Anyone trying the same. I’ve left the esphome route and used the grove “multi_channel_relay” library in an arduino sketch and used MQTT switches in Home Assistant to connect things.
For reference my arduino code :
// Original sketch courtesy of ItKindaWorks
//ItKindaWorks - Creative Commons 2016
//github.com/ItKindaWorks
//
//Requires PubSubClient found here: https://github.com/knolleary/pubsubclient
//
//ESP8266 Simple MQTT switch controller
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <ArduinoOTA.h>
#include <multi_channel_relay.h>
Multi_Channel_Relay relay;
void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length);
//EDIT THESE LINES TO MATCH YOUR SETUP
#define MQTT_SERVER "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" //your MQTT IP Address
const char* ssid = "wifisid";
const char* password = "wifipass";
#define mqtt_user "mymqttusername"
#define mqtt_password "mqttuserpass"
#define mqtt_port 1883
//EJ: These are the MQTT Topic that will be used to manage the state of Relays 1 ~ 4
//EJ: Refer to my YAML component entry
//EJ: feel free to replicate the line if you have more relay switch to control, but dont forget to increment the number suffix so as increase switch logics in loop()
char const* switchTopic1 = "/house/switch1/";
char const* switchTopic2 = "/house/switch2/";
char const* switchTopic3 = "/house/switch3/";
char const* switchTopic4 = "/house/switch4/";
WiFiClient wifiClient;
PubSubClient client(MQTT_SERVER, mqtt_port, callback, wifiClient);
void setup() {
// Set I2C address and start relay
relay.begin(0x11);
//initialize the switch as an output and set to LOW (off)
relay.turn_off_channel(1);
relay.turn_off_channel(2);
relay.turn_off_channel(3);
relay.turn_off_channel(4);
ArduinoOTA.setHostname("My Arduino WEMO"); // A name given to your ESP8266 module when discovering it as a port in ARDUINO IDE
ArduinoOTA.begin(); // OTA initialization
//start the serial line for debugging
Serial.begin(115200);
// Set I2C address and start relay
relay.begin(0x11);
delay(100);
//start wifi subsystem
WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
//attempt to connect to the WIFI network and then connect to the MQTT server
reconnect();
//wait a bit before starting the main loop
delay(2000);
}
void loop(){
//reconnect if connection is lost
if (!client.connected() && WiFi.status() == 3) {reconnect();}
//maintain MQTT connection
client.loop();
//MUST delay to allow ESP8266 WIFI functions to run
delay(10);
ArduinoOTA.handle();
}
void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) {
//convert topic to string to make it easier to work with
String topicStr = topic;
//EJ: Note: the "topic" value gets overwritten everytime it receives confirmation (callback) message from MQTT
//Print out some debugging info
Serial.println("Callback update.");
Serial.print("Topic: ");
Serial.println(topicStr);
if (topicStr == "/house/switch1/")
{
//turn the switch on if the payload is '1' and publish to the MQTT server a confirmation message
if(payload[0] == '1'){
relay.turn_on_channel(1);
client.publish("/house/switchConfirm1/", "1");
}
//turn the switch off if the payload is '0' and publish to the MQTT server a confirmation message
else if (payload[0] == '0'){
relay.turn_off_channel(1);
client.publish("/house/switchConfirm1/", "0");
}
}
// EJ: copy and paste this whole else-if block, should you need to control more switches
else if (topicStr == "/house/switch2/")
{
//turn the switch on if the payload is '1' and publish to the MQTT server a confirmation message
if(payload[0] == '1'){
relay.turn_on_channel(2);
client.publish("/house/switchConfirm2/", "1");
DEBUG_PRINT.print("Turn switch 2 on, State: ");
DEBUG_PRINT.println(relay.getChannelState(), BIN);
}
//turn the switch off if the payload is '0' and publish to the MQTT server a confirmation message
else if (payload[0] == '0'){
relay.turn_off_channel(2);
client.publish("/house/switchConfirm2/", "0");
DEBUG_PRINT.print("Turn switch 2 off, State: ");
DEBUG_PRINT.println(relay.getChannelState(), BIN);
}
}
else if (topicStr == "/house/switch3/")
{
//turn the switch on if the payload is '1' and publish to the MQTT server a confirmation message
if(payload[0] == '1'){
relay.turn_on_channel(3);
client.publish("/house/switchConfirm3/", "1");
}
//turn the switch off if the payload is '0' and publish to the MQTT server a confirmation message
else if (payload[0] == '0'){
relay.turn_off_channel(3);
client.publish("/house/switchConfirm3/", "0");
}
}
else if (topicStr == "/house/switch4/")
{
//turn the switch on if the payload is '1' and publish to the MQTT server a confirmation message
if(payload[0] == '1'){
relay.turn_on_channel(4);
client.publish("/house/switchConfirm4/", "1");
}
//turn the switch off if the payload is '0' and publish to the MQTT server a confirmation message
else if (payload[0] == '0'){
relay.turn_off_channel(4);
client.publish("/house/switchConfirm4/", "0");
}
}
}
void reconnect() {
//attempt to connect to the wifi if connection is lost
if(WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED){
//debug printing
Serial.print("Connecting to ");
Serial.println(ssid);
//loop while we wait for connection
while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
delay(500);
Serial.print(".");
}
//print out some more debug once connected
Serial.println("");
Serial.println("WiFi connected");
Serial.println("IP address: ");
Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
}
//make sure we are connected to WIFI before attemping to reconnect to MQTT
if(WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED){
// Loop until we're reconnected to the MQTT server
while (!client.connected()) {
Serial.print("Attempting MQTT connection...");
// Generate client name based on MAC address and last 8 bits of microsecond counter
String clientName;
clientName += "esp8266-";
clientName += "4wayrelay";
//if connected, subscribe to the topic(s) we want to be notified about
//EJ: Delete "mqtt_username", and "mqtt_password" here if you are not using any
if (client.connect((char*) clientName.c_str(),mqtt_user, mqtt_password))
Serial.print("\tMQTT Connected");
client.subscribe(switchTopic1);
client.subscribe(switchTopic2);
client.subscribe(switchTopic3);
client.subscribe(switchTopic4);
//EJ: Do not forget to replicate the above line if you will have more than the above number of relay switches
}
//otherwise print failed for debugging
else{Serial.println("\tFailed."); abort();}
}
}
}
The corresponding switches in home assistant config look like this
switch 1:
- platform: mqtt
name: "MQTT Switch 1"
state_topic: "/house/switchConfirm1/"
command_topic: "/house/switch1/"
payload_on: "1"
payload_off: "0"
qos: 1
retain: true
switch 2:
- platform: mqtt
name: "MQTT Switch 2"
state_topic: "/house/switchConfirm2/"
command_topic: "/house/switch2/"
payload_on: "1"
payload_off: "0"
qos: 1
retain: true
switch 3:
- platform: mqtt
name: "MQTT Switch 3"
state_topic: "/house/switchConfirm3/"
command_topic: "/house/switch3/"
payload_on: "1"
payload_off: "0"
qos: 1
retain: true
switch 4:
- platform: mqtt
name: "MQTT Switch 4"
state_topic: "/house/switchConfirm4/"
command_topic: "/house/switch4/"
payload_on: "1"
payload_off: "0"
qos: 1
retain: true
