Is it worth building accurate sensors?

[gohan]

I mean looking at the costs of accurate weather sensors plus all the tinkering to have them working and so on while there are some rather cheap retail solutions that can measure all the values with a good consistency and accuracy

[dbemowsk]

@gohan Many of the commercial sensors that will work with a home automation setup have price points quite a bit higher than what it costs to put something like this together. The other part of this is that it lets you build sensors that run on a common platform.

I agree that there is tinkering involved, but for some of us, that is the thrill. At the end, you can say, "I made that." Also, there are people on the forum that have done some EXCELLENT work to design prototyping boards that take a lot of the tinkering out of the picture getting you to an end result faster. One that I have used and love is the Easy/Newbie PCB For MySensors. It takes the tinkering time for some sensors from a few hours for some to less than an hour.

I can't speak for others on the forum, but home automation for me is a hobby. MySensors allows me to build some things on a budget that would otherwise cost me hundreds.

Many of the retail solutions out there were at one point built by tinkerers much like me and others on the forum.

[gohan]

I totally agree. I'm doing my project because I like doing it but on the other side when I see some components' prices get discouraged (like for example the 40$ for temp humidity sensor from sparkfun).

[n1ck1355]

what? a simple ds18b20 (only temp sensor) cost <1$..
i belive that the sensors with hum are also not quite expenive

[gohan]

Also DHt11is cheap but considering it reliable it's another story. Try searching SHT15 sensor and see yourself the prices they ask.

[sundberg84]

@gohan - maybe you should have a look in the store?

[gohan]

@sundberg84
I did look, but the DHT22 is the only option and I have read it is better than DHT11 but still not as reliable as the more expensive ones

[sundberg84]

@gohan - what kind application are you planning for your sensors that needs to be super reliable? DHT22 has +- 2% humidity?

[gohan]

@sundberg84
Also DHT11 has a 5% error, but I have seen mine swinging 15-20% of the actual humidity within 15-30 minutes, that's why I am not really convinced about the DHTxx sensors.

[sundberg84]

@gohan - yes, and that could also be the node quality if DIY. One last tip, its a higher price but as everything else in this world, if you need quality need need to pay some more: Si7021

[gohan]

@sundberg84
I'll consider it thanks! The price is higher of course but still in the affordable range. You see, personally I find useless to collect data that is inaccurate even if it is cheap. I have been playing with the DHT11 because I found it in the arduino starter kit I bought last year, so for prototyping is ok, but for a real application I'd prefer more accuracy and reliability :)