I have a small irrigation system for the lawn in my backyard. It uses three 24 VAC RainBird sprinkler valves. I’ve been using a simple timer to run it. I’d like to replace the current timer so I can control the valves from HA. I’m in the US. What would you recommend to control these valves that has either a Z-Wave or WiFi/Ethernet interface compatible with HA?
Open sprinkler looks interesting
https://opensprinkler.com
You could just as well build this with RasPi, Arduino or esp8266.
Really you just need 24V supply and relays that are wifi/zwave controlled. I got esp8266 with (4) relay for $10. Use it to control garage door and works great. Will probably grab a few of these and a nema box for my sprinklers. Just use ha automation to control on/off timings
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.
Where did you get this? Can you provide a link? (So far I’ve only found a Sonoff 4CH Pro, that costs $30 and apparently needs special firmware - tasmota - flashed into it to make it usable with HA.) Also, (like the Sonoff) does it need special firmware flashed?
I was hoping for something that “just worked” out-of-the-box (i.e., provided a Z-Wave or WiFi API that was usable as-is with HA.) I certainly can flash special firmware if necessary, but I was hoping to not have to go through that learning curve, etc.
I used Linksprite linknode R4.
Unfortunately it show unavailable and look like prices increased 20% for category but still pretty good.
Here is 8channel version $54USD
https://www.amazon.com/LinkSprite-211201005-Arduino-Compatible-Wi-Fi-Controller/dp/B01N2ALK8X/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1531761086&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=linknode+r4&dpPl=1&dpID=41RCO9LAmNL&ref=plSrch
Just search “esp8266 relay” and you will find
EDIT
I had to flash firmware to esp8266.
This was easy and pretty straightforward. I found some code online and modified that for my use. It basically send/receive MQTT messages. Very stable in my opinion. I have 1 relay that momentary bounce on startup but for sprinkler this is no issue.(this is hardware issue)
Linksprite had API and app I believe but I do not want third party supported software or product that require phone app so I flash my own.
Thanks, @tmjpugh!
Is anyone aware of any Z-Wave or WiFi relay modules that don’t require flashing custom firmware or a cloud service? Doesn’t anyone make a device like this that comes out-of-the-box with a direct API?
… also, if I do go through all the learning curve / effort to use the tasmota firmware (say with a Sonoff 4CH Pro), in the end, does it have a direct HTTP / REST API, or does it require an MQTT broker (meaning more learning curve / effort)? Although I’ve been reading up on it a bit, the answer to that question doesn’t appear obvious yet. Thx!
This is your option
You can flash a firmware that sets up endpoint that may be called by http(it’s API)
OR
Run through mqtt
Look at Linksprite. I’m sure that was out of box ready via app
Otherwise just go opensprinkler or similar.
Learning curve was quite low.
Took me 1hr start to finish (web searching and how do I included).
For comparison, HA took about 2hr first time set up and docker took me 1week(literally 70 hrs) to understand and get first running container