Esphome setup for outdoors node

ESPHome
1

Hi everyone,
I am setting up an ESP 32-U to manage my outdoor stuff and I am trying to think to the best possible configuration

Starting scenario: i have a garden, a garage in the middle of the garden and a small roof adjacent to the garage. I have a decent coverage with wifi in my garden, decent=not too powerful. esp32 with onboard antennas are likely not to work with wifi, while I have been experiencing a solid -60 dBm wifi signal with an 8dB external antenna placed under the roof and an esp32-U. I have power outlets both under the roof and inside the garage.

what i want to achieve:

  • collect data from mi flora sensor to monitor my plants. not tested yet
  • be able to fire 4 relays and drive my sprinklers. already done and tested
  • fire a smart outlet connected to my washing machine placed inside the garage (not possible to wire the garage to the roof’s outlet where i placed the mcu)
  • (this is optional) collect data from a weather station placed above the roof

The first two bullet points can be easily achieved configuring wifi connection, using hass api and ble tracker I guess.
What would be the best way to connect the power outlet for the washing machine assuming it won’t be able to connect to the home’s ssid and it’s a couple of meters away from the esp32 with the garage’s wall in between? I am open either to wifi or bluetooth for the washing machine outlet

my understandings so far are that the ble tracker will allow me to only control ble devices, thus not firing a bluetooth socket, while a ble proxy would basically conflict with the wifi signal. If i configure a wifi access point on the esp with a secondary ssid for the power outlet, it would only work when the esp is not connected to the home ssid, so basically never.

Any suggestions on how to tackle this?
Thanks

2

You need safe and certified 16A smart relay for your washing machine, not some DIY dev-board jumper-wire AE relay module hassle. I personally always prefer Shelly.
If wifi doesn’t reach there (test it before), place a inexpensive extender/repeater in your house close to the window towards garage.
Rest you can handle with esphome which now should work without external antenna as well.

3

Thanks for your answer.
Indeed i was looking at some shelly or sonoff smart plug.

Actually I think I could install that directly under the roof, next to the esp, as long as it has a decent antenna. In this case I wouldn’t stick a repeater next to my bedroom blind but

I see that. The thing here is that a big antenna installed on the esp also strenghtens bluetooth signal coverage which is key for ble sensors placed in the plants. This is honestly the reason I was looking for a single device solution, if feasable

4

Big difference between them though…