Well, we already have wall switches that we’d use to convert to have Shelly relays in them, so it would only cost what the relays themselves cost, which is a lot less than any smart switch we’ve seen
Maybe not the greatest idea, but I can share what I am doing at the moment:
We now have quite a few relatively new DC ceiling fans in various rooms. They come with an RF remote control, and I am using a Sonoff RF bridge to remote control them and listen to signals when the physical remote control is used. In HA I then have a combination of scripts, automations and template fans to make that all happen.
This approach works well most of the time, however, sometimes fails because the RF signal isn’t getting through. I recently started adding a Shelly device (1PM or 2.5) to each of the wall switches that control power to those fans. That allows me to measure power consumption of the fan which I can then use to determine whether it’s on and at what speed. The plan is then to implement automations that automatically correct the template fan state based on what I actually measure. This all is currently still work in progress.
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That’s actually such a good idea! I love it so much, because one thing we’re not sure about is making sure there’s a redundancy for anything we do, so for our dc fans we wouldn’t want to only use HA, but also want a way to keep everything in sync.
I haven’t heard of the sonoff bridge before, but it sounds promising! So it can read rf signals and also send them from HA? I’ve only done a bit of rf related research but do you know if the sonoff would work with any dc fan that has an rf remote?
And having the Shelly pm in the wall to help keep things in sync is a very good idea too - just curious how it’ll work if you have the 6 speed options and the light with 3 dimmable options - if you don’t mind, would you be able to keep me updated on how it’s all going?
Hey guys, Received the switch today, I can confirm it is a TYWE3S.
Any tips for flashing ESP home onto these ?
The first thing would be to reverse engineer the board to find out if the Tx,Rx, IO0, GND and 3.3V pins are available on either the header pins or the row of pads at the side of the board.
Then all you have to do is find where all the GPIOs connect to (switches, relays and LEDs).
You can use Shelly relays combined with the original fan speed capacitor to create a fan controller. You would need 3 relay contacts for a 3 speed fan setup, so it would cost a bit… I used this method (but using my own relay and ESP setup) to create a fan controller for some high powered fans where there were no off-the-shelf products available.
Or you could replace the fans and buy this ESP based controller for full local control with no need to flash or anything.
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I have a pinout and will probe the board this evening,
Should I try OTA with Tuya convert or just connect directly to the ESP and attempt to go straight to ESPHome ?
I haven’t had any experience with these yet. But I have flashed a fair few ESP’s via serial.
I’ve used it with different DC fans from different brands (Brilliant and Claro) that come with RF remote controls in the 433MHz range.
Yep, great question, and that’s what I am currently working on. Those Claro fans come with 5 speeds and a built-in LED light, so that may require some thinking how to distinguish “LED on / Fan off” from “LED off / Fan speed 5”.
This is the current state of using the Sonoff RF bridge with a DC ceiling fan without the Shelly, and I am planning to post an update on my blog as soon as the Shelly based synchronisation is in a reasonable state: RF Bridge the Gap to make another Ceiling Fan smart – neon.ninja
You should be able to flash it serially by direct connection to the ESP.
This sounds awesome, but unfortunately I’m not nearly handy enough to try it myself, and wouldn’t necessarily want to get an electrician to do it and waste their time. Also as much as going with that local option would be good, we can’t justify changing them out just to automate, especially since they work so well
I might have to keep an eye out and see how it goes with the Shelly relays then! It sounds very promising! I’ll also keep an eye out for the sonoff bridge and see what I can find, but it sounds like it could potentially solve some issues for us with the rf remote at least.
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Are there any heat pump hot water systems in Australia that integrate with Home Assistant?
The reclaim hws has a dry contact option. They have just released wifi in their latest version but not sure if an api yet.
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I use ESPHome on an ESP32 with a bunch of DS18B20 temperature sensors and a Shelly 1PM fory my Sanden system.
I have it automated to switch on in the middle of the day when I am likely to be generating solar power. It switches off when the heatpump inlet to outlet differential reaches 25° to maintain efficiency. Except for Friday’s where it does a full tank heat to kill legionella.
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Nice. I do a similar thing for my Sanden. Shelly 1PM and three DS18B20 sensors connected to an EmonPi which sends temperature data on to HA.
Question: Do you control On/OFF via Shelly and not make use of Sanden ‘block-out’ time?
I ujust run every day (mid-day) to run mostly on Solar.
In my situation, the Sanden does a few frost cycles during winter.
Is turning power off to a heat pump HW system wise? I’d have though you’d just use the in-built timer control to safely manage power down of the compressor and for system maintenance/protection functions to be able to run as required.
I do use the Shelly for power control rather than the block timer.
I spoke with the installer about it and the sales rep. They both indicated there would be no issue doing it this way and had installed a few zigbee relays at other sites.
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I control my Reclaim Heat Pump HW via Fronius load management, which cuts the power when not enough solar. I asked the installer if that was OK… He gave a confident yes answer. No problems evident after about 9 months.
Intriguing. Does that mean you have a single ESP32 outdoors with a bunch of individual DS18B20 probes to all those locations?
And does that mean you drilled holes (!) or fix the probes on the outside of the pipes?
And if it’s not straying too far off topic what do people think of Sanden vs Reclaim vs other heat pump HWS?
My cylinder is under the floor and the heat pump is on the other side of the wall outside. So all the electronics are under the house. No holes! Just under the copper pipe and cylinder insulation.