ESPHome Smart Sprinkler Controller with Multi-Zone Hardware Queuing & Weather-Aware Automation

Blueprints Exchange
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Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a robust and reliable Smart Sprinkler Configuration that combines ESPHome Sprinklers local queue management with a weather-aware Home Assistant Blueprint.

Instead of relying on unstable Home Assistant loop delays that might fail if HA reboots or WiFi drops, this hybrid approach delegates sequence execution 100% locally to the ESP32.

Open your Home Assistant instance and show the blueprint import dialog with a specific blueprint url pre-filled.

Why This Hybrid Setup?

  1. HA Weather Check: Home Assistant evaluates soil moisture, rain gauges, and daily forecasts. If conditions are met, it sends the run duration and queues the selected valves.
  2. ESPHome Hardware Queue: The ESP32 takes over, executing the sequence sequentially with safe hardware delays (e.g., 40s between zones to protect your pump). Once started, the ESP32 completes the cycle safely even if HA goes offline.
  3. Web Server & Safety: All physical relays stay OFF after a power outage. A daily safety trigger shuts down all valves at 6:00 AM. You can also override and control everything locally via the ESP32 web server.

Key Features

  • Zone Independence: Set different schedules and durations for lawns and fruit sections using the same controller.
  • Weather-Responsive: Skips irrigation using soil moisture (e.g. EcoWitt WH51), physical rain gauges, or daily forecasts (using the modern HA weather.get_forecasts API).
  • Self-Resetting "Skip Next Run": Dashboard toggle helper to skip the upcoming cycle. The automation automatically resets the toggle back to OFF once skipped.
  • Winter Blowout & Test Modes: Built-in templates to cycle through zones for air-compressor purging (15s bursts) or leak testing (1m per zone).
  • Countdown Status: Displays the active zone name and a live countdown timer (MM:SS) directly in HA.

Setup Instructions

1. ESPHome Configuration

  • Grab the esphome-sprinklers.yaml and secrets.yaml files from the repository.
  • Important note on secrets: The provided secrets.yaml serves as a template. You need to copy these variables (encryption keys and OTA password placeholders) into your own ESPHome secrets.yaml file and replace them with your own secure keys.
  • Flash your board (configured for WT32-ETH01 Ethernet by default, but easily portable to any ESP32 with WiFi).

2. Home Assistant Blueprint

  • Import the blueprint using the badge link above.
  • Create a virtual Toggle helper in HA if you want to use the Skip Next Run feature.
  • Create your automations from the blueprint, selecting your schedule (Weekdays vs Interval), valves, and weather sensors.

Source Code & Guides

Full source files and detailed instructions are available on GitHub:
GitHub Repository: HA-blueprints

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