Hi all, I am new to arduino and would like to know everyones suggestions on my project. Below I will spell out the details:
I just installed a whole home dehumidifier which works great. However, it currently uses an internal humidistat and it must run to sample the air so it runs every 5-10 minutes even when dehumidification is not needed. That being said the dehumidifier has a terminal block; one is a 24v out and the other is a dehum terminal. When you connect those two wires it will trigger the dehumidifier.
What I would like to do is have a central board with 3 remote sensors that read humidity in different rooms. I would need a central that has a terminal block for the wires and it would need to capture the readings from the remote sensors. My house is small so the sensors could use bluetooth while the main board is wifi enabled. I would want a code that says "if humidity on any sensor is higher than setpoint run until humidity is x below setpoint".
Please give me any suggestions you have, past projects, coding examples. I have a small amount of experience coding so I would need help in that area as well. Thanks in advance for the help!
Your project is doable. Do your research on the various humidity sensors, I would favour those made by Bosch.
In terms of communication, there are several kinds of Bluetooth and some may not work in your house. If you have WiFi at the main board I woud use wifi and if it has problems add powerline repeaters (plug into the wall receptacles)
You would need a relay that is triggered by a logic signal (5V or 3.3V), and the C, N/O contacts would be connected to the terminal block.
Start with a single sensor, and I would use a SEEED XIAO esp32 board that is thumbnail-sized, and most models have wifi. Just Google Seeed Studio (yes three e's) Just have the prototype turn a LED ON and OFF until you are confident.
Use the example sketch's to get you up and running.
You may be able to use Zigbee as a quick solution, I am not positive but I would check it out.
Consider running HomeAssistant (free) on your PC/Laptop.
Then you can connect to many sensors in your home, not just humidity sensors.
Add smart power points, to turn things like your dehumidity device on/off.
The software automagically picks up any WiFi connected device.
Turning a smart TV off or automating a night light is easy.
I programmed my ESP boards with ESPHome.
One has a UHT21D sensor, which shows and logs temp and hum in HA on a graph.
If you like it, then you can run HA later independently on a RPi or a mini PC.
Leo..
