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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)

#131

Post by dracotomes »

andix wrote: post #23

OT: I'm looking for some way to control my AC via Infrared. I have a few pretty standard AC units with IR remotes. The ones with a display on it, that just transmit all the settings on the remote via IR on every button press. Some device I can mount in proximity, that controls the AC, but preferably also has a temperature and humidity sensor included.

I don't know if there is a pre-made solution but it's easily doable using something like an ESP32 or a Pico W and a little soldering. Maybe ESPHome has IR support but I used a micropython library and a spreadsheet to decipher a Mitsubishi Heavy IR remote. You can then use the same library to play a string of bits through an IR LED[1]. You can get IR receivers and transmitters for cheap on Amazon. You can pair that with any commonly used sensor (DHT22, HTU21, etc... I prefer the BME280), for all of which you can find libraries on GitHub and breakout boards cheaply online. Then you could either implement a small web server to control it standalone or an MQTT client to control it from i.e. Home Assistant. If you use an I2C sensor, and something like this[2] you don't even need to solder anything you can just connect it all using those DuPont cables and stuff it in a box.

[1] https://github.com/peterhinch/micropython_ir/issues/46 [2] https://www.tindie.com/products/maxmixproject/power-bus/

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

#132

Post by petesergeant »

asveikau wrote: post #52

> Imprecisely yeet the stepper motor all the way left/right, toggling the target temp between “really really hot” or “really really cold” > Option 2 certainly is the “jankier” of the two options, given that it relies on a second-order property (target temp) to power the unit on/off… but hey - whatever’s easier, right? Isn't this basically how a thermostat works? I.e. there is a component that is binary on/off, and a…

> binary on/off

On older ones, but newer ones can modulate blower speed, compressor speed, and refrigerant flow. Don't think I've seen an air-con without blower-speed as part of the cooling apparatus for a long while.

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

#134

Post by bdavbdav »

timvdalen wrote: post #129

Since you hooked it up to Home Assistant anyway, I think you could have skipped the custom firmware and just used ESPHome with a Button component https://esphome.io/components/button/

ESP home is so powerful like this. And is great to build components for (although I find this part a little complex, lots of Claude help…).

I’ve got a vibe coded “Nuaire Fan” controller to talk UART to my whole home ventilation and present it as a HA controllable fan.

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

#135

Post by ssl-3 »

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #57
post_break wrote: post #8

Assuming running a dual hose inverter portable AC isn't against the lease agreement it would probably pay for itself based on the power usage. Pretty neat hack regardless.

Why? A dual-hose portable is more efficient than a single-hose, but a PTAC should (in theory) be more efficient (and possibly quieter) on account of having the heat-emitting side of the cooling loop outside of the living space, which is closer to the ideal split system - though I suppose that advantage could be undermined by the unit's age and condition.

Single-hose is always awful. It can't be other-than-awful.

All of the air that gets pushed out of that singular exhaust hose gets replaced by hot (and often very humid) outside air -- the same stuff we're burning electricity to fight a war against. (It is my considered opinion that single-hose portable aircons should not exist, and I'd remove them from the Earth if I had the ability.)

Dual-hose units can work OK.

They have some advantages, too, like being portable (they can be placed in the space that most-needs cooling instead of the space where they're mounted hard into a wall), or being quiet[er].

I've never experienced a PTAC in an NYC apartment, but some of the ones I've used in hotel rooms have been monstrously-noisy. I would never want to live with one of the noisy ones.

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

#136

Post by bdavbdav »

gwbas1c wrote: post #66

I don't understand why he can't just connect / disconnect the power? The thermostat is a bi-metallic strip. Assuming the thermostat is controlling 120V AC: 1: There are plenty of cheap wireless thermostats for AC that you can buy off of Amazon. I have two, and they work great with space heaters. 2: You can use a 120V relay with those thermostats to control different voltages, amperages, ect. --- BTW, controlling the…

I had a chat with this with a friend the other day - I feel like I’m much happier to do this now I live in a dwelling on its own. I mess up, it’s my issue. You mess up in an apartment block, it’s a lot more people’s issue, who aren’t opting in to that risk.

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

#137

Post by dn3500 »

Maxion wrote: post #125
shadytrees wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PTACs suck. Well-maintained, newer models suck less, but they still suck. Unless well-insulated, the sleeves leak air (and humidity). And there's a duopoly between Ice Air and Islandaire, so they get to charge more for maintenance. They benefit from the trend of maintenance for older models being a yearly chore also. From what I understand, PTACs started as a convenient way to retrofit apartments with air conditionin…

The PTAC units shown in the article look like something from the 1950s. Minisplits have been the way the world has done AC for a long long time now. It's interesting how foreign of a product it is in the US.

It uses R-22 so it's pretty old, but probably not 1950s. Maybe 1970s. R-22 was phased out starting in the 1980s, and banned in 2010 (that's in Europe, maybe later in US).

When I lived in the US I tried to get a minisplit and they wanted $4000 for a medium size unit! The same one where I live now is $400 installed.

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

#138

Post by EraYaN »

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.

And if you happen to be in some parts of Europe they will have a 6 pin connector that will send out data telegrams with all the stuff from the meter. DSMR is the standard that defines it for the Netherlands and port is called P1, seems to be (slowly) spreading. And you can also (wirelessly) pair a gas meter to the electricity meter to read that as well, and the new ones give you up to date data every second. Regulators CAN just make this happen clearly.

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

#139

Post by miki123211 »

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…

What I want instead is for devices to ship a (tiny) HTML/JS control panel (or its hash if ROM space is limited), using some specialized interface to make requests over BLE or a relay chosen by the user.

The reason we need an app in the first place is 1) customizability, 2) ability to access the device even when out of WiFi range, even when behind carrier-grade NAT and/or a restrictive firewall. A design where the device hosts a simple "server" that makes an outbound connection to a proxy of the user's choosing, likely provided by their smartphone vendor, to receive requests would solve both problems.

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

#140

Post by spockz »

ghaff wrote: post #86
Guvante wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was responding to projectors...

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.
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