Thanks for the update, I not using my one so might have a go at getting ESPhome working on it.
Hello everyone
I had a quick question about low voltage stuff. Everywhere online people are always doing their own electrical work, changing switches, adding new power points etc. Obviously since we canāt do that here, I was wondering what people do for their devices that donāt require full mains 240V power, but lower voltage stuff (like the stuff that plugs into a wall 5V wall adapter and micro usb cable for example). Obviously you can plug the wall adapter into the wall, but what if itās somewhere where you have no power?
As an example, if you wanted to get an Aqara FP2 mounted on your ceiling, or a Broadlink RM4 Pro, or other devices along those lines that normally just plug into a wall adapter but thereās no nearby power points, what do you do to get power to that spot? Of course getting an electrician is an option, but it seems silly to get an electrician to come out for a power point or two every now and then when we decide to add new devices to HA?
Thanks in advanced!
I have a fused 12V and 5V DC power supply in my comms rack that I wire around the house as needed (in the network ducts the roof and floor cavities).
Itās not good for LED strips, they require too much current, only smaller loads like an ESP based Lux sensor installed on my roof, hot water temperature sensors, PIRs, etcā¦
FYI you are talking about ELV (extra low voltage) not LV (low voltage). Extra-low voltage - Wikipedia
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Huh, I didnāt realise 240V was considered low voltage - TIL!
But thanks for the reply - it sounds complicated, but itās a starting point to get it all going! Thanks for that!
I have a a few old 40AH SLA batteries charged by solar and distribute the 12V for lights and sensors and drop to 5V or 3.3V at the device end as needed.
I recently made up a fused distro panel so I can monitor loads but that is still a work in progress.
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Another way to do this is to run PoE ESPās in strategic locations.
I have a PoE ESP32 running my irrigation. It has enough power to control the station relays and then there is a local 24v ac power supply out there to power to actual solenoids and bore pump contactor.
Iāve thought about replacing some of my other ESPās for PoE versions rather than having power supplies locally at each one. This also reduces wifi devices.
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I was pleased to discover these in my ceiling.
Does anyone know of MR16/GU5.3 ESP-based (tasmota compatible) bulbs currently available in Australia ?
I found these:
- Connect SmartHome:
https://www.harveynorman.com.au/connect-smart-5w-gu5-3-white-led-downlight.html - Laser SmartHome
Buy Laser Smart White Downlight (GU5.3) Online - Laserco
1 is W800-based, not compatible with Tasmota and a pain to flash (lots of Windows binaries required, plus following PCB traces to find out serial TX/RX/VCC pads, if any)
2 is on its way, and I ll update as soon as I know.
In the meantime, I thought Iād ask here just in case.
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Quick follow up:
Laser SmartHome GU5.3 light bulbs are ESP based, but flashing them with Tasmota requires access to serial Rx/Tx pins and I did no go down that route
Howevery, they work fine with Tuya Smart app + Tuya Local HA integration, so no cloud dependence.
I got two of these and will let you know how they go.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804380243686.html
Not NZ/AU certified, but at 12v, do they have to be?
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No. You can just use a certified power supply and then you are all good.
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I assume that the power supply for the existing bulbs is probably certified.
I was just looking at a faulty kogan one today. A 470uF 10V cap near the esp was bulging and measures only 80uF
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youād need to remove the cap from the circuit to measure it. Very doubtful a low measuring cap would cause it to be totally faulty.
any other pics of the board?
Thanks for posting this, Iām doing the same - 6 zones!
Have found the sonoff 4 way relays so gonna have a play with using them to drive the cheap Rj12 24v AC connector dampers from aircon parts online
Cracking one open it seems itās just ācommonā and open close terminals
Ie one side is always on half of the AC whilst the other is on the open or the close
Should work ok
I did remove it to measure it. Its the reservoir cap for the WiFi module, so would likely cause a brownout and reset whenever the radio transmits.
I donāt have a suitable low ESR replacement here, but temporarily replacing with a regular 470uF cap confirms the the rest of the circuit is working ok.
Hello all;
Two things here:
1: Gaining interest on a Sydney Meetup in August
2: I have 5 spare Flir 2MP IP Cameras to giveaway, contact me, pickup onlyā¦(These do not have thermal)
Im thinking either the 18th or the 25th of August,
A Friday afternoon around 5pm for 1-2 hours.
Anybody interested ?
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In principle I think a get together is a good ideaā¦ Keen to share some of my observations. Would be fun to get a camera, as I havenāt played with one in a long time.
I am in the Blue Mountains (upper), so earlier the better.
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Iād be keen for a meet up in Sydney
have had a few of the Brilliant Smart WiFi Plugs with Electricity Monitoring that I was flashed with ESPHome (they where on a washing machine, electric heater and a fist tank air pump) all fail and stop working over the past year.
My network has both Zigbee and WiFI.
Does anyone have recommendations for smart plugs?
Was looking at the Aeotec ones but it looks like theyāve transitioned from Zigbee to Z-Wave