I am a bit confused, as these units are only 9, 12, 15 and 20 volts. I would need 5v and doesn’t seem to be available. Been looking at some different ones however. Nothing seems really appealing so far. Looking for something I can tap the 120v inside the fridge. I am trying to find duplicate connectors for the existing timer plugs so I don’t have to tap into them with wire taps. I want to be able to put it all back to stock quickly if need be. Looks like I have two 120v feeds to chose from. More testing needed.
5 volts is the default in USB-C, the benefit is you get 5 different voltages and high current from a single connector, single wall wart and single plug. Cannot really picture your power configuration. While being in a fridge or freezer means you don’t have a temperature issue, there seems to be a number of minuses. Including high humidity. Good hunting!
1 Like
I am making slow progress in building the Fridge Controller 2.0. I have one side working (Fridge) , but still not installed in actual fridge yet. I have manually defrosted it twice since my last post. Between June storms, flooding, and ten other projects, this one has fallen behind a bit, but made good progress this week in the rebuild. Using copper wire to build circuit traces. It looked easier in the videos than actual production. lol Getting a feel for it now, but still not that easy. I will post photos tomorrow. Too tired now.
Hi there, I was wondering if you made any progress with this project. I too have a use case for controlling a freezer and refrigerator. I have a built-in Fridge/Freezer that has been mechanically updated (compressor and evap) but the lighting and temp controller are getting harder to find parts for since the manufacturer discontinued the model. You seem to have had the most progress in this endeavor as most people don’t trust an ESP based solution. Personally i don’t see their point of view. I have repaired/upgraded many things with ESP’s or Arduino’s and have had lasting results. Anyway, I see your last post you said you were working on Fridge Controller 2.0. I was curious to see if you would share it. I am a hardware hacker at heart so having a jumping off point would be really helpful since I struggle with the code part. Thanks
The project was never completed. I changed jobs and ended up moving into another place and left that garage fridge in the house when we moved. I searched my computer after seeing your post for any documents I have on it. I found a h/w drawing but only connected for one side (freezer) but from having half of it, you should easily figure out the pins for the fridge from the yaml code. Since this is pretty old now, may need to be modified for newer ESPHome releases.
Anyway, here is the yaml code, at least the only one I can find:
esphome:
name: fridge_automation
platform: ESP8266
board: nodemcuv2
wifi:
ssid: "YOUR-SSID"
password: "yourpass"
# Optional manual IP - Untested
# manual_ip:
# static_ip: 10.1.1.15
# gateway: 10.1.1.1
# subnet: 255.255.255.0
# Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
ap:
ssid: "Fridge Automation"
password: "password"
captive_portal:
# Enable logging
logger:
# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
ota:
time:
- platform: sntp
# ...
on_time:
# Every 12 Hours
- seconds: 0
#minutes: /720
hours: /12
then:
- switch.toggle: defrostmode
switch:
- platform: gpio
name: "Compressor Relay Off"
id: comp2def
pin: D2 #GPIO4
- platform: template
name: "Defrost Mode On"
id: defrostmode
turn_on_action:
# 12 Hour Loop
# - switch.turn_off: comp2def
# - delay: 60s #Change to 43200s (12 hours for actual operation 720 for 12 minutes
- switch.turn_on: comp2def
- delay: 2s # This can be immediate, but probably a few seconds is safer. Change to 60s (1 min) for actual operation
- switch.turn_on: defroston
- delay: 720s # Defroster circuit on. Change to 720s (12 min) for actual operation
- switch.turn_off: defroston
- delay: 1200s # Defrost off, cooldown period. Change to 1200s (20 min) for actual operation
- switch.turn_off: comp2def
- platform: gpio
name: "Defrost Relay"
id: defroston
pin: D1 # GPIO5
- platform: template
name: "autooff"
binary_sensor:
- platform: gpio
pin: D3
name: "Fridge Door"
device_class: door
- platform: gpio
pin:
number: D7
mode: INPUT_PULLUP
inverted: False
name: "Freezer Door"
device_class: door
# Individual sensors
# Example configuration entry
sensor:
- platform: dht
pin: D5
model: DHT22
temperature:
name: "Fridge Temperature"
# unit_of_measurement: "°F"
humidity:
name: "Fridge Humidity"
update_interval: 30s
- platform: dht
pin: D6
model: DHT22
temperature:
name: "Freezer Temperature"
humidity:
name: "Freezer Humidity"
update_interval: 30s
- platform: wifi_signal
name: "WiFi Signal"
update_interval: 60s
and here is the incomplete circuit drawing and it’s missing a lot of stuff. I cannot locate the completed one. Maybe I never completed it, but the unit was indeed built and working on the bench. Just never installed. Look above in this thread to find the relay inter-connect. That will not be in the yaml code.
I hope this helps and good luck with your project!
EDIT: Not sure why this screen grab has two GPIO lists, but I believe the top one is the correct one. But again, the yaml code should tell you which is correct.