Thanks for all of your help! It is now working just like I wanted it to…just need to sort out the friendly name and I’ll call it done. Thanks again!
trust me nothing I was doing incorrectly … plugging one wire into 3.3v and one into ground didn’t produce any life on the sensor. on the esp32 it’s LEDs lit up. I meant wonky with MY 8266 not all 8266’s so no need to get defensive 
thanks for your replies though 
Are you using the same power supply for both boards? The esp8266 has nothing to do with the light on the sensor coming on or not. That led comes on when the light level goes above or below the light level you set with the potentiometer. Does the esp8266 show up in esphome if you just plug power into it?
Which board exactly is it? Esp8266 is just the chip on the dev board. Is it a D1 mini, NodeMCU, esp01?
yeah exactly , even without the esp (other than the power and ground) it should light up. so that’s why I was baffled. it’s no biggy as I can just use my esp32. yes it’s showing in HA and works fine for what I was using it for last time (can’t remember what it was for though as it’s been sitting in my drawer for a while). it’s a generic D1 mini afaik.
Well for what its worth, its gotta be something power related. I know there were some bad d1 minis going around with the 5- 3.3v regulators were failing in them. I wouldnt think the board would work at all though if tbat were the case. Either way, a 10 pack of D1 minis isnt very expensive and its good to have some on hand.
I’m trying to do the same thing here with a board that looks strikingly similar to the amazon listing above. It has both a digital and analog output. I’m using an ESP32 which has several analog inputs. The 8266 only has one, if I recall so that may be what happened above.
Anyway, the sensor (via analog) gives me voltages between 0 and 1.06 V on the pin, and it’s backwards to me meaning that dark gives higher voltage readings (closer to 1V), while shining a bright flashlight on the sensor reads 0.16V. So I need to figure out the template to convert the 0-1v readings to something like lumens or lux.
Wondering if anyone has done something like that?
I have had limited success using this filter feature:
And because photos are always fun…
Well, its not backwards thats whats supposed to happen according to Ohm’s Law.
Limited success with the filter feature? What does that mean? What filter did you try? What phrases did you type into a search box when you were seeking infomation for this question thats been asked and answered 5000 times and is easily found with a search? Which part are you stuck on?