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Well with all that has been going on with Vera/eZlo, many people are abandoning the Vera hubs and moving on to other solutions, such as Hubitat (my case), HASS, HA, and many other controllers.
In the past, I had already been informed that when the migration was over, my Vera would go to the incinerator, or under the wheel of my car, and of course, I did not comply.
So I wanted to open a debate, for those who have not yet sold their Vera on eBay, are with the equipment idle, what destination could be given?
I see many saying that it has become a laboratory, I don't see much sense, since it is becoming obsolete and without a drive. But it can be a destiny. Has anyone thought about whether it is feasible to change the hub's SO so that it becomes a host for MSR, for example? Or even Home Assistance? I have no knowledge, but it seems to me that processor and memory have to do something like that, already has embedded wifi and network.
Does anyone have any idea if it is possible to give this equipment a destination other than a box?
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I just started [uncloud] forum to gather in one central place all smart devices working without the cloud, since this is not information easily available on the Internet.
I thought this might interest some users of this forum and any feedback are welcome.
And let me know if you know more devices that I should add to the list!- Marco
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Good afternoon. Due to the new ezlo not being available in europe yet, I wanted to change the z-wave getway that works with the reactor to add to the home assistant. What advises?
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I didn't see an existing Topic for heating-ventilation-air conditioning, so here goes...
Is anyone successfully controlling a "mini split" (i.e. ductless) A/C or heat pump system at home? I will be adding such a system soon to new construction, and wondered if certain brands/models interface better via Z-Wave or WiFi than others in a HA setting.
I know a bunch of these "splits" come with handheld remotes, but having robust Home Automation control (preferably without a dedicated plug-in needed on the Vera side) would be idea.
Happy to hear suggestions. Thanks!
Libra -
I have a legacy Vera system that in my home and I need to add a few devices to a cottage on my property. The Vera zwave won't see devices that far away. Both the house and cottage are on the same LAN. Can I bridged an Ezlo Plus to my existing Vera plus and if so are there instructions?
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Hey guys...
Is it just me or the GE/Jasco switch or very sensible to power outage ?
Almost each time we have a power outage, I need to replace at least 1 switch to replace.
Each time, same behaviour, the blue led is flashing rapidely and nothing works.
Last power outage, I got 3 switches. 95% of our switch and dimmer are GE/Jasco.
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About one month ago I got a new electrical meter in the house. The new meter is a "smart" meter equipped with a data port. It is more or less the same type of meter that is used in a number of European countries, e.g. The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden etc.
Norway has selected a different version with a RJ45 port with another protocol.The dataport is a serial "P1" port in the form of a RJ12 contact that sends quite a lot of data every 10 seconds:
c716b64e-dcac-4ea4-9b1b-8ee29eb55edc-image.pngThe data will show both consumption and production if you e.g. have solar panels at home.
My initial though was to use the Tasmota P1 Smart Meter with Mqtt. I tried this and it works, but unfortunately I got some serial data errors every 5-10th message for some reason so I decided to try another solution.
I found a few other alternatives and tested one of them. The upside with this version is that it is adapted to the Swedish data fomat that differs from the Dutch a bit and that it delivers the data in Mqtt form:
2aab179b-a9ea-4041-8c38-f73570206e11-image.pngThe hardware is pretty simple. For the Tasmota variant and most of the other solutions you need a ESP8266, e.g. a Wemos mini and then a transistor and two resistors (image below). The version I use is even simpler since it does not need the transistor.
For a lot of the meters delivered (DSMR 5 versions if I am right) you can power the ESP from the 5V provided in the RJ12 port, very handy.42092756-f6b3-4375-9000-04bcd1e22240-image.png
It is also possible to buy a readymade P1 meter, this one looks quite nice, although I have not tested it.
In order to get a good overview of the data from the meter I have started creating a dashboard in Grafana that gets data from Historian in OpenLuup. It is quite useful to be able to see the load over time per phase etc.
a8276d7b-6b39-4f3a-a663-353173c1da5b-image.pngI also managed to grab the hourly prices in json format and display that in the dashboard via some lua code in a scene.
At the moment I have built no logic around this, but it opens up posibilities for sure. In Sweden the electrical tarrifs will change from daily rates to being higher when demand is higher, perhaps then this can be used.
All in all a fun DIY project that provides some useful data out of the electrical meter. 🙂
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I am new to this forum. I have been building an Alexa-based smart home for a few years. Overall, works well. I have a curious problem with a smart light. I set up a Kasa smart bulb in a ceiling can fixture. It worked well for at least 2 years. Then it began turning on randomly. Eventually, it began turning off randomly.I swapped out an identical bulb from another fixture and the problem persisted. I just replaced the ceiling fixture with a new one, properly installed, and the problem remained.
I replaced the Kasa bulb with a PlusMinus bulb. I can control it correctly, but the replacement bulb behaves in the same random on/off way.
Any ideas? I am at a loss!
Thanks.
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So, I’m searching for something to send SkyQ’s infrared remote IR from a different room. I have a Logitech Harmony box, but it’s out of sight, so I’m just using the app, but a remote is definitely better, since the tv is in the master bedroom and the skyq box is downstairs.
I’ve searched for something like an IR device capturing and sending the codes via network to the box, but I’m not finding anything. I’m not 100% sure a wireless transmitter will work, since my house is all concrete and signals from other floors are usually blocked.
Not 100% home automation, I know, but is there anything I could do? Thanks.
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I want to replace my NEST Thermostat with something only z-wave!
Right now the NEST thermostat handle everything, even the humidifier that need the "central" fan to fonction!
Any idea on how to migrate...
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Besides having integrated the xiaomi vacuum cleaner robot to my system, I have actually also integrated a large number of air filters to my automation system (homeassistant -> bridged into openLuup) for quite sometime. I have been using them mostly to monitor the air quality in different rooms. All of these devices are wifi but are communicating through a local API. I was looking today at replacing also my foobot which is my very last cloud dependent devices (and a non critical one) and found/ordered this:
60.99US $ 38% OFF|Xiaomi Mijia Air Quality Tester 3.97 60.99US $ 38% OFF|Xiaomi Mijia Air Quality Tester 3.97Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
It can very likely be integrated into home-assistant and then openLuup the same way I have with my filters but what I found particularly interesting is its low cost and the fact that it can also serve as a BT gateway! Why is this getting me excited? Because I have long regretted the loss of Plantlink which was a zigbee platform for soil/plant monitoring which unfortunately was cloud dependent and went belly up. I have since been automating my garden watering based on predictive algorithm only, without sensors. (yes still with openLuup). I am now looking forward to see how this will workout as my better half is very invested in gardening these days...
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So my house only has 2 wire lighting and due to the way it's been installed, plus our flooring options, conversion to 3 wire is not practicable in any case that I want (hope I got those the right way around!)
So it's only dimmer units for me (boo hiss!) even though I'm only ever using them as on and off.So what's going to happen if I put a non-dimmable LED bulb on a dimmer? is the dimmer going to get upset or will the bulb just come on at 100%? I'm never going to ask the bulb to actually dim, I only want on or off.
Thoughts?
Cheers
C
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Quite a number of years ago I set up a few Arduino sensors that reported temperature to my VeraLite running UI5. I did this with MySensors, a quite nice community based platform.
I discontinued this mostly because that the combination of a rather flaky Vera and that the Vera when rebooting lost the USB connected gateway.Some time ago I started to look at this again, but this time using ESP8266’s and Tasmota. I think the credit for this partially is the plugin for Shelly and Tasmota that @therealdb has written, even though I have still to use the plugin. The other reason for reentering into this area is that my electrical supplier is replacing the electrical meters for a new smart meter. Today I use a blink meter from Effergy, but the new meter will have a port for reading out data. This also led me to Tasmota, there seems to be a functioning solution for this.
I must say that Tasmota is brilliant! Support for all kind of devices and sensors and super easy to use, also for multi-sensors, OTA update, good documentation etc. You can get parts on ebay etc quite cheap. It has also so far been very stable. You can also very easily adjust the sensors readout, e.g. TempOffset -1.5 gives an offset of -1.5 degrees.
I have put together sensors for temperature and humidity for use in the garage, the outhouse, on the attic etc. I have tested DHT22, DS1820B, BME280 and BH1750 so far and they all work without issues. The latter two I installed in an outdoor enclosure to use as a simple weather station reporting temperature, humidity, air pressure and light level.
I also got a MH-Z19B CO2 meter for testing to monitor the indoor CO2 levels. The initial feeling is that it does what it should.
In general I have pretty good wifi coverage with a few Unifi access points. One of the sensors is in a building some 25 meters from the house where the wifi is not that strong, but the NodeMCU has no problem with this. Quite impressive and a good addition to Z-wave for that kind of location.
Not owning a 3D printer I have had to resort to purchased enclosures and the old Dremel. 😊
For the CO2 sensor I put it in an old smoke detector enclosure for now.
I am sure that there are a lot of talent here that can do much better with a 3D printer!
CO2meter1.jpgYou can get the data from the Tasmota devices into OpenLuup in a number of ways. The obvious way is via MQTT. I have still to set this up at some point in time. The second way is to use the excellent SiteSensor plugin. I tested this but had some problems with reporting stopping after a few days for some reason. I probably got something wrong in the setup. The third option, that I currently use is via adding rules to each sensor. You can quite easily add rules for reporting data to a virtual sensor in OpenLuup, e.g:
Rule1 ON tele-AM2301#Temperature DO Var1 %value% ENDON ON tele-AM2301#Temperature DO WebSend [IP_adress:3480]/data_request?id=lu_action&DeviceNum=65&id=variableset&serviceId=urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSensor1&Variable=CurrentTemperature&Value=%Var1% ENDON
With TelePeriod you can change the polling interval as required.
This method I think could be super useful for reporting back e.g. switch status from a Tasmota node much like I understand Shelly can do.
Some resources and notes I made on the way:
Using Tazmotizer to flash the ESP’s is very easy
List of supported sensors including how to connect, commands etc
A good pinout reference for ESP8266 variants
Tasmota rules documentation
Most sensors are either “Generic (0)” or “Generic (18)”, check for each sensor type what to use
For I2C sensors e.g. BME280 one must use tasmota-sensors.bin
For the MH-Z19B I had to flash the ESP before attaching the sensor, this could be a good practice always
Use the following url for the query in SiteSensor:
http://IP_address/cm?cmnd=Status%2010This became a rather long post but hopefully it can be of some use.
//ArcherS -
So, I'm at the 4th Z-wave devices and I still have trouble in getting my Vera operate my door gate, and getting the input from the doorbell. It's already all 220v, because I have an external modulo meant for integration.
So, last night I had an idea: why not use a Shelly 1 as both sensor and opener?
If you need instructions on wiring, here's an image:
Shelly 1 can operate the output independently from the input. So, I prototyped this:
I attached to the doorbell sensor O attached to the gate openerIt seems to work on my bench, because I can call the endpoints when the button is pressed or the input is triggered, so I can update virtual devices and execute all the logic I want. I usually integrate these devices with MQTT, but it's not necessary in this case, since I can live with a doorbell buzz being missed.
Bonus point: you can run it at 12v if you want.83c3d861-0169-454d-bd2b-1105042bdfa8-image.png
Next in my TODO list, the Shelly Universal, a 9 EUR universal binary inputs, with separated inputs and outputs (so, you can get 2 inputs and operate 2 outputs independently), that I'll probably use in my weather sensors project, where I'm using two Shelly 1 at the moment, just the get the inputs.
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Seems to be working fine except I get an error notification via email 'Error during perform command execution: Error: Invalid argument' every time setpoint is changed from controller. Also does anyone know if the 'Button' child is useful?
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.113] [I] [core] --- ZWayVDev_zway_42-0-67-1 performCommand processing: {"0":"exact","1":{"level":"11"}}
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.113] [D] [zway] SETDATA devices.42.instances.0.commandClasses.67.data.1.setVal = 11.000000
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.114] [I] [zway] Adding job: ThermostatSetPoint Set
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.114] [I] [zway] Adding job: ThermostatSetPoint Get
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.114] [I] [zway] Node 42:0 CC ThermostatMode: Thermostat Mode 1 is not supported by device (modemask 0x0)
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.117] [I] [core] Notification: error (module): Error during perform command execution: Error: Invalid argument
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.125] [I] [core] Error: Invalid argument
at Error (native)
at t_vDev.(anonymous function).self.controller.devices.create.handler (automation/modules/ZWave/index.js:5540:62)
at .extend.performCommand (automation/classes/VirtualDevice.js:365:25)
at ZAutomationAPIWebRequest..extend.performVDevCommandFunc (automation/ZAutomationAPIProvider.js:442:51)
at ZAutomationAPIWebRequest.handlerFunc (automation/ZAutomationAPIProvider.js:3976:30)
at ZAutomationAPIWebRequest.ZAutomationWebRequest.handleRequest (automation/WebserverRequestRouter.js:250:35)
at automation/WebserverRequestRouter.js:32:29
at WebServer.document_root (automation/Webserver.js:40:31)
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.130] [I] [core] HK: updated ZWayVDev_zway_42-0-67-1
[2021-03-22 09:00:03.137] [D] [zway] RECEIVED: ( 01 18 00 13 F0 00 00 05 01 C4 7F 7F 7F 7F 00 00 03 2E 00 00 00 03 01 00 00 EB ) -
Just got my package from Matrix team....
MATRIX Creatora123ebae-e299-4836-9ed4-11385a2d018e-image.png
Will try to play with him this weekend 😉
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Hate it when I blow stuff up LOL.
TKB Home RGBW Z-Wave module. Was briefly using 2.5m of RGBW LED strip and I thought I'd chance using a spare 12v power supply I had. Not enough watts it seems.
Red channels has a fault now and when the device is powered off in Vera the red channel remains lit up.
f046904f-9d73-41d3-b239-b0fae269193d-image.png
1191b76d-d13d-49ca-8893-325fdfa05f11-image.png
a9be9584-0311-413b-8a98-501a3a84fb9e-image.png
The part that's blown is a A2sHB transistor.
The device still pairs to Vera and all the other colour channels work fine.
If my eye sight was good enough I'd have a go at soldering in a replacement A2sHB chip.
Not the best RGBW module anyway it had some issues with its functionality in Vera. So kind of glad it blew up 😁 I've got a new Fibaro RGBW V1 module to replace it.
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Shelly i3 is an unbelievably cheap (9,99 EUR/USD) WiFi device that’s part of the fantastic Shelly family. It supports REST API, MQTT and much more.
mundzhos Shelly i3 | Shelly Cloud Shelly i3 | Shelly Cloud 10It’s just L,N and 3 inputs. No relays, so it’s a scene controller with bonus point to the fact that you can use your own buttons and keep the aesthetics of your house. Bonus points for WAF. It’s very small, so it will fit in your standard wall box easily.
While I built my own Scene Controller Virtual Device and I’m using MQTT for other devices of the family, Shelly can call your HTTP endpoints on button presses and in this case is more than enough.
The buttons support different actions (press, long press, double/triple press) and you can just call a service endpoint, or update a variable:
f3e509c0-f2a7-4f40-a099-af765e87c9fe-image.pngGo get it if you need a very cheap, very reliable scene controller for your home.
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I've just completed my setup (after exactly 3 years from moving in, priorities!) and even if I wrote all the code in C#, I could port it easily to LUA (I guess 😄 )
I've used Fully Kiosk Browser + 3D Printed Mount (check https://makesbymike.com/) and a custom HTML dashboard, all running on an Amazon Fire Tablet:
WhatsApp Image 2020-06-29 at 11.05.29.jpeg
60002839-8b8d-4801-bd21-120264b559f8-image.png
WAF is very high 😉
Sorry for the Italian interface. First row is temperature/humidity sensors (esterno = outside, piscina = pool, salotto = open space, zona giorno = 1st floor, zona notte = 2nd floor, lavanderia = laundry room).
Then I have a bunch of commands/scenes sent to Vera to change blinds/roller shutters (they are automatically managed, but wife pretends to be smarter than code, from time to time 🙂 ). Last row has notifications for washer/dryer, with the cycle end date. When doing its cycle, the background becomes orange, then green when completed. It's probably the best feature, since the laundry room is in the basement. There's also a link to cams (videosorveglianza) and I automatically open TinyCamPro in case of movement outside/doors/gates are opened.Is there any interest in a generic wall mount tablet plug-in, offering simple dashboard (maybe json-driven) and integration with Fully Kiosk API?
I'm currently dimming screen on/off, get the battery status and schedule a 20-80 cycle for the battery, via a smart plug and a bunch of lua code. I planned for this when I did the electrical setup, so the tablet has a standard european 503 (recessed) box with ethernet, that I attached to the 5V into the network closet to feed the tablet. I'm updating the screen via AJAX every 30 secs.
Here's a behind the scenes photo as well 🙂
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Last month I upgrade some doorlock with batteries with this...
f07daa0a-a8e0-4cf2-bf47-1970f151058c-image.png
It's very useful for a place like the shed that you don't go there often during winter 😉
So for a total of 6 doorlocks, 3 are now with that!
Water level sensor
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I'm in the middle of adding a water tank, because the latest summers were very hot and we had our water restricted, sometimes for weeks and for extended hours during the day (from 7 am to 5 pm).
It should be automatic, thanks to pressure sensors, so it will integrate water when needed (and the main line is open), switch the pump, etc. But I want to add a water level sensor nonetheless, to monitor it if necessary. I will probably just double this project and automate the pool refill as well, since I'm doing it manually at the moment.
I took a look and a lot of people are using Zunos, but I'm not sure I want to spend so much on a so simple system.
Pre-built solutions are OK. Thanks! -
Does it need to be analog or digital would suffice?
I remember years ago using an analog ultrasonic sensor for sensing liquid level from the top without having to immerse it. It would then be about sending that signal to zwave or any other wireless protocol. It was relatively cheap to do.If a digital level would suffice then 2 immersed water sensors would do? One for full and one for empty? Then I have a couple of such zwave water sensors. Since it is water and non corrosive it would probably be ok?
Ecolink has one:
Aeotec too:
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yep. my first idea was to place 2/3 sensors, but I'll probably explore the ultrasonic way. I'm open to wifi (there's good coverage) and I still have a spare Fibaro smart implant (even if I had to remove one from my weather station, because it was unreliable and I had to frequently restart it - probably for heat).
I'll explore the ESP*+ultrasonic sensor route, even if I'm not very proficient with electronics. Thanks for the suggestion!
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One option would be to use MySensors. This is a cheap way of adding various Arduino sensors to OpenLuup. You set up an Ethernet gateway and then each sensor is connected to the gateway wirelessly. There is a MySensors plugin that works in OpenLuup.
This looks like an interesting project, that you perhaps can get inspiration from: Round water tank level sensor
Good luck!
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A pressure sensor in the bottom would be a good solution.
What is used in car fuel tanks?
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@akbooer said in Water level sensor:
What is used in car fuel tanks?
Usually it's a float with a rod, actuating a potentiometer. (variable resistor)
Not sure about the pressure sensor as it depends on the shape of the tank (how deep the tank is) and it will be exposed to atmospheric pressure variations. The advantage of the ultrasonic one is that it is non contact and won't grow stuff in the water. -
@rafale77 said in Water level sensor:
@akbooer said in Water level sensor:
What is used in car fuel tanks?
Usually it's a float with a rod, actuating a potentiometer. (variable resistor)
This
C
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Two (high and low)of these(bare wire):
Auto Top Off
Finally, a top-off control sensor that is mounted to your sump with a magnet rather than a clunky bracket! Driven by a pressure-sensitive switch located in the relay box, a strong magnetic field won't affect its operation. The sensor tube can't get clogged with calcium deposits or activated by...
And two of these:
Ecolink Intelligent Technology Z-Wave Easy Install, Battery Operated, Door/Window Sensor, White & Brown (DWZWAVE2-ECO) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HPIYJWU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3Je6Eb7ECMY2VAnd bob’s your uncle
|-<:) -
I like to keep thing simple so i would go with a float switch.
One other thing in the UK we do not store drinking water, the only water storage in the uk is for filling baths and toilets. Do you intend to attach this tank to your drinking water pipes/tapes? -
@ArcherS thanks for the input. I have various WiFi devices around the house, so I’ll probably add another one. I’ll go with MQTT, since I have a bridge to Vera I use to bridge other devices (tasmota, Sonoff, my own).
Thanks anyone for the suggestion. Now to find some pre built device template to borrow.
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@Elcid yep, it’s allowed to drink, via chemicals to be added every now and then. I successfully intercepted the alert the public water company is dispatching, so maybe I can empty/fill on demand.
I was exploring a UV based solution too, but I want to start easy. I will probably add this and automate everything in the future.
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Ok just thought i would bring up the health risks, advice i read is its best to limit the tank size for drinking so the water does not sit for long and is replaced regularly. You sound like you know what you are doing. good luck
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that's correct. the water needs to be refreshed often and never stay in the tank (if you're not correcting it with chemicals - that's a small capsule intended for drinking water consumption).
since it's hot here during the summer and the water pipes are public, there's a lot of leaks and the water is never enough (to be honest, I'm living in a zone with lots of water, but we're exporting to neighbor regions as well). so, this kind of implant is very common, from houses to restaurants, etc.
these thanks are UV resistant, can handle -40/+60° C and is algae/mold proof. they're specifically intended for drinking water.
my house implants were already done when I bought it, so I had to use the current configuration, but it's becoming common to separate toilets pipe/garden pipes and use rain or a pump to get non-drink water. I guess you can make it more complex if you want, as with everything
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Best to shade tank from sun and keep it as cool as possible to, even if the tank is uv proof, the cooler the water the better.
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@Elcid it’s inside the house. I think it’s mandatory for drink water.
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Float valves fail. Regularly. Pressure switch has no moving parts and has been significantly more reliable for me.
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So, after consulting with a friend into NodeMCU, I'm going for
- NodeMCU esp8266 (flashed with Tasmota, so MQTT)
- JSN-SR04T Waterproof Ultranosic Distance sensor
I will probably write a MQTT to openluup bridge, if time allows. I'm getting a couple from Amazon, and tons from AliExpress for further projects. I will probably consolidate my weather station and place a couple of addition temperature sensors across the house.
I'll probably order other sensors, just to experiment. -
Keep us posted. I’m very interested in this.
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@prophead since I'm not that good into soldering, I always choose plug&play projects
I already have a couple of Tasmota devices: one to monitor temperature in my pool and one for humidity in my open space, to trigger a dehumidifier (large windows, helpful during the winter) and they're quite plug&play, after you've flashed Tasmota.You can poll data easily, thanks to their API (I developed my virtual devices plug-in for this) or integrate real-time change notification with MQTT, or use both. I have MQTT with a custom C# app bridging to virtual devices.
The only problem is they are Wi-Fi based, so I don't want to have too many, because I really prefer Z-Wave and its mesh topology. But they're cheap and can be integrated with every sensor on the planet, quite easily.I'll probably build a prototype next week and I'll report back.
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I am building a infinityppool to a customer and I use a Pressure-type level sensor #12086 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCe_wYQ_BC0
ASIN AQUA Home en - ASEKO
DOSING Systems CONTROL Systems Aseko PROBES DOSING Pumps ASIN AQUA Home POOL WATER TREATMENT & POOL TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ASIN AQUA Home The luxury unit with most advanced water treatment features and intelligent system control functions. Exclusive stainless-steel case with peristaltic pumps....
Amazon.com : Ecolink Zwave Plus Flood & Freeze Sensor, White (FLF-ZWAVE5-ECO) : Camera & Photo
