Hi Guys,
new to home automation and first post. I’m about to put a sprinkler system but dont want to use a normal timer.
im looking for a recommendation for a smart hose timer that will connect to wifi and integrate with home assistant.
any recommendations? ideally it can also detect rain and have a moisture sensor that it can connect to.
Thanks,
Rmy
Some ideas regarding hardware:
And of course some HASS logic.
Good luck!
Thanks Roekeloos. I was looking for something that is off the shelf but integrates with HASS.
an example be for my front door im using the ring doorbell but still integrating into hass to give me a single pane of glass and ability to trigger automation.
Did you ever find anything? I’m on the same search.
i round rainrobot which looks promising but not available in where i am and no HAS integration.
if you find anything please let me know.
I am using a sonoff basic with a 110VAC water valve. It’s relatively easy to do a timer in HASS and I’m wondering why you are against doing it that way?
There are sprinkler systems which do integrate, but if you’re looking for a simple on/off timer this is without a doubt the best option.
To add:
My solution was ~$30 USD and runs off wifi, and mqtt…no hub, no bs. Stuff is all $$.
I use these plugged into a z-wave controlled outlet. Works well. They also have smaller versions.
They also are normally closed; if they loose power they will close.
Hey murphys_law, can you provide examples of the items you chose (specifically the valve)? That price is excellent!
Here is the valve. Its powered right off of the sonoff basic with a couple barb fittings into the water line, and the sonoff is in one of the waterproof enclosures they have:
I made a quick video demonstrating this setup. It’s now 1 year later, and there still isn’t anything off the shelf that does this. On the upside - the ones I made last year are still going strong.
VERY similar to my setup. Looks great!
Realize this is an old thread but thought I’d throw my findings out here as well. The three options I see:
Make your own as @RyanRayNeff has done which includes a value and a smart plug/outlet. The benefits are there is no battery replacement needed and the durability of the components for an estimated cost of ~$30 from what I can tell plus some wiring if not available
B-Hyve timers, I was able to score 2 timers plus the hub for about $99. The timers are battery powered (2xAA) and work based off bluetooth so if you want to integrate into home assistant then the hub is needed along with the B-Hyve integration from HACS. Minimum buy in cost is about $60-$70
Last and but not least, the zigbee SASWELL Irrigation Timer (SAS980SWT-7-Z01). This is battery powered (2xAA) and works with Zigbee2Mqtt. The cost really varies based on where it is purchased, Alibaba seems to be around 20-30 for a bulk order while amazon is around 70. I got mine from Amazon as a trial but since it had a 43 dollar coupon (yes 43, but the coupon value changes) I think I’ll end up keeping it.
I ended up getting both 2 and 3 but I think I will just end up settling on the zigbee route since I have pretty robust Zigbee network already. I cant speak to the reliability of these as they are plasticy and have not had them for very long.
Links:
2) Amazon purchase link
3a) z2m link
https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/ZVG1.html#rtx-zvg1
3b) Amazon purchase link with coupon
That’s also bulk prices on Alibaba, with a minimum order of 30 devices I think. On AliExpress they are all similar or more expensive than Amazon.
Thanks for the links. I’m only seeing a $10 coupon right now (did you mean $4, not $43?), but at least this can be shipped to Canada. There’s no Zigbee water valve devices on amazon.ca, except for the LinkTap ones which have a proprietary protocol on top of ZigBee and require their gateway and cloud.
I had also found this listing, but it’s slightly more expensive right now. I imagine they are identical:
Yeah haven’t looked too deep into the prices on Alibaba or AliExpress but if they are around the same then Amazon would be better (edited my post above to include that info). As for the listing I posted, when I purchased it the coupon was for 43 dollars which is why my total cost for 1 came out to 31.77 and when I just checked now the coupon is only for 10 dollars. So it looks like they vary their prices so I’d wait until something better comes up.
The listing for the Saswell one is identical to the one I linked above and from what I saw, Saswell is the original company name.
Figured I’d make an update, Saswell zigbee timers are all plastic and tend to drip from the top after a couple weeks. Unscrewing and rescrewing them on the faucet usually fixes it for a bit but I’m going to try adding another washer to see if that helps. The B-Hyve ones work well but I still have not integrated into HA yet.
Just to chime in for anyone still looking. I just ordered and started testing one of these for the drip irrigation piping I just put in for my landscaping: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1JN6KZX?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Pairs with Zigbee2MQTT right away and is working pretty well. Have only had it a day or so, so still figuring out the little quirks with it. For example, you need to be sure to set a run time in HA before turning on and it will run for that amount then auto-turn off. It’ll probably be a week or so before I fully trust it in regard to reliability but so far, first impressions are good. It’ll also be interesting to see how the batteries last as well as the overall reliability.
How did the Zigbee water valve from Amazon hold up? I’m thinking of getting one for watering my lawn.
Does it turn on the water fast enough to scare off animals if paired with a motion sensor?
Turning on is pretty quick, I think it was usually 1-3 seconds.
My only issue with it was the turning off. When using it’s internal timer, it seemed it was a 50/50 shot of it actually turning off. I found I would have it set to run for 10 mins using the runtime entity it has but when 10 mins came, it’s like it would send the result back to HA that it turned off, but it would still be running. So I’d have to switch it on and then off again in HA to turn it off manually. So that’s something to watch for.
I haven’t tested out the reliability of setting it to run it’s max time internally and then just have HA turn it off after whatever time. But any time I would manually turn it on and then off after whatever time, it seemed to always respond.
Thanks for the quick reply. I was thinking of ordering it today.
Why not just use HA to automate an on/off time? Would that be reliable?
I would think so. I was using it for my drip irrigation I just installed, but I ended up needing to have the sprinkler guy come out to replace my BFP so while things were dug up, I just had them add another valve for that. Since then, I haven’t needed to use it. I would say you could definitely do that, I just don’t have any first hand experience on the reliability of it so I’d say monitor it for a bit until you are comfortable.
Otherwise, it’s a pretty decent little valve, especially for the cost!
