ESPHome 16 Channel Relay/Outlet Smart Power Plug

Third party integrations ESPHome
Tags: #<Tag:0x00007f3265443358>
#1

Hi there,

I am building a 16 Outlet Smart Power Plug built around ESPHome and the 16 Channel Relay Board. Here is where it’s got me. And I think this will work. What I am asking is do you think I should use other components power-wise? Any other thoughts?

BTW, I am using a 12V Relay board as this what I have. Next version will have a 5V Relay board, so it won’t need the buck converter, as I will change the power supply as well to be 220v to 5v.

This is the electronics hookup. I didn’t link all the pins, but you get the idea

Smart16OutletPowerPlug_v2_withBuckConverter_bb
Smart16OutletPowerPlug_v2_withBuckConverter_bb3588×2616 1.21 MB

This is how half of it actually looks like:

powerplug
powerplug4032×1960 2.38 MB

And this is the ESPHome code:

esphome:
  name: 16outlet
  platform: ESP8266
  board: nodemcuv2

wifi:
  ssid: "ssid"
  password: "password"
  fast_connect: true

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:


captive_portal:

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:

ota:

# I2C basic config used for multiple sensors and IO Expanders
i2c:
  sda: D2
  scl: D1
  scan: True

# Configuration entry for MCP23017 I/O Expander
mcp23017:
  - id: 'mcp23017_hub'
    address: 0x20

switch:
# Individual outputs for MCP Relays
     
  - platform: gpio
    name: "Outlet 1"
    icon: mdi:electric-switch
    pin:
      mcp23017: mcp23017_hub
      # Use pin number 1
      number: 1
      # One of INPUT, INPUT_PULLUP or OUTPUT
      mode: OUTPUT
      inverted: True
      
  - platform: gpio
    name: "Outlet 2"
    icon: mdi:electric-switch
    pin:
      mcp23017: mcp23017_hub
      # Use pin number 2
      number: 2
      # One of INPUT, INPUT_PULLUP or OUTPUT
      mode: OUTPUT
      inverted: True

And so on for each output

So let me know what you think! :wink:

230V Relay Switches for Home Assistant?
#2

What sort of load are you switching?

Your power supply should have a fuse and overload protection.

#3

Hi Nickrout! Thank you for your input. I will definitely look into it.

I made it so I can switch on/off some external HDDs. Together they draw quite a bit. This is actually the reason why I am doing this smart power outlet. The idea is to only power the harddisks I am using in that moment.

I would say about 24Amps in total

#4

24A for hard disks? Depending on where you live, that is more than 2640W / 5520W. Are you sure your figures are correct?
Make sure it is fused, overload and overheating protected !

#5

24A 12V. Sorry I forgot to mention. That would mean about 288W.

It’s estimated based on what is written on the power adapters. There are about 15 harddrives. I will check with a measuring device once I get back home.

#6

Then why does your diagram show AC going through the relay?

#7

The relays control the HDD power adapters which convert 220v 0.3A to 12v 1.2A

Something like this: https://www.thomann.de/gr/t_rex_power_supply_12v_dc.htm (random search result)

#8

OK so the answer is that you are switching 220 v up to 0.3A per channel.

Do you really want to do this to hard drives? You are not supposed to just switch them off.

#9

If you switch them off from the pc/server/nas, they are not actually switched off completely. They still draw power. I want to resolve 2 problems. One is that they actually tend to eat a lot of current over time.
The second is that they tend to wear down over time.

So considering HA, whenever I want to use a hdd, I first power it via HA and ESPHome. And whenever I want to switch off, I first unmount it and then switch off the power supply. Of course all automated.

#10

Nice idea @ygreq.
The wiring diagram above has a problem, you show the active and neutral of the AC supply across the normally closed relay terminals, this will short the AC supply as soon as power is applied.

#11

Yeap. Sorry about that. I put the fritzing diagram in a hurry. I will correct it asap

1 Like
#12

I changed the diagram to reflect your observation, Brad.
Thank you!

#13

Nick, where should the fuse be? And how should I take care of protection to overload? Thank you!

#14

Just two remarks:

  • If possible, I would always recommend to avoid 220V in DIY projects. In this case your consumers only require 12V DC, so why not use a single off-the-shelf transformer to get 12V for all consumers and then use relays to switch 12V DC for each consumer?
  • It would be interesting to see if in the long term if turning the hard-drives on and off all the time wears them out faster (shorter lifespan) vs. keep them all powered and just mount/unmount them but at the cost of idle power.
1 Like
#15

Thank you for your thoughtful remarks!

I understand the problems that come with high voltage power and diy projects. And indeed they should be well considered. Interesting idea with a single 12V power adapter. I am guessing it cannot power about 15 HDDs though. I will think about it.

I don’t believe you wear them out faster by keeping them powered off more often. En contraire. But your observation should be taken into consideration nonetheless.

#16
#17

The other thing to consider is what happens if you need to reboot your esp? Do the disks all suddenly turn off? Guessing you would NOT want that.

#18

I could not agree more. Do not mess around with mains power. Do not thrust cheapo ali-express boards with mains power.
There are 12V 24A power supplies available, use those.

#19

I will definitely look into it

#20

I forgot to mention. I bought a bulkier power supply (which was covering well above the necessary Amps) and a few jack splitters and tested using 2 External HDDs using 1 single power supply. The HDDs started acting up. I believe there is some feedback from the HDD case electronics to the power adapter so when using more than 1 HDD, you are messing with this. So in the end the solution remained to use 220v.