How do I connect remote temperature sensor to Domoticz?

[DavidDavid]

I’d like to experiment a bit with some home automation but would like a little help to get started. I’m not so concerned right now about actually controlling much, I really just want to gather data at this point, but I’m hoping I can get some advice before I go spending any money. Currently I have a Raspberry PI with Raspbian that we primarily use for media streaming. I installed Domoticz onto the PI when I got my security cameras set up and have them connected, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.

What I’d like to do right now:

1) Install temperature sensors in a few locations to track the current and past temperature.
- Chest freezer in my basement
- Chicken coop behind the shed
- Pond (I’d really like something a foot below the surface and since I’m there, maybe 10 feet below surface. This is probably a stretch though)

2) Install a switch on my mailbox so that I can get an alert whenever it is opened.

3) Install a light sensor outside (probably on the shed) to have it turn some outdoor lights on and off automatically at dusk/dawn.

I’d like to use these really cheap temperature sensors (Amazon.com: WINOMO DS18B20 Digital Thermometer Temperature Sensor IC, Pack of 10: Home Improvement) but how are they wired into your network? Would I need a Raspberry PI relatively close to each location that I needed one of these sensors to hardwire them into and then just run miles of low voltage cable?

For the other sensors (light/mailbox) I think Z Wave would be my best bet. I see some Z Wave temperature sensors but at around $30 each that’s way out of my price range for the simple things I want to watch (might be worthwhile to put on in the chest freezer though). From what I have read I will need some sort of controller to connect my devices (multiple temperature sensors, mailbox sensor, ect) to my network so that Domotocz can listen to them and alert me. What I think will work for me would be the Aeon Labs Z Wave USB Stick ( Amazon.com: Aeotec by Aeon Labs ZW090 Z Stick, Small, White: Home Improvement ). It’s only $45 and I could plug it into my PI which is roughly in the middle of my house on the 1st floor or in my router which is on the second floor, just above the PI.

My concern is that the Aeon USB stick says it has a range of 100ft which will not be nearly enough to reach all of the buildings on my property. My biggest question right now is, how do I get all these devices connected to my network so that Domoticz can listen to them? Will I need a 2nd and 3rd PI and Aeon USB stick at each location (shed and barn) and just hope that the one in the house can see the sensor at the mailbox 150ft away? I have network access in the shed and barn so that helps. I feel like I have an idea of what I want to do, but it just isn’t quite clicking on exactly what I need to do to get there.

Any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated! I'm pretty good at making things work for me if I know what im trying to do is possible in the first place. Does what I'm trying to do seem possible? Reasonable?

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[i000]

Hi, for a cheap solution for a temp sensor, search EspEasy/ Esp8266/BME280/Domoticz.
You will have temp/hum/Bar.
Is necessary wifi coverage, because the connection is over wifi.

[randytsuch]

Hi, for a cheap solution for a temp sensor, search EspEasy/ Esp8266/BME280/Domoticz.
You will have temp/hum/Bar.
Is necessary wifi coverage, because the connection is over wifi.

I was going to suggest the same, I'm currently rolling out some ESP Easy based devices around the house.

One project will use a 18b20 to read my spa water temperature.

I'm using the wemos mini d1 cards, they make a nice, easy way to implement ESPEasy.

[DavidDavid]

Thank you, that gives me a good starting point for sure. Im sure i can figure out how to attach a battery to it.

But, is there anything like this that might be available for z wave? If i do get the hang of this and start adding a lot of these things, I'd like to keep it all off of my wifi network if possible (although i do have wifi coverage over most of my property with cheap routers configured as Wireless access points with dd-wrt)

[mivo]

Hi,

I thing Z-wave technology is not suitable for this case. I have signal problems with communication in flat with concrete walls - Zway module connected to GPIO and 2 radiator valves. Anyway Zwave devices are not cheap - becasue licensing, certifications etc. issues. I suggest to try open and cheap solution first - like 433 MHz RFlink or ESPeasy

[DavidDavid]

Ok so if I buy this
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016U0 ... A0RV&psc=1

And two of these
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MS7 ... JPJ2&psc=1

I should be able to get 2 temperature sensors going in remote locations (with Wi-Fi coverage) and talking to Domoticz?

How do i flash the ESPeasy firmware to the ESP8266? The letscontrolit website says to connect it to a windows computer with USB but it doesn't appear to come with a cable and i don't see a way to connect the cable to it?

Also, instead of buying the relatively expensive BMP280 at $6.99 could i just buy this?
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OZG ... VGK5&psc=1

Also, still need to figure out how to power this little setup...

And i also assume that this will help me connect everything together...
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01EV7 ... KVJ1&psc=1

I was going to suggest the same, I'm currently rolling out some ESP Easy based devices around the house.

One project will use a 18b20 to read my spa water temperature.

I'm using the wemos mini d1 cards, they make a nice, easy way to implement ESPEasy.

Do you have any writeups of your projects? Im definitely curious about the spa water temperature as that will help me with my pond temperature...

[i000]

I recommend buy nodemcu esp8266 or wemos mini.
To flash espeasy search esp8266 and arduino IDE.

[randytsuch]

ESP's come in many flavors and sources.

I would stay away from the ESP-01. It's cheapest, but has limited IO (2), and you have to buy a serial adapter to program it.

It costs a little more, and you have to wait a couple weeks to get it from China, but the wemos mini D1 is a nice option, and easy to program

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/produc ... 0.0.lmWbx4

With the mini, it has built in serial and you connect to it with a micro usb cable.

I also used the dual base
[url][/https://www.aliexpress.com/store/produc ... .lmWbx4url]
And some extra pins, it made it easier to connect stuff up. The Mini plugs into slot 1, and slot 2 was used to wire up power and IO.

The sensor I see you link to is a pressure sensor. I used a 18b20 temperature sensor. ESP Easy has built it support for these. It has three pins, one for ground, one to 3.3VDC and one to an IO pin. They also make waterproof ones for a little more money, but might be good for a pond.

I took one, and used waterproof epoxy to protect it inside a pipe adapter that is now screwed into a tapped hole in my spa plumbing. Ran watertight duct from the adapter to the box with the Wemos.

I'm working on a wiki page for my projects, hope to have it up soon.

Randy

[MsbS]

A slightly related question from me.

I would like to measure T+H in the rooms in my apartment (4-5 of them). I have RFLink 433 Gateway (which I use for controlling wall sockets and for getting data from a weather station sensor outside).

I have a couple of old RPi1s in my drawer, as well as a few Arduino Nanos, and a D1 mini. I'd rather not use Ethernet (wife's not too fond of cables lying around - no idea why) - but I have some wifi USB cards for RPis if needed.

What would you advise for easy and affordable integration with Domoticz?

- getting a few cheap 433 sensors (aliexpress?) that RFLink would understand. Disadvantage: battery powered, I think they register as a new IDX in RFLink after I replace battery?
- building a sensor on my own based on D1 mini and a T+H component (DHT11, DHT22, etc)
- building a sensor based on Arduino + 433 transmitter + T+H component (like DHT11)
- building a sensor based on RPi (attaching T+H component via GPIO)

[cyberclwn]

- building a sensor based on RPi (attaching T+H component via GPIO)

Hey,

What i did was, because i have multiple RPi's around the house/rooms, connect a DHT22 (T+H measuring device) to the GPIO of the RPi's and use a scheduled script to read them and update domoticz (every 5 min with url/JSON call). The RPi's are connected to WiFi so they can reach the domoticz RPi.

[mivo]

- getting a few cheap 433 sensors (aliexpress?) that RFLink would understand. Disadvantage: battery powered, I think they register as a new IDX in RFLink after I replace battery?

I have 433 MHz T+H sensors (connected to Garni meteo station also) with RFLink. When I started connecting them to Domoticz, one of sensors had signal stability problem, so I tested changing batteries, locations, etc. It was problem with some interference probably (corner and furniture nearby).

What I want to say - it is not problem with IDX change after battery removal. RFLink / Domoticz assigns new IDX to device, but you can Edit old device (on Temperature dashboard, click on Edit of device) and Replace with new device. Data history is then not lost. They are almost maintenance free with operation over 1 year on set of 2 AA batteries.

- building a sensor on my own based on D1 mini and a T+H component (DHT11, DHT22, etc)
- building a sensor based on Arduino + 433 transmitter + T+H component (like DHT11)
- building a sensor based on RPi (attaching T+H component via GPIO)

All mentioned options are reasonable, if you have hardware and time to play with it I have ESP8266 module (NodeMCU + ESPeasy) for testing and fun for now. When I need advanced tasks than T+H only, I will use it in future.

[DavidDavid]

I got all the parts a few weeks ago and got them all installed on a breadboard and It's been reading the temp of my workbench for a week or so now. All i've got to do is permanently mount it.

Thanks for all your help!