ordered a few from me allready but its not enough people to do a small production run yet, id like to add co2, tvoc and vibration to it and maybe a light sensor aswell
I use SmartThings multifunction sensors outdoors for notifications/automations related to gates and the mailbox opening/closing, but the coin cells are a nightmare. Inevitably they die multiple times every winter when temps are dipping into the teens. Since they're all inside waterproof enclosures, I ended up soldering on separate battery holders that take 2 AA's instead and they've been fantastic ever since.
Nice one on the outro Reed. I also use my smart home for personal accountability and have learned to get devious in attempts to prevent cheating
I liked the video as soon as you emphatically said you hate coin cell batteries.
Thanks for that ThirdReality Dryer automation! I have two of these sensors, and have been trying to use them for my washer and dryer for the last year and it's inconsistent to say the least, but with your automation, I can set up both sensors using the same automation so I know when to switch the laundry over! Thanks, Reed! Huge Spouse Approval for this one!
I do something similar with the dryer vibration sensor, but I also have a door sensor on the dryer door. If the door is open the vibration sensor gets ignored, so loading and unloading don't trigger any routines. The door sensor also tells me if the dryer cycle is done and the door hasn't been opened after a while, which sends me a snippy reminder to my phone and a conditional card on my dashboard.
ThirdReality tilt sensors are awesome to use in the garage. So is their plug-in night light
For water leak sensor, the IKEA Badring is fantastic. Single AAA battery, cheap, zigbee, and sound alarm. Basically everything the ThirdReality does sans the custom probes.
I keep getting a comment deleted. Can’t figure out why. I recommended a sensor.
I've been using yolink temp sensor in my freezer for a year and it's amazing