Average battery life? Window/Door Sensor (HC Lite 2)

[Pip 0]

Hello

I am planning for a research project in 430 apartments for 2 years and looking at the D/W sensor to monitor occupant behaviour.  

I've read several threads about battery, but nothing about other user's actual experience of how long the batteries "last". 

Can I please hear from people, as I ideally need a sensor with a long battery.

Cheers

[Sankotronic 2,370]

Hello @Pip ,

 

I use exclusively Fibaro D/W sensors and there are many factors that influence battery duration on D/W sensors. Some of this factors are:

• time set between waking up,
• frequency of state change (open/close),
• quality and type of the purchased batteries and
• generation of the Fibaro D/W sensor and if external temperature sensor is connected on GEN1

I made for HC2 Advanced Battery Check VD with which I can also remember when was last battery changed for easier monitoring of battery duration.

I still have GEN 1 version 2.5 and 3.2 D/W sensors that do not have built in temperature sensor, but can connect external DS18B20 and GEN 2 version 3.2 with built in temperature sensor.

 

Regardless of the D/W sensor generation and version and if has DS18B20 attached or not, battery last between 1 and 2 years. Some of them are at this moment with battery that was replaced more than 2 years ago. Here are few examples:

 

• kitchen window sensor GEN 1 v2.5 with attached DS18B20 - battery replaced 2 years 1 month 22 days ago and is on 29% (window is opened and closed at least once per day)
• garage window sensor GEN 1 v2.5 with attached DS18B20 - battery replaced 2 years and 14 days ago and is on 35% (window is opened few times in a month) lately it is sometimes reported as "dead" which means that even battery is reported on 35% it is not good enough for wake up reports (it is far from HC2) and will have to replace battery
• refrigerator door sensor GEN 1 v2.5 no external sensor attached - battery replaced almost 2 years ago and is now on 40% (changing state many times during one day )
• door living room to terrace GEN2 v3.2 with internal temp. sensor - battery replaced 1 year 2 months 14 days ago and is now on 65% (state change at least twice per day)
• Entrance door GEN2 v3.2 with internal temp. sensor - battery replaced 6 months and 22 days ago and is now on 90% (state is changed dozen times per day)

 

In 90% of the sensors and time, battery status is properly reported to the HC2 and in rear occasions battery status can be wrong, possibly because sensor is not able to send its battery status to the gateway or gateway is unable to receive it e.g. due to distance and increased traffic on the z-wave network. Anyway in most cases it works perfectly. Also it is possible that even battery level seems to be OK, like in my case for garage window, that sensor is unable to send report during wake up period because of the distance from gateway.

 

In case that any of the D/W sensors are depleting battery too quickly (in few days or weeks) then it is probably placed too far from the gateway and is not receiving acknowledge signal from it, so wake up time is extended in failed attempts to send report. In that case placing any mains powered z-wave device in between sensor and gateway can help. If still doesn't help then probably sensor is faulty and is better to replace it with brand new one.

 

[Neo Andersson 230]

I have tested a lot lot of sensors. Everything what @Sankotronic says is correct. My personal experiances led me to a battery powered sensor, who's battery can not be charged or changed at all. It is brand Sensative. It has 10 year battery life,slim,really easy to use, wihtout possibility to change the battery, so after 10 years you have to change the entire sensor. For first hear it can look strange, but more and more customers agree to use them, becuase they are really reliable and once in 10 years they are okay with changing the sensors off. I use in my home these sensors too. Never ever had any connection or whatsoever issues. Can not say if the 10 years will be really 10 years. I am using them 3 years now and battery still shows 100% .

 

[tinman 1,070]

18 hours ago, Neo Andersson said:

Can not say if the 10 years will be really 10 years. I am using them 3 years now and battery still shows 100% .

 

Sensative posted long time about case study, however it was not very accurate due to some z-wave specific  things vs. how do i measure consumption. For myself i informed them about the diff. to real live evironment, so they ran another one study, which show the real values for z-wave  plus mesh 

Please login or register to see this link.

 

 

Please note, with HC2/HC2 Lite the battery will not last 10yrs, simply due to slower transmition (means the device is longer on), and when you have let say 4 repeaters between, 2.5-3 years max.

Edited February 1, 2024 by tinman

[Pip 0]

@tinman @Sankotronic @Neo Andersson

 

Many thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. Some excellent tips such as not using the temperature sensor and keeping the device as close as possible to the HC Lite gateway. I only need the battery to last for 2 years, but will look at the Sensative product you mention.  

Edited February 1, 2024 by Pip