Switch controlled power saving esp8266 I'm trying to build a door sensor with the esp8266. I want it to be battery powered and use deepSleep for power saving. I'm going to use a normally closed reed switch between D0 (GPIO16) and RST. 

I set the deepsleep to be for about 30 seconds (time to close the door). After that GPIO16 goes LOW and when the door is opened it will close the circuit and connect GPIO16 to RST and reboot the board.

Since the Red onboard LED is connected to GPIO16 and is activated on LOW as well, at the end of deepsleep it turns on.

2 Questions


Is this setup a good approach to powersaving on the esp8266? My concern is how much power setting GPIO16 to LOW uses.
Is it save to just rip off the LED from the board? I figure it being on would be the biggest drain of battery power. I already did some googling and it SEEMS safe? But I trust stack over forums.
Following @dandavis's advice. I will connect the switch between the power source and the board, get rid of the LED, and use ESPNOW for communication! Thanks for the help.