how to know when the washing machine has finished
SHORT NOTE: If you need to know when a device, like a dryer or washing machine has completed its work, get a ‘smart plug with energy monitoring’. Amazon list many of them but whichever...
Category: measuring 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.
automated fade up dimmer for analogue LED Strips – using a MOSFET and ESPhome
This ceiling ‘coffer’ is lit by four 5m LED strips cut slightly down to size. In 2017 digital LED strips were rare. If you wanted really, really bright light, analogue white LED strips were...
see your Home Assistant entities on a TTGO T-display ST7789V TFT LCD
The inspiration for this mini-project came from a need to display my oven temperature in a convenient place in the kitchen. I might instead need to see the time of the next train, the...
send a screenshot to your phone / instant message / email using cloud storage such as Google Photos – this really is the best workflow
Without saving, copying or using a USB stick (no!) you can capture interesting images from facebook, instagram, desktop apps and web pages and then use them as needed. I’m not talking about stealing: captured...
what is the actual temperature of your oven? how to cook reliably with an expensive but inaccurate oven
My household can’t be the only one that burns the food. The dial on this shiny, expensive Smeg oven not only gives a wrong temperature, the temperature varies over a wide range. I replaced...
how much oil / electricity do I use in a day – Home Assistant or espHome
The measurements that I take around the home provide two things: – a picture of a moment in time – a room temperature for example. – how something changes over the course of a...
how to integrate 433MHz temperature & humidity sensors with Home Assistant
A home automation platform, such as Home Assistant, allows you to make temperature v time graphs using sensors that you might place around the home. Monitoring temperatures allowed me to get my heating devices...
can I integrate ‘HomeEasy’ 433MHz devices with Home Assistant?
Yes. Below you’ll see how to control HomeEasy devices through Home Assistant and the RFlink receiver/transmitter. (This also controls other manufacturers’ wireless sockets). You’ll be able to create timers and automation to turn things...
XANES 2606-8 headlamp review and instructions
This insanely bright headlamp / flashlight is excellent for hobbies, camping and cycling. Here are a few instructions to use it well This flashlight (aka torch) requires 2 x 18650 Lithium cells which have...
use GitHub and Arduino IDE to create an ESP32 web camera
If you want to use a GitHub project with Arduino software follow this step-by-step guide. We’ll make an ESP32 camera web server using the Github code from ‘easytarget’. An ESP32-CAM module consists of a...
coping with 18650 batteries with and without button tops
Just when I thought I knew enough … I discover why a bicycle headlamp wasn’t working. It was because some 18650 batteries have a button top … The 18650 battery, like many batteries, is...
use Google lens to search the Internet using a picture or photo
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....
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...
T4EU1C and Home Assistant
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...
set up rflink to respond to 433MHz devices and then integrate them with Home Assistant
In this project we integrate inexpensive 433MHz RF 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 in Home Assistant
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. Dozens of other makers now do pretty...
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...