Zooz ZSE41 is a door or window sensor that you can use both inside your home to monitor the status of a door or window and in the garden, for example, to know the status of an electric gate, as in the case of the user of a smart home who installed this device.
Why does the Zooz ZSE41 have this price?
The American company Zooz offers a door or window sensor with the latest version of Z-Wave technology at an interesting price.
Advantages and disadvantages of the Zooz ZSE41 sensor
Pros
- ZWave technology: This sensor communicates with ZWave technology, so you can unify your smart home by adding other ZWave devices from other brands (thanks to a compatible ZWave hub) and you can enjoy the signal repetition of other ZWave devices to have sufficient communications range.
- ZWave 800: It is one of the first sensors to integrate ZWave technology, offering the best performance in terms of battery consumption, speed and communication range.
- Indoor or outdoor use: You can use this sensor both indoors and outdoors thanks to an additional waterproof case.
- Size: The ZWave Zooz ZSE41 door and window sensor has a small size and is unobtrusive in your installation.
- Price: The ZSE41 has an affordable price compared to other ZWave sensors on the market.
Cons
- You need a ZWave hub: You have to buy a compatible ZWave hub to use this ZWave door and window sensor.
- CR2032 battery: There are sensors that use AAA batteries that are easier to find in shops and can generally last longer.
Tutorial on how to use the Z-Wave Zooz door/window sensor
Let’s discover the details of the ZWave ZSE41 sensor.
Why choose a Zooz door or window sensor?
Z-Wave is, in my opinion, the best technology for a smart home, as it uses a different frequency from WiFi, unlike Zigbee, which avoids possible interference.
The range of device communications is usually larger, the mesh network that is automatically created between devices is usually more stable than Zigbee, and all Z-Wave devices are backwards compatible, so you can mix old devices with new devices and they can help each other.
And also Z-Wave has stricter certifications, so we don’t tend to have compatibility issues, unlike Zigbee, which tends to be more complicated for integrations.
In addition, this technology is evolving over time and we are now seeing the “Long Range” feature, which eliminates the notion of signal repetition between devices with direct communications that can be up to 1.6 km, where previously it was 100 metres, and with a battery life of up to 10 years thanks to dynamic power control.
These are favourable trends in Z-Wave technology with these new developments.
But the best does not always win, and Zigbee is currently in the limelight, given the low prices of devices and the wide variety of manufacturers available on the market.
With the arrival of this Long Range function, which we will soon be able to enjoy in Europe, and the support of companies such as Shelly and Zooz, which offer devices at affordable prices, Z-Wave can once again be your technology of choice in your smart home project.
And, precisely, we are going to discover the details of the Zooz ZSE41 sensor, which integrates the Z-Wave 800 technology, which offers better range and speed of communications, longer battery life and we will be able to enjoy the Long Range function when it becomes available in Europe, which is of great interest.
In the case of a smart home user, he installed a dry contact module to open and close his electric gate, but he needed to know its status from his phone: open or closed. Therefore, thanks to this Zooz ZSE41 sensor, he will be able to know this status in real time and, with the Long Range function, if you have to monitor the status of a door or gate in the garden, it will be very useful to cover long distances.
General characteristics of Zooz ZSE41
Let’s take a look at the general characteristics of this Zooz ZSE41 sensor.
To begin with, if we open the packaging, we find the Z-Wave Zooz door or window sensor, which comes with 2 white parts: the electronic part with dimensions of 4.8 x 0.8 x 0.8 x 2.5 cm and the magnet with dimensions of 3.2 x 0.8 x 0.8 cm.
We also have an instruction manual.
And screws and 3M stickers to fix this sensor on a bracket.
This sensor is powered by a CR2032 battery which is included, although, as with most manufacturers, this battery is not of high quality, so I recommend that you have additional CR2032 batteries for maintenance.
If you buy this Zooz sensor, you should be careful with the frequency. In Europe, this frequency is 868.42 MHz.
But in the Americas you must buy the sensor with the right frequency, because unlike Zigbee, which uses the same frequency as WiFi (2.4 GHz) and therefore you can buy Zigbee devices from all over the world, with Z-Wave you must keep an eye on this criterion.
The manufacturer indicates that the maximum distance between the sensor and the magnet should be 0.6 cm.
By default, this sensor must be installed indoors, but Zooz offers a waterproof box that you can buy separately, so you can install this sensor outdoors.
Its temperature of use is from 0 to 40°C.
And by integrating the latest advances in Z-Wave technology, we have functions such as secure S2 inclusion, the most secure method of communication you can enjoy. To do this, when you add the device to your Z-Wave network, you must enter a code consisting of 5 digits, which usually appears on the packaging.
Or on the product.
How to link the Zooz ZSE41 with a compatible Z-Wave hub
Now let’s see how to include this Z-Wave sensor.
The user of a smart home has the Jeedom Luna home automation hub, which integrates 2 technologies: Z-Wave and Zigbee.
Since he had not found an outdoor Zigbee door sensor, he decided to choose the Zooz Z-Wave sensor.
Your home automation hub, as it does not integrate the latest Z-Wave 800 version, would not be able to enjoy the Long Range function, but if you wanted to do so, you would have to use a Z-Wave 800 dongle, such as the ZST39 dongle, which is also designed by the American company Zooz.
By the way, we have already seen how to install Z-Wave JS in Home Assistant precisely with the Z-Wave dongle from the same company Zooz, which is having a great success all over Europe due to its affordable price and because it integrates the latest advances in Z-Wave technology.
If you have the Jeedom Luna home automation hub, as it integrates dual Zigbee and Z-Wave technology, you will have the possibility to install Z-Wave JS the first time you are going to configure this hub, although, as I mentioned, the Jeedom Luna Z-Wave chipset is currently Z-Wave 700.
But with Z-Wave, being backwards compatible, you will be able to use Z-Wave devices regardless of their version, but you will not be able to enjoy the Long Range with the Z-Wave 800 in this case.
So a smart home user uses a Zooz ZAC38 signal repeater in their Z-Wave network, halfway between the Jeedom home automation hub and the Zooz door or window sensor, inside their home, to cover the communication distance.
To include this sensor, go to the Z-Wave JS interface, which is the same interface in Home Assistant or Jeedom, and click on the icon at the bottom right.
Then, click on the “Manage nodes” icon.
Now, click on “Inclusion” and click on “Next”.
Now, we can choose the inclusion mode, such as the default mode, which will choose the appropriate method, such as S2 if the device supports it.
If you have chosen the S2 inclusion, you must fill in the security code of the device.
In some cases, you can use the “Not secure” mode, which is still a secure communication method, but with less security than S2, as you should be aware that Z-Wave devices included in S2 will not communicate with devices included without this S2 method, so you should consider the method of inclusion.
Once this inclusion mode is launched, at this point, you should hit the button on the Zooz sensor 3 times and its LED should flash, indicating that it is in inclusion mode.
If you have difficulties to include it, you can try to exclude the sensor before trying to include it again, also by hitting its physical button 3 times.
Ready, once included, the Zooz sensor appears in your Z-Wave JS interface.
How to install the Zooz ZSE41 sensor
Now that you have your Zooz ZSE41 sensor linked to your home automation hub, you can install it.
You can install the electronic part of the sensor on the door or window frame and the magnet on top of the door or window thanks to the included stickers.
You can use the lines on the 2 parts to install them precisely opposite each other and, by the way, you can install the magnet to the left or right of the electronic part.
In the case of the user, after installing the protective cover for the sensor, it can be installed on the electric gate.
Installation takes a few seconds and is very simple and, of course, the most important thing is to have the two parts of the sensor facing each other and not far apart to avoid false states.
If you have a magnet and the electronic part that are not at the same level in some doors or windows, you should know that there is a very interesting accessory from the company Aimantia.
It is an angle magnet that replaces the default magnet of your door or window sensor.
This allows to have precision in the states of this door or window.
Detailed functions of Zooz ZSE41
Now that you have your Zooz sensor installed and linked to your home automation hub, you will be able to know in real time, from anywhere in the world, the status of your door or window.
In the case of a smart home user, it will allow him to know the status of his electric gate and, therefore, to know when to open or close it.
You will also have a history of all activities at your door or window over time.
And the battery level to know when the battery needs to be replaced.
And you will be able to update the sensor over time thanks to the OTA function.
Of course, a door or window sensor can be very useful to activate a siren in case of detection of a door or window opening during your absence.
And to turn off the heating during a period when you have opened a door or window.
You can also imagine other uses, such as knowing when someone opens a drawer or letterbox.
Your imagination is your limit.
In short, this sensor is a very interesting option as it integrates the latest advances in Z-Wave technology, with a reasonable price and with a detail from the company Zooz to propose a cover for outdoor use, which is very useful in some contexts.
Generally purchased together
Buy Now Zooz ZSE 41
Graduated with a Higher Technician’s Certificate in Home Automation, a Professional Bachelor’s degree in E-commerce and Digital Marketing, and a Master’s degree in SEO, I have been working since 2013 in a home automation e-commerce company called Domadoo, where I have the opportunity to test a large number of the popular Smart Home products on the market.