6 ms·

I've got 20+ devices running ESPHome, about 3/4 of them are part of my Home Assistant network, and maybe 6 or so that are standalone and just using ESPHome to t

by sen 2y ago

I've got 20+ devices running ESPHome, about 3/4 of them are part of my Home Assistant network, and maybe 6 or so that are standalone and just using ESPHome to talk to MQTT for other stuff (cheap Chinese weather station that I replaced the insides of with an ESP32, etc). I've got my rain water tanks monitored, my soil moisture in my greenhouse, the temperature and humidity in all different parts of the house, air quality in the kitchen and kids rooms, etc etc. It's such an underrated project. In literally 5 minutes and with $10 of hardware and no programming at all, you can build your own IoT devices in your home and get real-time data on anything you want on your property.

throwup238 2y ago
Same here, plus a dozen or so random ESP32 variants just sitting in my electronics parts box because they're so cheap. It's incredibly freeing to just have all that hardware available at arms reach whenever you have an idea. They're surprisingly reliable and with modules like the sprinkler controller, they can be programmed to be independent so that they keep running as long as they have power. It took me months to realize that HomeAssistant microSD card had failed last time because all of my hydroponics gear just kept running. By far the biggest time consumer has been wiring them up to DC/DC converters to drive relays in a waterproof Sockitbox. Another really useful part to keep around are wire terminal breakout boards: https://www.amazon.com/whiteeeen-Development-Expansion-ESP-WROOM-32-ESP32-DevKitC/dp/B09VMXQTM8/ https://www.amazon.com/whiteeeen-Development-Expansion-ESP-W... Also CloudFree is great for off the shelf IoT parts that can be reprogrammed with ESPHome: https://cloudfree.shop/ https://cloudfree.shop/
dnchdnd 2y ago
can you share details of the weather station please? ive been looking into gathering wind data on the cheap...
- pzduniak 2y ago
  I built mine using a Hydreon Rain Gauge sensor (RG11 in my case) and combined it with an off the shelf wind sensor from AliExpress, presumably sold by Adafruit's supplier, which closes a reed switch every rotation. Everything is powered through PoE, controlled by wESP32. I spent a couple hundred bucks at most including all the mounting hardware. It all controls an aluminum "awning" in my house that's supposed to open above certain wind speed, close when it rains.
- sen 2y ago
  I bought a $60 weather station from Amazon where the base station generates a JSON file which it then wants to send to its own cloud servers. I firewalled it on its own, and have an ESP32 reading the JSON file off it and then sending the individual sensor readings into Home Assistant for a visual dashboard, and into Postgres which I use for my own weather-data-wrangling (eg hasn’t rained in a couple days and no rain expected from my local weather API? turn the watering system on for the gardens)
lostlogin 2y ago
I agree with everything here, except the $10 of hardware. You must be running some very fancy chips! For extra savings the ESP8266 might be as low as $4us. It really is amazing.
- rubenbe 2y ago
  I started valuing the enclosure that comes with the 10 dollar versions (e.g. the M5stack atom). Since most use-cases for me are literally 1 sensor connected to an Atom, it (largely) fixes the enclosure problem. Although I'd like to have more DIN rail mounted options.
- baq 2y ago
  ESP8266 is not recommended for new projects though. Its age is starting to show.
  - HankB99 2y ago
    Is that an Espressif or an ESPHome recommendation? Were I designing a product that uses one of these I would certainly not use the ESP8266. For hobby projects, if I can buy them on Amazon, eBay or elsewhere, the 8266 remains a valid choice (for me.)
- Asmod4n 2y ago
  Or you could buy a rpi2040 for 99 cents.
  - hagbard_c 2y ago
    That'd get you the chip which you'd have to solder to a board. Possible and feasible but not as easy as plugging in an ESP8266.
    - regularfry 2y ago
      You would not only have to solder it to a board, you would also have to provide a radio peripheral. At which point you're pretty much looking at a pico W, which just isn't as cheap or small as a D1 Mini (or similar).
macropin 2y ago
How do you power them? I've used ESPHome previously to scrape my solar analytics for consumption in Home Assistant using $3 Wittycloud ESP8266's. But as yet I haven't found an elegant solution for powering them other than using a USB adapter. It would be nice to find an elegant battery solution for outside sensors.
- Nextgrid 2y ago
  Car "cigarette lighter" charger adapters are cheap and can take ~12V (and some even go up to 24) and give you a USB output.
- spicyjpeg 2y ago
  You can buy off-the-shelf modules that take a lithium ion cell and provide charging, overcurrent and overdischarge protection; just search your Chinese online retailer of choice for "TP4056 module" and you will find plenty of them. There is a Hackaday article [1] that goes in depth on how to use them properly. If you'd rather not wire it up yourself there are also ESP32 dev boards with built-in battery management functionality, such as the LoLin32 Lite and Sparkfun ESP32 Thing. I haven't had much luck with the former (possibly due to its lack of RF shielding) but the latter seems to be pretty solid. I think Adafruit sells similar boards as well. [1] https://hackaday.com/2022/10/10/lithium-ion-battery-circuitry-is-simple https://hackaday.com/2022/10/10/lithium-ion-battery-circuitr...
- 15155 2y ago
  https://shop.m5stack.com/products/battery-module-13-2-1500mah https://shop.m5stack.com/products/battery-module-13-2-1500ma... Featured yesterday on HN for being acquired by Espressif.
- luma 2y ago
  Battery can be a problem as low power takes a lot more engineering than you’d imagine and being outdoors creates additional problems if you’re trying to use lithium chemistry cells when temps go below freezing. For indoor use, I made this to power ESPhome devices from a cheap apple USB adapter: https://www.printables.com/model/703859-esp32-enclosure-with-acusb-power https://www.printables.com/model/703859-esp32-enclosure-with...
throwaway290 2y ago
Could you recommend a good component for security purposes? Like if someone enters my flat without breaking in (I rent). The docs list a bunch of options... do I go for motion & presence or binary presence detector? Which sensor is better (and most cost effective)?
- petemir 2y ago
  Ikea's PARASOLL? I would expect that for your use-case, just knowing if a/the door was opened is already enough.
  - throwaway290 2y ago
    Is Ikea stuff compatible with ESPhome? Never mind, parasoll costs like $12. I mean something like HLK-LD2420 which should be around $2. ESPHome lists many similar sensors and I was asking which one is better. Curious if anyone had any experience with any of those
    - petemir 2y ago
      No, it's not compatible. I am sorry, I misunderstood the purpose of your question.
      - holgerschurig 2y ago
        It is compatible, since it is compatible with Zigbee2MQTT. See https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/E2013.html https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/E2013.html Use a cheap x86 PC, install Proxmoxx, install Zigbee2MQTT, install HA.OS ... done!
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - holgerschurig 2y ago
      They are compatible. See https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/E2013.html https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/E2013.html Generally, a lot more Zigbee devices are compatible with Zigbee2MQTT that to HA's own "ZHA" Zigbee implementation. But Zigbee2MQTT and HomeAssistant work EXTREMELY nice together, very well integrated. And if you have your Zigbee devices in Z2MQTT, then you can also use Node Red or similar tools for some automations, if you prefer that over the somewhat weird YAML-based automations of HA. (Tip: use a cheap x86 PC, install Proxmoxx, install Zigbee2MQTT, install HA.OS ... done!)
teekert 2y ago
How do you monitor your rain tanks? I tried ultra sonic sensors but they invariably oxidize.
- squarefoot 2y ago
  There are magnetic sensors in which a floating magnet (sealed in plastic) position is read by sensors (Reed, Hall, etc) sealed as well.
- Faaak 2y ago
  There are black "waterproof" (weatherproof?) ultrasonic sensors that last a way longer time
- macropin 2y ago
  I've heard that pressure sensors are the most reliable.
- throwup238 2y ago
  Vegetronix water level sensors sensors: https://www.vegetronix.com/Products/AquaPlumb/ https://www.vegetronix.com/Products/AquaPlumb/ They also have good soil moisture sensors that IIRC work via time domain reflectometry which is more accurate and lasts longer in the field.
- sen 2y ago
  Ultrasonic sensors are so cheap I just replace them once a year or so, but I’ve not for a few new prototypes going with ToF sensors and one using a pressure sensor, to look for a less wasteful solution.
- r2_pilot 2y ago
  There are new 60ghz sensors available that can do this (they can see through walls so you could have the sensor completely enclosed (maybe even potted in epoxy?!)). Sparkfun/Acconeer A121/XM125 is what I'm using,although not in this context, it's for my robot.
darkwater 2y ago
Now you MUST share more details on the hardware (case, power etc) and process you followed for all of those devices.
- alias_neo 2y ago
  I keep a stockpile of cheap ESP32 and ESP8266s at home, and any time I need something "ensmartened" (opposite of enshittified?) I grab whichever one is appropriate, solder up what I need, design/3D print a case, flash it from my _other_ laptop which has Chrome on because Firefox doesn't support WebUSB :'(, and it'll show up in Home Assistant for adoption the moment it lands on my IoT WiFi network.
  - regularfry 2y ago
    I did exactly this with WLED over the weekend, just to see what the ecosystem was like and what the capabilities are. That flow from soldered hardware to HA integration is astonishingly slick.
- kkielhofner 2y ago
  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]. 4) Familiarize yourself with various supported temperature/motion/humidity/relays/etc. Esphome has a supported list[3]. 5) Search for the chip name, etc on Amazon. Example[4]. 6) Familiarize yourself with the ESP32 dev board pins, GPIO, etc. Most sellers will include a picture that looks something like this[5] and most of them are pretty "standard" these days. 7) Wire stuff up, configure with esphome. 8) Once you have things up and running, shove everything in an old box (iPhone boxes are especially sturdy). Other options are various project boxes[6], 3D printing, etc. It's usually easy enough to cut out/drill whatever you need. At the end of the day you can do some pretty impressive things like directly combining temperature sensors, humidity, presence detection, PIR motion, air particulate, relays, etc even on a single board thanks to ample GPIO and esphome. All for (typically) something like $10 per "location" where you need the stuff. Even less if you buy from Aliexpress, etc. Of course for "install" you'll need power supplies and (typically) USB-A to micro-USB power cables but most of us have drawers full of these things from old phones, etc. Good news is ESP32 boards absolutely sip power (something like 100mW or less) even with all of your "stuff" attached. [0] - https://www.amazon.com/ESP-WROOM-32-Development-Microcontroller-Integrated-Compatible/dp/B08D5ZD528/?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/ESP-WROOM-32-Development-Microcontrol... [1] - https://www.amazon.com/EDGELEC-Breadboard-Optional-Assorted-Multicolored/dp/B07GD2BWPY?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/EDGELEC-Breadboard-Optional-Assorted-... [2] - https://www.amazon.com/Breadboards-Solderless-Breadboard-Distribution-Connecting/dp/B07DL13RZH https://www.amazon.com/Breadboards-Solderless-Breadboard-Dis... [3] - https://esphome.io/index.html https://esphome.io/index.html [4] - https://www.amazon.com/Teyleten-Robot-Digital-Temperature-Humidity/dp/B0CPHQC9SF/ https://www.amazon.com/Teyleten-Robot-Digital-Temperature-Hu... [5] - https://lastminuteengineers.com/esp32-pinout-reference/ https://lastminuteengineers.com/esp32-pinout-reference/ [6] - https://www.amazon.com/LeMotech-Plastic-Electrical-Junction-72x42x23mm/dp/B07F3Y8L95 https://www.amazon.com/LeMotech-Plastic-Electrical-Junction-...
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

by sen 2y ago

throwup238 2y ago

Same here, plus a dozen or so random ESP32 variants just sitting in my electronics parts box because they're so cheap. It's incredibly freeing to just have all that hardware available at arms reach whenever you have an idea. They're surprisingly reliable and with modules like the sprinkler controller, they can be programmed to be independent so that they keep running as long as they have power. It took me months to realize that HomeAssistant microSD card had failed last time because all of my hydroponics gear just kept running. By far the biggest time consumer has been wiring them up to DC/DC converters to drive relays in a waterproof Sockitbox. Another really useful part to keep around are wire terminal breakout boards: https://www.amazon.com/whiteeeen-Development-Expansion-ESP-WROOM-32-ESP32-DevKitC/dp/B09VMXQTM8/ https://www.amazon.com/whiteeeen-Development-Expansion-ESP-W... Also CloudFree is great for off the shelf IoT parts that can be reprogrammed with ESPHome: https://cloudfree.shop/ https://cloudfree.shop/

dnchdnd 2y ago

can you share details of the weather station please? ive been looking into gathering wind data on the cheap...

pzduniak 2y ago
I built mine using a Hydreon Rain Gauge sensor (RG11 in my case) and combined it with an off the shelf wind sensor from AliExpress, presumably sold by Adafruit's supplier, which closes a reed switch every rotation. Everything is powered through PoE, controlled by wESP32. I spent a couple hundred bucks at most including all the mounting hardware. It all controls an aluminum "awning" in my house that's supposed to open above certain wind speed, close when it rains.
sen 2y ago
I bought a $60 weather station from Amazon where the base station generates a JSON file which it then wants to send to its own cloud servers. I firewalled it on its own, and have an ESP32 reading the JSON file off it and then sending the individual sensor readings into Home Assistant for a visual dashboard, and into Postgres which I use for my own weather-data-wrangling (eg hasn’t rained in a couple days and no rain expected from my local weather API? turn the watering system on for the gardens)

lostlogin 2y ago

I agree with everything here, except the $10 of hardware. You must be running some very fancy chips! For extra savings the ESP8266 might be as low as $4us. It really is amazing.

rubenbe 2y ago
I started valuing the enclosure that comes with the 10 dollar versions (e.g. the M5stack atom). Since most use-cases for me are literally 1 sensor connected to an Atom, it (largely) fixes the enclosure problem. Although I'd like to have more DIN rail mounted options.
baq 2y ago
ESP8266 is not recommended for new projects though. Its age is starting to show.
- HankB99 2y ago
  Is that an Espressif or an ESPHome recommendation? Were I designing a product that uses one of these I would certainly not use the ESP8266. For hobby projects, if I can buy them on Amazon, eBay or elsewhere, the 8266 remains a valid choice (for me.)
Asmod4n 2y ago
Or you could buy a rpi2040 for 99 cents.
- hagbard_c 2y ago
  That'd get you the chip which you'd have to solder to a board. Possible and feasible but not as easy as plugging in an ESP8266.
  - regularfry 2y ago
    You would not only have to solder it to a board, you would also have to provide a radio peripheral. At which point you're pretty much looking at a pico W, which just isn't as cheap or small as a D1 Mini (or similar).

macropin 2y ago

How do you power them? I've used ESPHome previously to scrape my solar analytics for consumption in Home Assistant using $3 Wittycloud ESP8266's. But as yet I haven't found an elegant solution for powering them other than using a USB adapter. It would be nice to find an elegant battery solution for outside sensors.

Nextgrid 2y ago
Car "cigarette lighter" charger adapters are cheap and can take ~12V (and some even go up to 24) and give you a USB output.
spicyjpeg 2y ago
You can buy off-the-shelf modules that take a lithium ion cell and provide charging, overcurrent and overdischarge protection; just search your Chinese online retailer of choice for "TP4056 module" and you will find plenty of them. There is a Hackaday article [1] that goes in depth on how to use them properly. If you'd rather not wire it up yourself there are also ESP32 dev boards with built-in battery management functionality, such as the LoLin32 Lite and Sparkfun ESP32 Thing. I haven't had much luck with the former (possibly due to its lack of RF shielding) but the latter seems to be pretty solid. I think Adafruit sells similar boards as well. [1] https://hackaday.com/2022/10/10/lithium-ion-battery-circuitry-is-simple https://hackaday.com/2022/10/10/lithium-ion-battery-circuitr...
15155 2y ago
https://shop.m5stack.com/products/battery-module-13-2-1500mah https://shop.m5stack.com/products/battery-module-13-2-1500ma... Featured yesterday on HN for being acquired by Espressif.
luma 2y ago
Battery can be a problem as low power takes a lot more engineering than you’d imagine and being outdoors creates additional problems if you’re trying to use lithium chemistry cells when temps go below freezing. For indoor use, I made this to power ESPhome devices from a cheap apple USB adapter: https://www.printables.com/model/703859-esp32-enclosure-with-acusb-power https://www.printables.com/model/703859-esp32-enclosure-with...

throwaway290 2y ago

Could you recommend a good component for security purposes? Like if someone enters my flat without breaking in (I rent). The docs list a bunch of options... do I go for motion & presence or binary presence detector? Which sensor is better (and most cost effective)?

petemir 2y ago
Ikea's PARASOLL? I would expect that for your use-case, just knowing if a/the door was opened is already enough.
- throwaway290 2y ago
  Is Ikea stuff compatible with ESPhome? Never mind, parasoll costs like $12. I mean something like HLK-LD2420 which should be around $2. ESPHome lists many similar sensors and I was asking which one is better. Curious if anyone had any experience with any of those
  - petemir 2y ago
    No, it's not compatible. I am sorry, I misunderstood the purpose of your question.
    - holgerschurig 2y ago
      It is compatible, since it is compatible with Zigbee2MQTT. See https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/E2013.html https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/E2013.html Use a cheap x86 PC, install Proxmoxx, install Zigbee2MQTT, install HA.OS ... done!
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
  - holgerschurig 2y ago
    They are compatible. See https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/E2013.html https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/E2013.html Generally, a lot more Zigbee devices are compatible with Zigbee2MQTT that to HA's own "ZHA" Zigbee implementation. But Zigbee2MQTT and HomeAssistant work EXTREMELY nice together, very well integrated. And if you have your Zigbee devices in Z2MQTT, then you can also use Node Red or similar tools for some automations, if you prefer that over the somewhat weird YAML-based automations of HA. (Tip: use a cheap x86 PC, install Proxmoxx, install Zigbee2MQTT, install HA.OS ... done!)

teekert 2y ago

How do you monitor your rain tanks? I tried ultra sonic sensors but they invariably oxidize.

squarefoot 2y ago
There are magnetic sensors in which a floating magnet (sealed in plastic) position is read by sensors (Reed, Hall, etc) sealed as well.
Faaak 2y ago
There are black "waterproof" (weatherproof?) ultrasonic sensors that last a way longer time
macropin 2y ago
I've heard that pressure sensors are the most reliable.
throwup238 2y ago
Vegetronix water level sensors sensors: https://www.vegetronix.com/Products/AquaPlumb/ https://www.vegetronix.com/Products/AquaPlumb/ They also have good soil moisture sensors that IIRC work via time domain reflectometry which is more accurate and lasts longer in the field.
sen 2y ago
Ultrasonic sensors are so cheap I just replace them once a year or so, but I’ve not for a few new prototypes going with ToF sensors and one using a pressure sensor, to look for a less wasteful solution.
r2_pilot 2y ago
There are new 60ghz sensors available that can do this (they can see through walls so you could have the sensor completely enclosed (maybe even potted in epoxy?!)). Sparkfun/Acconeer A121/XM125 is what I'm using,although not in this context, it's for my robot.

darkwater 2y ago

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

alias_neo 2y ago
I keep a stockpile of cheap ESP32 and ESP8266s at home, and any time I need something "ensmartened" (opposite of enshittified?) I grab whichever one is appropriate, solder up what I need, design/3D print a case, flash it from my _other_ laptop which has Chrome on because Firefox doesn't support WebUSB :'(, and it'll show up in Home Assistant for adoption the moment it lands on my IoT WiFi network.
- regularfry 2y ago
  I did exactly this with WLED over the weekend, just to see what the ecosystem was like and what the capabilities are. That flow from soldered hardware to HA integration is astonishingly slick.
kkielhofner 2y ago
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]. 4) Familiarize yourself with various supported temperature/motion/humidity/relays/etc. Esphome has a supported list[3]. 5) Search for the chip name, etc on Amazon. Example[4]. 6) Familiarize yourself with the ESP32 dev board pins, GPIO, etc. Most sellers will include a picture that looks something like this[5] and most of them are pretty "standard" these days. 7) Wire stuff up, configure with esphome. 8) Once you have things up and running, shove everything in an old box (iPhone boxes are especially sturdy). Other options are various project boxes[6], 3D printing, etc. It's usually easy enough to cut out/drill whatever you need. At the end of the day you can do some pretty impressive things like directly combining temperature sensors, humidity, presence detection, PIR motion, air particulate, relays, etc even on a single board thanks to ample GPIO and esphome. All for (typically) something like $10 per "location" where you need the stuff. Even less if you buy from Aliexpress, etc. Of course for "install" you'll need power supplies and (typically) USB-A to micro-USB power cables but most of us have drawers full of these things from old phones, etc. Good news is ESP32 boards absolutely sip power (something like 100mW or less) even with all of your "stuff" attached. [0] - https://www.amazon.com/ESP-WROOM-32-Development-Microcontroller-Integrated-Compatible/dp/B08D5ZD528/?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/ESP-WROOM-32-Development-Microcontrol... [1] - https://www.amazon.com/EDGELEC-Breadboard-Optional-Assorted-Multicolored/dp/B07GD2BWPY?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/EDGELEC-Breadboard-Optional-Assorted-... [2] - https://www.amazon.com/Breadboards-Solderless-Breadboard-Distribution-Connecting/dp/B07DL13RZH https://www.amazon.com/Breadboards-Solderless-Breadboard-Dis... [3] - https://esphome.io/index.html https://esphome.io/index.html [4] - https://www.amazon.com/Teyleten-Robot-Digital-Temperature-Humidity/dp/B0CPHQC9SF/ https://www.amazon.com/Teyleten-Robot-Digital-Temperature-Hu... [5] - https://lastminuteengineers.com/esp32-pinout-reference/ https://lastminuteengineers.com/esp32-pinout-reference/ [6] - https://www.amazon.com/LeMotech-Plastic-Electrical-Junction-72x42x23mm/dp/B07F3Y8L95 https://www.amazon.com/LeMotech-Plastic-Electrical-Junction-...

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]