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ESPHome

esphome.io

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Re: ESPHome

#131

Post by tbyehl »

kkielhofner wrote: post #71
darkwater wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now you MUST share more details on the hardware (case, power etc) and process you followed for all of those devices.

I am a VERY low-effort hardware person (even soldering is um, not my favorite) but for years my approach has been: 1) Go to Amazon and buy a three pack of ESP32 dev boards with headers[0]. They're always some random seller, etc but I've probably had one DoA/failure after buying dozens from random sellers over the years. 2) Get a dupont wires variety pack[1]. 3) Optionally (but good to have) get some breadboards [2].…

As a fellow lazy hobbyist, I'm gonna suggest that buying the cheapest ESP32 / -C3 / -C6 boards can be a poor value. The cheap ones are often > 25.4mm wide so on a single standard breadboard the pins are only accessible on one side[0]. Also having recently been fighting CircuitPython running out of memory parsing a ~35KB response from a web service, boards with some PSRAM are real nice to have. And speaking of CircuitPython, ESP32-S3/S2 boards can run the UF2 bootloader for that Pi Pico-like experience.

Waveshare's super compact ESP32-S3-Mini (or Zero) has become my first-to-grab. For 5 direct from their China site it works out to $7.35/ea pre-soldered with shipping or save a buck each for unsoldered. 2MB PSRAM and 13 usable GPIO. They also have less cheap -S3 boards in Arduino Nano ESP32, Pi Pico, and ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1[1] formats. And the oddball ESP32 One in Pi Zero format, using an ESP32 w/ off-die PSRAM. They sell on Amazon, too.

A genuine Espressif ESP32-S2-DevKitC-1-N8R2 is $8 on Amazon, a relative bargain if you need it tomorrow and can live with one less LX7 core and no Bluetooth.

[0] If you use the trick of spanning two breadboards side-by-side, that's an extra cost that could have gone towards a better smaller board.

[1] Beware of cheap boards claiming to be copies of Espressif's 25.4mm board designs, many have been widened to ~28mm. Bad ESP32-S[3|2]-DevKit[C|M]-1 copies give themselves away by having enough room on top to put pin labels next to the pins instead of between them.

Re: ESPHome

#132

Post by mkoryak »

hendry wrote: post #33

Requires nerves of steel to navigate Aliexpress.

I buy stuff from them all the time. They are Amazon with longer shipping times and better prices.

It's harder to return stuff, sure, but just don't buy anything like that there.

I've never been ripped off by them. One time I bought some stuff and it wasn't being shipped so I cancelled my order and got my money back.

Re: ESPHome

#133

Post by ianburrell »

mairusu wrote: post #68
balloob wrote: post #28

One of the people leading ESPHome here. Let me know if there any questions. Last Saturday we announced that ESPHome is now owned by the Open Home Foundation. The Open Home Foundation fights for privacy, choice, and sustainability for smart homes. And for every person who lives in one. Learn more at https://www.openhomefoundation.org/blog/announcing-the-open-...

I have one! ESPHome is awesome but I'm trying to steer away from Wifi IoT - a big reason is that I like the idea of self-healing meshes that can work entirely offline, without having to deal with a lot of configuration. Espressif seems to have a few devices with ZigBee capabilities, think there will be a way of building our own ZigBee device in the future?

There is no reason that Wifi devices can't work without internet. Most ESP32 devices don't talk to internet, but to other device on local network. Wifi doesn't really need mesh since has longer range.

I hope ESPHome is working on Matter support cause protocol that can switch between Wifi, Bluetooth, and Thread is a big advantage.

Re: ESPHome

#134

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

kkielhofner wrote: post #71
darkwater wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now you MUST share more details on the hardware (case, power etc) and process you followed for all of those devices.

I am a VERY low-effort hardware person (even soldering is um, not my favorite) but for years my approach has been: 1) Go to Amazon and buy a three pack of ESP32 dev boards with headers[0]. They're always some random seller, etc but I've probably had one DoA/failure after buying dozens from random sellers over the years. 2) Get a dupont wires variety pack[1]. 3) Optionally (but good to have) get some breadboards [2].…

If you don’t mind waiting on China post, I’ve had better consistency buying dev boards from reputable Chinese vendors such as DFROBOT. You can often get the boards significantly cheaper than Amazon and there is way less chance of ending up with duds. Usually turnaround is about 7-10 days with FedEx

Re: ESPHome

#135

Post by tbyehl »

tbyehl wrote: post #131
kkielhofner wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a VERY low-effort hardware person (even soldering is um, not my favorite) but for years my approach has been: 1) Go to Amazon and buy a three pack of ESP32 dev boards with headers[0]. They're always some random seller, etc but I've probably had one DoA/failure after buying dozens from random sellers over the years. 2) Get a dupont wires variety pack[1]. 3) Optionally (but good to have) get some breadboards [2].…

As a fellow lazy hobbyist, I'm gonna suggest that buying the cheapest ESP32 / -C3 / -C6 boards can be a poor value. The cheap ones are often > 25.4mm wide so on a single standard breadboard the pins are only accessible on one side[0]. Also having recently been fighting CircuitPython running out of memory parsing a ~35KB response from a web service, boards with some PSRAM are real nice to have. And speaking of Circuit…

Mail just came, can confirm this AliExpress listing is a dimensionally correct unsoldered ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1-N16R8 copy for $5.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806260092043.html

https://imgur.com/a/3d0rKdO

Re: ESPHome

#136

Post by hacknewslogin »

Is this a good time to ask about a project I would like to do?

I have two 220v heaters in my garage, one on each floor. I'd like to turn one or both of them on from my phone. I'd also love temp sensors near each of them.

So far I haven't found a good FOSS option to control a 220v 40A relay. Any suggestions what to use or how to set it up would appreciated.

Re: ESPHome

#137

Post by Cilvic »

Where would I start if I want to run a ESPHome voice assistant without a Homeassitant server?

I understand I need some kind of server, but I'd prefer if that would be something I just run in the terminal or a cloud function or similar. I don't have hardward to run HA on at the moment.

Re: ESPHome

#138

Post by jasiek »

hacknewslogin wrote: post #136

Is this a good time to ask about a project I would like to do? I have two 220v heaters in my garage, one on each floor. I'd like to turn one or both of them on from my phone. I'd also love temp sensors near each of them. So far I haven't found a good FOSS option to control a 220v 40A relay. Any suggestions what to use or how to set it up would appreciated.

Use a solid state relay with esphome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_relay

Re: ESPHome

#139

Post by winsome »

bobchadwick wrote: post #110
blagie wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ESPHome project is unusually competent, user-centric, and almost uncanny in how well it works. I'll tell you what I want, though. I'm not sure this is in-scope for ESPHome, or how it's possible to even implement cleanly: I want to be able to make devices which have tight feedback loops and more complex on-board algorithms What I really want is e.g. a light sensor controlling lightbulbs. Here, I want the lightbulb…

I use Home Assistant for doing most of what you're asking for. This integration works great for adjusting light level and temperature: https://github.com/basnijholt/adaptive-lighting . My home has an ERV and I use a couple Shelly relays (one for power and the other to boost airflow) integrated into HA to modulate the amount of fresh air I bring in, currently based on indoor/outdoor temperature and humidity. I don't h…

I would love to hear more about the integration you've setup. I, too, have an ERV but it's on a dumb controller right now.

I don't use HA yet, but it's a project I plan to tackle soon. I've also been doing some research on ESP and energy monitoring, so it sounds like what you've done is right up the same alley.

Re: ESPHome

#140

Post by wkat4242 »

sirtaj wrote: post #129
wkat4242 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes the modules with rpi2040 and Ethernet would be so great to have supported. I'm pretty unhappy with the WiFi 8266 modules I have. They regularly go into unavailable in home assistant for a few minutes even though my WiFi is working fine

Could it be that they're simply idle sleeping to save power? My first ESPhome device confused me by dropping off and on and it turned out that was the problem, idle sleep was configured by default - the device would wake up, report its status and go back to sleep.

Hmm I don't know. It could be but it's very intermittent. Sometimes it happens a lot, sometimes it doesn't.

I'll try to find out the sleep settings though, thanks for the tip!

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