I’m looking for a way to control AA powered battery devices with home assistant. Coming up on the holidays, we have battery powered lights, wreaths, and other things spread around the house. I’ve found something called Tethercell that allows you to control battery devices with bluetooth. Is anyone aware of a 433 MHz / low power consumption device that works with home assistant? The device doesn’t have to be the battery. It could be some kind of interrupter that’s in the battery loop. Idle power consumption is my main concern. Thank you
In theory…
A very low idle power ESP device (DFR0654 = 10μa) running on battery can wakeup on a regular basis and ask the network for instructions on how to operate a toggle (latching) relay, which is a relay that only uses power to change its state and 0 power to hold. The relay would interrupt the power switch or the battery wiring. If wired correctly it could toggle any kind of battery controlled device, not just AA.
It could receive instructions by a connected low power radio like LoRa, onboard WiFi, or onboard Bluetooth. The less frequent the wakeups, the longer the battery life.
It would very much be a DIY project, the DFR0654 has an onboard LiPo battery port and charger, the required outputs to operate a toggle relay, and can run ESPHome or a custom firmware image. A toggle relay runs about $10, plus the board and battery (unless you harvest from the switched power source), so more expensive than what Tethercell cost, but far more reliable and able to handle the full current draw of the batteries in the device.
Thank you for the idea. I’ll order some parts and play around. Will update if I end up with something.