More and more people are interested in turning their home smart. Unfortunately not every demand can be solved with nowadays solutions, couldn’t it? I think there is much more you can achieve today if you start thinking out of the box, if you try to make a toast with a coffeemaker – which, by the way, is according to Wau Holland kind of hacking.

A door contact sensor used to control a drawer’s state.

A door contact sensor used to report a goal.

A magnetic door/window contact sensor consist of the sensor itself and a magnet which just determines the two states open and close.

An affordable and easy “hackable” home automation device is a magnetic door/window contact sensor. Basically feasible for almost every mechanical movement. Well it is intended to be used to check windows and doors, but some people use it for the postbox or drawers. Best of all, there is no coding or hardware knowledge needed to create something new with this simple device.

Getting into the hardware of a door contact sensor: Most important is the reed switch on the left.

I am sure, there are many scenarios where only two states have to be distinguished: On or Off, Open or Close, Hot or Cold, Dark or Light and so forth. And it is easy to get this into your Smart Home using a door/window contact. The only thing you need is to bypass the reed switch inside with your very own button or sensor. I usually use alligator clips to bypasses the reed switch for testing purpose. Now, I can connect whatever I like as long as this closes or opens the electric circuit. Well, it might be better to remove the reed switch and solder the stuff, but for a first prototype this is totally sufficient.

Basic client of Deutsche Telekom’s Smart Home platform QIVICON.

Thanks to the used eQ-3 door/window contact this modification does work directly within the Smart Home platform QIVICON and can now be combined with rules and other devices and home appliances. So, what will you build? Just curious…