Caffedomotico on Baldarn's

Modding sonoff 4ch

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hi everyone!

I recently bought 4 used sonoff 4ch on subito.it to a super kind person that I really thank!

I had to integrate in my new house some lights

But damn!!! The sonoff 4ch doesn’t allow 230V inputs! :(

I was really upset at the beginning, but then I took the solderer and solved the problem, as always ;)

Enabling external buttons

I took some spare cat5 inside cables and solder the line and ground of the buttons.

Private VPN

Sat, 22 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Here we are again with a practical guide to configure your private VPN!

I use this to connect from outside home to my internal services and devices.

Prerequisites

First thing first, you must have home assistant installed (I can show you how)

Wireguard

Install wireguard, is a Home Assistant Community Add-ons.

Then you must Forward port 51820 (UDP!) in your router to your Home Assistant instance.

Edit the configuration of the plugin with your host (maybe the one generated with duckdns plugin?).

Water meter

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hello! How can you monitor the water that arrives in your house? What if a leack happend?

With a water meter you can count live how much water is being used and fastly detect leackage!!

Hardware

yf-DN40 Water meter (aliexpress link)

Esphome configuration

The configuration was really simple, I followed a github repo to get the esphome configuration that I nedded

I used a spare esp8266 nodemcu that I have running on my desk

Check for finished appliances using just one global power meter

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I only have a single power meter, connected to my main power line.

So I cannot single out the various appliances by power consumption; but I came up with a simple way of telling if a power-consuming appliance has completed, like my tumble drier which is in my basement.

First create an input_boolean, this will hold the state that an appliance is on.

Go to Settings, Devices and services, then Helpers, and click Create helper.

Garbage collection notification

Sat, 21 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Today I will share my new garbage collection assistant (thanks to @ferrimiche suggestion!)

Prerequisites

First thing first, you must have this installed:

home assistant (I can show you how)
HACS (installation instructions)

Install Garbage Collection integration

Thanks to @bruxy70 we have an integration ready to use!

Go to HACS -> integrations -> explore & download repositories

Search for Garbage collection and install the integration

Then configure it following the creator instructions. Those are perfectly clear!

Smart thermostat

Sun, 15 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Here we are again with a practical guide to start your #homeautomation journey!

Shopping list

esp32 ~ 8 euros
BME280 (humidity, temperature, pressure) ~ 4.5 euros
BME680 (humidity, temperature, pressure, gas) ~ 7.5 euros

Positioninig

The best position for you sensor will be at ~ 1.5 m from the ground (the typical height for thermostats)

Home assistant

Here is the #esphome configuration for your devices

TODO

Flashing ESPHome to a Shelly 1 using an Arduino Uno as programmer

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I recently got a Shelly 1 v3 wifi relay, and I had already decided I did not want to use the Shelly ecosystem but to connect it directly to Home Assistant via ESPHome.

The Shelly 1 relay offers header pins to connect to, for debugging or flashing. Connecting it to a computer requires an USB/TTL converter.

You can either buy it on amazon for cheap, or luckily if you have an Arduino laying around, you can use it as an USB/TTL converter easily!

Initial setup

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Here we are again with a practical guide to start your #homeautomation journey!

Shopping list

raspberry pi ~100 euros
usb c power supply (3.5A recommended) ~ 15 euros
SD card (64GB class 2 recommended) ~ 15 euros

Home assistant

You can install #homeassistant in your raspberry pi. Here the official guide

I strongly suggest the installation with the operating system, but if you are confident and want to play more with your raspberry, you can install a distro and then install #homeassistant. Your call!

Smart Alarm

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Today I will give you an idea for a smart functionality of your smart alarm! The automatic activation and deactivation of the alarm! Why do you have to manually enable the alarm? With some #homeassistant magic you can automatically enable it when you leave home and disable it when you come back!

Alarm hardware

snzb-03 Motion sensor
snzb-04 Door/window sensor
zzbridge Zigbee bridge

Pro/Cons

wifi vs zigbee

wifi is low cost, but battery expensive and not decentralized. You could not reach all your devices