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Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

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Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#141

Post by atoav »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #13

The "couple a stepper motor to a shaft" API is so much better than any "smart" appliance API. Speaking more seriously, I wish classes of appliances would expose some simple analog and digital interface pins in a standardized configuration to let users choose whatever automation or monitoring hardware they want. HVAC equipment does this with standardized thermostat terminals. I'd love to see that on other types of app…

This is what drives me to sometimes DIY devices instead of buying them. There is so much crap on the market and it gets increasingly hard to tell where the catch is. Does it only work with the manufacturers weird cloud? Which feature(s) do work without? What settings are even possible?

Really simple appliances can be very hard to find, e.g. a desk fan that can be set to spin very slow. Most fans have 3 or 5 speed settings and the lowest is already tenfold too high for my taste. Solution? Get the dumbest fan you can find and speed control the motor yourself.

Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#142

Post by moebrowne »

inigyou wrote: post #58
EvanAnderson wrote: post #13

The "couple a stepper motor to a shaft" API is so much better than any "smart" appliance API. Speaking more seriously, I wish classes of appliances would expose some simple analog and digital interface pins in a standardized configuration to let users choose whatever automation or monitoring hardware they want. HVAC equipment does this with standardized thermostat terminals. I'd love to see that on other types of app…

Many smart meters have an LED that blinks every time you consume a watt-hour.

They also often have a small magnet embedded in the rotor which can be picked up with a reed switch or hall-effect sensor

Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#143

Post by amelius »

QuercusMax wrote: post #22
EvanAnderson wrote: post #13

The "couple a stepper motor to a shaft" API is so much better than any "smart" appliance API. Speaking more seriously, I wish classes of appliances would expose some simple analog and digital interface pins in a standardized configuration to let users choose whatever automation or monitoring hardware they want. HVAC equipment does this with standardized thermostat terminals. I'd love to see that on other types of app…

Exactly. I don't want a "smart" washer / dryer / fridge / toaster. I want a standard interface I can build my own system around, or use someone else's that they've already built.

> Exactly. I don't want a "smart" washer / dryer / fridge / toaster. I want a standard interface I can build my own system around, or use someone else's that they've already built.

I also don't want a "smart" phone. Just give me a normal phone with a standard interface so I can build my own system around it.

Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#144

Post by wccrawford »

nightfly wrote: post #107

> so it took a few Amazon returns until I found the right one This a pet peeve of mine. If you buy the wrong $2 part don't return it. If you don't eat the loss the seller will and the part will wind up in the landfill.

It's $7 part made of a tiny bit of metal.

If it was actually a $2 part, I'd agree with you. But it's enough that it's probably worth returning, especially since he had to try a few to get it right, and then he can return them all at once.

It's not his fault if it ends up in the landfill. That's on Amazon. Also, they have discount stores they ship returned stuff to before it hits the landfill.

Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#145

Post by ghaff »

spockz wrote: post #140
ghaff wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you also seem to also be saying that a lot of rooms require TVs.

Only transitively. The claim was that if you have a “multi use room”, as opposed to a dedicated tv/movie room, you need a TV instead of a projector.

I apparently didn't get the intent that TV=panel. Fair enough. But I do know people who put a TV in pretty much every room and I don't know if a projector is a great solution at this point even for a dedicated room given that you can get 75" (or larger) panels.

I will say that when all sorts of stuff got pulled out of my house for smoke damage mitigation, I also made the conscious decision to just not put back a lot of the things/wiring that I really wasn't using to any degree. A lot has changed (both with respect to technology and myself) to the point where it really didn't make sense to put things back like they were.

Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#146

Post by mnw21cam »

yegle wrote: post #61
danudey wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It always kind of blows my mind that I keep seeing "smart TVs" which have a bunch of integration options for high-end AV installations (rich people's houses, etc.) but no API that you can integrate with to just handle toggling channels/inputs/power states/volumes. (I did get my last Sony Bravia integrated with Homekit so that I could control inputs, volume, etc. via the Home app, but that's not really what I'm lookin…

I think the standard control for TV is the RS-232C port on the TV. https://community.home-assistant.io/t/serial-projector-contr... from a quick search.

One of the meeting rooms here at work has a couple of big panels for displaying presentations, and they're regularly misinterpreting noise on some line or other and changing their brightness/contrast/etc settings. It's highly annoying. I imagine there's some kind of data line plugged into the TVs which is picking up interference and causing them to freak out.

Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#147

Post by cucumber3732842 »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #13

The "couple a stepper motor to a shaft" API is so much better than any "smart" appliance API. Speaking more seriously, I wish classes of appliances would expose some simple analog and digital interface pins in a standardized configuration to let users choose whatever automation or monitoring hardware they want. HVAC equipment does this with standardized thermostat terminals. I'd love to see that on other types of app…

>HVAC equipment does this with standardized thermostat terminals.

The industry hates this and wants it gone because they want you locked into buying the rest of the stack from them and they want you shelling out $$$ for emergency repairs rather than jumpering it when it fails at a bad time.

Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#149

Post by tjoff »

Reason077 wrote: post #6

Instead of attaching the motor bracket with a binder clip, consider sticking it down with some sort of removable adhesive? 3M command strips should be very strong/secure, while also allowing for adjustment and will detach without residue when the time comes.

I'd never trust that it will hold and detach without residue, but that is probably my ignorance talking...

I own a 3d printer which makes most of these projects look like the perfect fit for a 3d print (even when there are far simpler solutions). So that is what I'd do :)

Re: Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)

#150

Post by daniel5151 »

LittleLily wrote: post #111
daniel5151 wrote: post #53

Oh, hey, I'm the author! Happy to answer any questions :)

Any reason why you didn't just use ESPHome for the firmware? It even has a component specifically for the ULN2003 stepper motor driver you were using https://esphome.io/components/stepper/#uln2003-component

Truth be told, while I had known about ESPHome while working on this project, for some reason, I just felt the urge to hack together my own firmware.

It might've been because my early testing was done via an old Arduino Uno board, and I must've figured that I might as well port the sketch over to the ESP32 once I had it working.

(I'm general though, I will say that LLMs can totally write bespoke one-off firmwares like this, and I don't feel too bad about it, given that it's running entirely within my LAN, and will never actually get "productized")

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