Contact sensors are deceptively simple pieces of smart home technology. Along with being a vital part of any security system, contact sensors can also be used in other ways around your smart home. Here are some ideas.
Picking a Contact Sensor for Your Home
Just like with other smart home devices, contact sensors are designed to work with specific smart home ecosystems—Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home. Before purchasing, you will need to make sure that the sensor is compatible with the platform you use. That will also allow you to automate the contact sensor with other devices.
The Eve Door & Window Sensor is compatible with all three major platforms along with the Matter protocol. For Alexa or Google Home, this four-pack of contact sensors will give you the best bang for your buck. If you’re completely new to smart home technology, take a look at our comparison the three major smart home ecosystems to help make the best choice for your situation.
All contact sensors are powered by replaceable batteries that provide around six months (or more) of power with regular use. There are two major parts to a contact sensor: the sensor and the magnet. Those need to be placed on the opposite sides of whatever you want to monitor.
1 Check Whether Doors are Open or Closed
Doors have always been one of the most common ways to use a contact sensor. Even before smart home technology, door sensors acted as one of the major parts of a home alarm system. After the alarm is set, if someone tries to enter through the door, the contact sensor will trip and trigger the alarm system.
Now with smart technology, a contact sensor on your door can do much more with the power of automation. The possibilities are almost endless. For example, whenever the door is opened after dark, the lights in your home can automatically turn on so you won’t fumble to find the light switch in the dark.
In another use, if your front or back doors remain open after a certain amount of time, you can create an automation to automatically turn off your heating or air conditioning and even send you a notification on your smartphone.
Some of the instances where you’d use motion-activated lighting (like in a walk-in wardrobe) could also make good use of contact sensors.
2 Pool Gate or Yard Gate Alarms
Pools provide respite from the heat. But as any homeowner knows, you need to protect the pool from young children who can’t swim but are still attracted to the water. A contact sensor can help. If you have a gate around your pool, you can place a contract sensor on the entry point. Create a rule so that if the door opens during a specific time frame, like at night, you can create an automation to activate an indoor smart siren.
You can also use a contact sensor for a backyard gate. To help ward off any intruders, opening the door after a certain time can turn on outdoor lighting or even start playing sound from an outdoor speaker—anything from regular music to an alarm sound.
3 Monitor Open Windows
Contact sensors for windows are another classic way to help protect your home security. If a window is ever opened when a system is armed, the alarm will be tripped. But there are also uses.
If you ever open a window to let some fresh air in your home, the smart contact sensor can work with your heating or air conditioning system and automatically turn it off until the window is once again closed, saving you cash. You can even just check the status of a contact sensor when you’re leaving the house, to make sure you’ve remembered to close everything before you leave.
4 Check the Mail
Do you walk out to your mailbox multiple times a day to see if an important letter or package has been delivered? You don’t have to worry with a contact sensor. Whenever your mailbox is opened for a delivery, you can create a simple automation that sends a notification to your smartphone. You could also get a smart speaker to make an announcement.
5 Refrigerator and Freezer Doors
Leave the door of your refrigerator or freezer open for more than just a few minutes, and you’ll likely come home to a mess with warm, spoiled food. Sometimes, an object can even get caught in the door, not allowing it to close fully without you knowing.
A contact sensor can help remedy the problem. You can create an automation to receive a smartphone or smart speaker notification, if one of the doors is open for a set amount of time, like 5 minutes.
6 Cabinet and Safe Security
You probably have important items stored all around your home. Whether it’s medication, important papers, or even something like liquor, a contact sensor can better help protect access. Contact sensors are perfect for cabinets and safes. Since you’ll likely need a discreet way to see when these cabinets are opened, you can choose to receive a notification on your smartphone, no matter where you are if the cabinet is open.
You can already control access to a safe with a combination, lock, or even biometrics like a fingerprint. But a contact sensor can be used as another way to monitor access and see whenever the safe door is opened. With a contact sensor, you can even log each time the safe is opened in a note or a spreadsheet.
There are also a number of smart safes on the market, like the Lockly Smart Safe, that bring smart home technology to the age-old tool.
7 Stay on Top of the Laundry
Do you ever start a load of laundry, only to forget it for a few days and come back to a wet, musty mess that needs to be washed again? A smart contact sensor can help. Use one on a washing machine to send a notification for a set time period, like a few hours, after the washer door is opened.
Use automations for more creativity. For example, if your washer is in a dark location, like a garage, opening the lid can automatically turn on smart lighting to help you better see.
Contact sensors can be used in a number of different ways in a smart home, many of which you probably haven’t ever considered. If you’re looking for another way to keep an eye on your smart home, make sure to take a look at vibration sensors too.
