Search Google using your phone camera and Google Lens
Here’s what to do when a restaurant asks you to scan a QR code for their track and trace (written in 2020). And here’s how to identify a plant, an animal and lots more....
Category: data logging at home
Today switches can be touched remotely and thermometers send numbers over any distance.. When things are so easily connected we can monitor things around the home to know what’s happening or how we can save energy.
Almost everything here, in my local Internet of Things, is connected by ‘Home Assistant’ running on a Raspberry Pi. There’s space for you to share your perspective.
use one switch to turn on two lights – in any combination
The need: you use a table light for watching TV and a main (wall) light at other times and you want a coffee table button to switch between one or the other or have...
a 3-gang wall switch for your home automation – using eWelink, T4EU1C and Home Assistant
I got to a point where I had plenty of ‘smart’ lights and gadgets but few switches. But then I found a 3-gang version of the T4EU1C wall plate switch. It works over wifi...
set up rflink to respond to 433MHz devices and then integrate them with Home Assistant
In this project we integrate inexpensive ‘old’ 433MHz devices with modern smart devices see also: 433MHz smarter letterbox how to set up RFlink so that it will read your RF sensors The easiest ready-to-roll...
project: plot the temperature of your fridge-freezer, pet home or fermenting wine on a history graph in Home Assistant
In a previous project I set up temperature sensors in my room and sent the data via Bluetooth to Home Assistant, the home automation platform. Home Assistant is software that can record measurements and...
how to toggle the state of a light or switch for Alexa
The touch light switch on the wall lies in wait for someone to press it. When it’s on a press turns it off and when it’s off it turns on. That’s toggling a switch....
take your D-Link DCS-D150 out of the cloud and into Home Assistant
I wouldn’t especially recommend the D-Link DCS-D150 motion sensor but it does have some features that had me buy it. Firstly it plugs into a wall socket above a worktop so it can sense...
recycle laptop 18650 lithium batteries in a DIY power bank
If you could look inside an old replaceable laptop battery pack like this you’d find 4 or 6 cells. Usually the cells are 18mm diameter, 65mm long and are called 18650 lithium batteries. Each...
project: plug-in energy meter with graphs of energy use over time
‘Smart meters’ and metering devices usually measure the electricity used by the whole house*. However I prefer to pay attention to the electricity used by individual devices, such as a combination oven, fan heater...
control a sonoff switch using eWelink and Home Assistant – without IFTTT or firmware flashing
In this project I control a Sonoff light switch using Home Assistant. You can do the same with other Sonoffs. The switch shown here is the T4EU1C wall plate switch. It works over wifi...
control a sonoff switch from Home Assistant using IFTTT
The regular way to switch a Sonoff relay is to use the official ewelink app – however Home Assistant doesn’t* work with ewelink. Other ways require you to ‘flash’ the Sonoff device with Tasmota...
send sensor data from Home Assistant to a spreadsheet
The Home Assistant dashboard (aka ‘Lovelace’) is very good at displaying live sensor data and sensor data from the last several days. As you can see below you can display a ‘just now’ reading...
433MHz (aka RF) sensors and devices are good value
How to make inexpensive, ‘old’ technology, 433MHz devices work with today’s smart devices see also: 433MHz smarter letterbox RF sensors and receivers If you’ve used any of the following examples you probably own some...
best uses for a smart socket
smart sockets have uses. A smart socket adds a little cleverness to a table lamp or electric heater. The printer upstairs takes five minutes to warm up so switching it on by remote control...
project boxes for ESP32 and other microcontrollers
How does one house an electronics project? Is there a neat way to house a smart doorbell and camera? I don’t relish the effort to design a 3D model. Maybe I was looking for...
IKEA bulbs & dimmers work with a Philips hue hub
they work together but not everything is possible As an early adopter I’ve come to feel that Philips Hue lighting system gains more praise than it needs as I find a dozen other makers...
433MHz smarter letterbox – for when you don’t want to walk to the letter box
see also more about 433MHz devices The letterbox is five doors and fifty metres from my desk. The uncertainty of the post lady arriving in the afternoon means that I make wasted journeys to...
estimate energy bills – the cost of living
This quick post is for anybody wondering how much money they need to put aside for energy. If you don’t use electricity for keeping warm, your summer and winter electricity bills will be similar....
smart sockets vs smart bulbs – introduction
smart bulbs and sockets have select uses. A smart socket adds a little on/off cleverness to a table lamp, electric heater or the printer upstairs that takes five minutes before it’s warm and useful....
what home automation offers – introduction
When you look for home automation equipment you find many systems. They turn on lights and plug sockets; water the garden; unlock a door, turn up the heating; record a security camera, open the...
a case for a home automation platform – introduction
Even if you’ve no need for as much as a smart bulb, you do need to be impressed or surprised by the variety of smart gadgets on sale. There are smart door locks, garage...
calculate how long is the day
… and see how to add features to the Home Assistant display An interest in solar energy is a possible reason to record the sun’s azimuth and the time of sunset. Home Assistant can track...
project: smart thermostat – nest and hive
The Google nest thermostat or its Hive equivalent are items which I’d be happy to pay for rather than make. A first reason is that we rely too much on warmth, and a second...
find the IP address of your things – introduction
When you set up a gadget or device you’ll sometimes be asked what its IP address is – and gosh – becoming at ease with that question is good for you. Every gadget connected...
extending Home Assistant (esphome 2)
If you want to make your own smart measuring device or presence detector or dog watching camera or tea bag lifting robot, the ESP32 and Arduino circuit boards make the gadget you need. A...
start using home assistant (esphome 1)
what you need to run your own home automation server Raspberry Pi – a kit with Raspberry Pi 3+ or later with the recommended power supply, 32Gb SD card, heatsinks and/or cooling fan. A...
flash ESP32-CAM with arduino ide software
Arduino IDE is software that lets us develop code for a writing on a chip. Explore its menu and we soon see it’s made to transfer a great many capabilities to a great many...
link an ESP chip with Home Assistant (esphome 4)
When a ESP32 device has been flashed and powered, it will use the password you added to the code to connect to your wifi. The ESPhome interface in Home Assistant (pic below) will show...
customise a Sonoff smart relay (esphome 3b)
Software which allows you to ‘own’ your devices ESPhome can be used to reprogram a ESP chip so that Home Assistant can control it. I use it to re-program a Sonoff S20 smart plug...
flash a ESP32-CAM to make a smart camera (esphome 3a)
ESPhome is software that can add a program to (or “flash firmware to”) an ESP chip. This chip is at the core of many automation projects. The software connects things up inside Home Assistant...
comparing the cost of fuels for heating
I am the person who wants to know if using an electric fan heater in one room costs less than heating the whole house using gas*. At parties I can keep a sofa to...
automation: turn it off if it’s already hot
The Sonoff POWR2 can be used as the timer on a hot water immersion heater. This model also measures electricity as volts, amps and current. I’ve flashed its wifi chip with different firmware so...
Dupont jumper wires & shells – introduction
Dupont leads connect up projects. They come as male to male pin / female to female / male pin to female types. You can solder the male ends to a headless board to make...
project: smart immersion heater
Domestic hot water can be heated by a gas / oil central heating boiler or by an electrical immersion heater. I choose to take advantage of half-price nighttime electricity and use an immersion heater....
automation: routines that do things or alert you
ready dec 2020
some uses for a raspberry pi computer – introduction
A Raspberry Pi is a small inexpensive low power computer that has numerous uses and hopefully there’s one that chimes for you. I don’t think you’d want to use a Pi for emails and...
which ESP32 did I buy?
“… It’s an ESP32. Yes but which?” ESPRESSIF is the company that markets chips such as the ESP8266 and ESP32 and ESP32-CAM. Other companies buy those chips and fit them inside their smart plugs,...
project: cameras around the house
There are a variety of camera types to help monitor the drive, a pet, a baby, a device, a bird feeder – whatever. You might want to know what’s eating the rabbit’s food or...
project: does my broadband speed vary?
Here’s how to add a little functionality to Home Assistant, the automation platform. Do try this especially if you’re just starting to add features to Home Assistant. speedtestdotnet: scan_interval: hours: 4 Go to the...
project: when is the next train from the station?
Travel information can be one of the things you need easy access to. If you have Google Home or Alexa you’ll find it helpful to recall the exact way to ask for the info....