If we look at the catalog of HomeKit compatible products we can find all kinds of items, from light bulbs to electronic locks, through surveillance cameras or timers for automatic irrigation. But it is not always the most complex and expensive devices that give you more possibilities.
A perfect example of this is the Koogeek Door and Window sensor, a small device with a very affordable price that at first glance does not attract much attention but that offers you many possibilities thanks to its integration with other platform products. We show you our analysis in this article and in the accompanying video.
Simple and economical
There is not much to explain about the operation of this sensor. In the box we will find two pieces, and only that. Well, also some spare parts for adhesives that allow you to place them on doors and windows. What is its purpose? It is a two-piece sensor that tells you if a door or window is open or closed. When the two pieces are together, it is closed, when they are separated, it is open. It works thanks to a CR2450 battery (large button) that is easily replaceable.
As you can imagine the installation is very simple, you just have to place one sensor in the frame of the door (or window) and the other in the door itself. Just be careful that they are close enough when the door is closed as to detect it, for which we must make the two surfaces with a mark on them coincide. This very simple mechanism translates into a very affordable price (€ 29) but instead offers us an ideal system to launch automations or even an alarm system that will warn us of possible intrusions.
Notifications when someone enters or leaves
Any Price alarm system with sensors for doors and windows to notify you when someone opens a window or a door. We can do the same with this simple Koogeek sensor, since we can configure it to receive a notification every time a window opens or closes, or a door. In this way we can control who enters or leaves the house.
From the Casa application itself for iPhone, iPad and from macOS Mojave also for our computers, we can configure these notices. From the sensor settings we can activate the notifications, establish at what times we want to be notified if we want to restrict it, or even establish that we be notified when we are at home, or when there is no one, or always. Many configuration options for us to create a system to our liking. Notifications will reach our iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch, and just a second after the door opens. Of course, remember that for HomeKit functions remotely you must have an Apple TV, HomePod or iPad that acts as a central accessory.
Trigger Automations
Not only can we use this sensor to create our own alarm system. We can also use it to create automations in which the opening of a door or window is the beginning of everything. Do you want the lamp in the living room to open when the door is open at night? Do you want that when the door is closed and nobody is left at home the lights go out?
Also from the Home application we can make all these settings. Create as many automations as you want, interact with the rest of HomeKit devices that you have installed at home, and make your arrival or departure trigger a series of events that really make your home “smart”.
Also with own application
HomeKit has the enormous advantage that it allows you to control the accessories from the Home application or from the manufacturer's application, which sometimes offers you more possibilities than Apple. You choose where to configure your device, in the official Koogeek application, which is free and compatible with iPhone and iPad, or at Home.
Koogeek Home
SHENZHEN TOMTOP TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
