What am I missing? Why does it seem everyone wants to flash sonoff instead of making them?

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If it wasn’t because of forums like this I wouldn’t have been able to build what I’ve done. Yet it seems most of the people that participate on this forum buy stuff to then re flash, instead of starting from scratch. Why?

I started with making what I called my poor man’s sonoffs. Turns out that at the end of the day I was spending about the same, if not little more than what a “basic” sonoff would cost, about $5. However what I am making is not a sonoff basic, but a multi purpose tasmota insted.

The parts I am playing with. D1 Minis as the “brains” under $2 from china. Hi Links to power the 5v under $3. Then I can attach touch sensors as switches (like 10 cents), relays for actual on/off of devices, reed sensors and hall sensors (magnet swiches) (under $1). Can also connect LEDs, PIR sensors, temp sensors, etc, etc. I use cat 5 cable to connect between locations, only sending 3.3 or 5v through the lines, so no problem.

Example of my different setups. One tasmota has 3 relays, 4 switches. two switches downstairs, and two switches upstairs. Downstairs the switches control kitchen light, and stairs. Upstairs the two switches control the upstairs hallway light, and the stairs light. Both switch plates have a wall plate with touch sensors and an LED that turns on when all 3 relays are off.

Other setup is the main door one, the hardest one to get right. It has one relay, 3 switches, and 2 door sensors/switches.The relay controls the porch light. SW1 (switch) toggles porch light on and off. SW2 triggers remote relay to turn on living room lights. SW3 triggers remote relay to turn on fan on living room. Using a single, double ,etc up to 5 plus HOLD combinations of those 3 switches disarms alarm. The 2 door sensors are for the main front door, and for the secondary metal fence/protector attached to the front door as well (common here in Mexico, even on windows. Looks like you are in jail when you look out your window).

Another example is the front house tasmota. It has two relays and two door sensors (reed switches). The relays control the alarm siren, and the front gate door electric lock. The door sensors control the gate door, and the main gate to let the car in.

Usually there is a light switch box close to the main door. I just drilled from the door frame into the light socket, where I have the D1 mini. Here in Mexico we usually only have the power line on the wall switches, but no neutral. I usually place the relays and the Hi lighs on the ceiling, on top of the light/fan fixtures. I then run down a cat5 cable to the actual switch box, and send down power and connect the signal lines for the relay to the D1 mini. Hot glue touch sensors to an empty wall plate, and it is done.

I am now looking to get some PIRs, and add them where appropriate.

Again, why does it seem that I am the odd ball? I’ve seen many of the popular youtubers on the topic purchase, use and endorse all these different devices, when they could just go simple.

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  1. Time cost. If you include the cost of your time to design and assemble the devices it is cheaper and quicker to purchase mass produced items.

  2. Not everyone is confident or competent in designing mains power control devices. There are a myriad of regulatory EMC and electrical compliance requirements.

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For me: the main reason that sonoff’s and shellies have a CE-marking. When the come and check your electric installation, there are no remarks. If you build your own, and attach them permanently to your electric wiring, when they come and examine your electric installation it gets rejected, and you have problems with your fire insurance.
And we have a mandatory inspection of the electric installation every 10 years, and after major changes.

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I hope you have protection for your power supply. HiLinks don’t, it needs to be added.

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I’m sure you learnt a lot but some people don’t have the time/skills/inclination and just want something that works. Sonoffs are incredibly inexpensive so I for one don’t see any need to reinvent the wheel.

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Have a really good read of this

https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1607/safe-in-wall-ac-to-dc-transformers

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Ok, excellent point that I personally didn’t think about. Here it is not common to have to pass electrical inspections and such. I would feel “safe” doing the same setups in USA, as I am not really playing with the 110 v much. In a sense I am just substituting the physical switches with relays that I control via the D1 mini.

However I can understand how they could hassle me if I had the set up the way I do in the states.

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Ok, so you lost me there. What do you mean protection for my power supply since HiLinks don’t? I was under the impressing that the hi link was my power supply. What type of protection should I add?

I literally run the 110v to the hi links, and use the 5v output for the D1s and the Relays. Figured if there was an issue with the electrical system it would just burn/pop the HI link, and perhaps even the d1 mini.

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Hello again Dave. Hadn’t seen you post in a while, nice to see that you are still around.

I agree that sonoffs can be “inexpensive” but they are limited. Sure their switches wall plate looks MUCH NICER that the ones I make, but cost much more than what it is costing me to make, and they wouldn’t fit on our regular wall plate areas in Mexico without having to make the whole bigger, which means plastering, painting, etc.

However I did get some good insight with some of the replies. They say necessity is the mother of all inventions. I wanted a smart home, but I didn’t want to have to open up bigger holes on the wall to put in the sonoffs. In Mexico we don’t have any attics so there is very limited room to add any devices.

Also the BIG issue would be fire hazards in USA. Here in Mexico houses burning down is pretty much unheard of since homes are built with center blocks and cement. Nick mentioned something about no protection for the power supply. Guessing the worst that could happen is that the hi link would get extremely HOT, but where I have them, there is nothing that could catch on fire.

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Thanks for the link. I did take a look at it, and now I understand what you mean by power supply protection.

I will do a little more research, but perhaps you can give me some info you already have. What is the worst case scenario that could happen? The hi link can get hot enough that it catches fire for a bit until the cables around it melt? In USA I know this is a HUGE deal since they are usually surrounded by wood that does catch fire.

I could easily add some fuses as the diagram shows and the varistor but do I really need to? I’ve been running my hi links with no protection for close to two years now, with no issues. We even had a thunderstorm where a TV went out, but all the Hi links still working.

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Well certainly the thread is a picture of best practice arising out of the concern about overheating and fire. It also is referring to enclosed power supplies which are more prone to overheating.

The meanwell power supplies are my preference and seem to have appropriate protections.

Just remember that fire is not only your risk, but endangers your family, guests, neighbours, emergency services.

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Thanks for the follow up. Yes I definitely see how it could be a concern in USA. Here in Cancun pretty much all houses are made with center blocks and cement. Pretty much no one has carpet since it is so hot. A couch might catch fire, or a bed, but the whole houses don’t go up in flames.

I do appreciate the info. Seems those are inexpensive protections I can implement on clients installs to make sure they have as much protection as they can.

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What am I missing… It seems people download HA rather than writing it themselves.
Buy and build on top, where that level is will be different for everyone. OP: do you wind your own transformers? Probably not, you’ve decided what level you are prepared to buy at. Whether it’s software or hardware is almost irrelevant, you can leverage what others have already done to build something faster.
Great video on caterpillars (yes really) helps show this, see my post at https://www.tvba.co.uk/article/software-development-velocity-apis-caterpillars-and-2-coins.shtml

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Thanks for your input. I liked the short article.

I understand your point, the path of least resistance is what most people tend to go for. However what caught my attention is that the way i am setting up my devices is more of an exception than a norm. I haven’t hacked a real sonoff but I’ve seen some videos and the amount of work needed is similar to what I am doing. The one issue I hadn’t contemplated which makes MUCHO sense, is the CE certification.

I am grateful for all of those that have put so much time into the different projects, like HA, Tasmota, etc.