31–40 of 97 posts
The next step would be to monetize it with ads, and put some of the features behind a monthly subscription. Premium oscillation package, only $9.99 a month.
ESPHome and homeassistant have been really great, just like a nice breath of fresh air in a world of cloud saas stuff.
People had a habit of leaving the basement lights on here. Now they turn themselves off after a timer expires, and also whenever nobody's home. Using HA and a cheap Shelly relay (chosen for form factor), I was able to do this while retaining the existing lighting circuits, light switch, and the lights themselves.
It works perfectly, is completely local, and the end-user UI is completely natural. Toggle the same plain-Jane light switch that has always been there at the top of the basement stairs and the lights change state. (UI doesn't get more intuitive than that.)
Or: Fans. This house has a good furnace and central aircon, but the ductwork doesn't really extend upstairs. By default, this makes the upstairs-parts very hot in the summer and cooler than I'd like in the winter -- even though it's nice downstairs during all seasons.
I fixed that to my satisfaction by putting a fan on the landing that is controlled by an inexpensive smart switch, just to improve circulation. HA runs this show; the fan runs when the HVAC is doing something, and whenever people are home and it is either too hot or too cold upstairs (based on a temperature sensor). It's not a perfect solution, but it's kept the temperatures sane (and provided logging to prove it), it was cheap to implement, and it is cheap to run.
I already had the parts kicking around; it just took software and time.
(The best option for efficiency and comfort is probably installing mini-splits up there, but... sheesh, that's into the realm of orders-of-magnitude more expensive. Maybe some day.)
ESPHome and homeassistant have been really great, just like a nice breath of fresh air in a world of cloud saas stuff.
I'm just hoping it stays cheap as a hobby
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Based on the description of the wiring to the motor (24V, GND, POT1, POT2, NC), it doesn't sound like the original setup would have been drawing much power through the pot either -- there's probably something else on the other end of that wire that is doing modulation based on the sense resistance, and the motor is itself drawing power from the 24V line. So while it's true that there should be a check for the allowab…
> there's probably something else on the other end of that wire that is doing modulation based on the sense resistance And it would have been great if that arbitrary assumption had been tested by the OP and the results were documented in the article so that they wouldn't come off as somewhat clueless as to the limitations of their design.. oh well.
See: any craze which uses the high voltage transformers from microwaves
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> there's probably something else on the other end of that wire that is doing modulation based on the sense resistance And it would have been great if that arbitrary assumption had been tested by the OP and the results were documented in the article so that they wouldn't come off as somewhat clueless as to the limitations of their design.. oh well.
From the HN guidelines: > Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes. > Don't be curmudgeonly. Thoughtful criticism is fine, but please don't be rigidly or generically negative.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depending on your air filter you might be able to just use a smart plug, I went down a similar route this summer before realizing that mine would remember their power state and settings when powered off. So now I just have them plugged into a few smart plugs with automations in homeassistant
Why not just use a dumb timer plug from a hardware store? Ten bucks, and completely hacker-proof: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lighting-and-electri... $16 if you need a remote control: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lighting-and-electri... Or $17 if you want to get all digital and fancy: https://www.acehardware.com/p/3001323
Also I can easily turn them on or off from my phone which is nice if I'm feeling lazy.
ESPHome and homeassistant have been really great, just like a nice breath of fresh air in a world of cloud saas stuff.
Home Assistant does great at tying all kinds of things together. People had a habit of leaving the basement lights on here. Now they turn themselves off after a timer expires, and also whenever nobody's home. Using HA and a cheap Shelly relay (chosen for form factor), I was able to do this while retaining the existing lighting circuits, light switch, and the lights themselves. It works perfectly, is completely local,…
This is a very fun project with a corsi-rosenthal filter (a box fan taped to a bunch of normal house filters). To control the fan, you'll have to have some fun with a relay connected to MAINS voltage -- if you dare. The salon power relay hat is a reasonable solution (just remember to get voltage up/on for fail-dead). It's possible to squeeze everything inside of those cheap lasko fans you can get, too, if you want a…
One caveat about this most people don't know is that most basic fans with a fully mechanical switch always order the speeds from High to Low, so that if you for instance want to turn it on to Low you have to briefly go through High (and Medium). This is on purpose, to briefly supply higher current to the motor for it to start spinning. Some fans might not like it if you start them from an external switch in low, especially larger ones with heavier blades. This also applies to the one in the article, but you can sequence things in software if you have full control of the fan speed, too.
I've been toying with a variant of this project for my Honeywell home air filters. I have one in all my "big" rooms, and I like to keep them running at a low speed most of the day. But I also have time-of-day energy pricing, and it would be nice to automatically turn off (or at least slow) my air filters during the 5pm-8pm window. This project inspires me to at least look into the feasibility of adding that functiona…
Depending on your air filter you might be able to just use a smart plug, I went down a similar route this summer before realizing that mine would remember their power state and settings when powered off. So now I just have them plugged into a few smart plugs with automations in homeassistant
It's been working so well I was actually surprised one night when the dehumidifier in the bedroom turned itself on from the automation (which I have set to do after dark if humidity is higher then 70%).
It had been within tolerance for ages and I just hadn't had to even think about it.