Question

Hello automation gurus!  I’m in need of some assistance.Hello automation gurus! I’m in need of some assistance. I had a small strip light in my mailbox that operated off of a battery pack that was controlled by a magnetic reed switch and an earth magnet on the door of the mailbox. When the mailbox door was closed, the light was off and when it was open, the light turned on. This worked for a little bit, but it seemed like the batteries drained quickly and ended up bleeding. What’s a better way that I could set this up? Also, I would like to set something up in the mailbox that senses when the door is opened that I get a notification on my phone. What’s everyone else doing for this? Thank you in advance!  

Answer 1

How far is the mailbox from your house?  

Comments

@terrie Thanksng it’s exactly 46. 5 ft from the front of the garage, then another 20ft of garage to the back wall where the Orbi Router is right behind.  

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Wifi isn't a great protocol for battery operated sensors. You'd be better with zigbee or z-wave but you'd have to build a mesh of some sort to cover that distance. Not sure that's practical

Answer 2

Found a super awesome solution for the light that exceeded my expectation. It’s a magnetic, motion activated, rechargeable LED cabinet light. Since our mailbox is metal, it stuck perfectly and securely to the top of the mailbox. It has a 2400mah rechargeable battery which they say will last 2-4 weeks when activated 10 times a day. Since this is the mailbox and activated maybe twice a day, I may be able to extend to 2 months. It’s motion activated and works well when opening the mailbox door or putting my hand near the entrance. Super happy with this purchase. Let me know if anyone is interested, I can provide the link.  

Comments

How does it give you a notification on your phone?  

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@terrie Thanksng this isn’t for the notifications, this just satisfies my light bug.  

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I have a Wink hub, I don’t have ST, think it will still work?