Hi all.
I just finished building a greenhouse, and I would like to figure out the best way to control it.
I would like to controller the following things.
1: Timer for 4x 24V pumps. Every 4th hour run the pump for 15 min) My initial idea was to run these from a timer, controlling a 24V power supply, which again powered the pumps. "Great" concept - if all the pumps needed to or could run at the same time. To get the most out of the greenhouse, it would be better not to run all pumps simultaneously. Since the timer I have bought is 230V, it would properly end up on a shelf. The pumps pull 1,4A
Not included in today's solution, it would be neat if I got an alarm if the pumps were supposed to run and there wasn't water on the grow table (flotation switch?)
2: No gear brought yet - We are thinking about putting up a misting system in the roof - both for watering, but water will also cool the air on the hottest days. I need a more powerful pump and have been looking at one 24V 9A, but I could use a 230V pump. A timer and a temperature controller could run the pump for the misting system.
3: I'm building a solar thermal collector for water, this need to run a pump and open the water flow if the temperature in the collector is higher than the water in temperature out of the reservoir, and turn the pump and water flow off if the temperature in the collector is lower than the water going out of the reservoir. I also need to pump water through the floor tubes if the temperature outsides drop below xx. This system will be turned off in the summertime but used in late autumn, winter, and early spring.
4: lights, if there are less than xx lumens, turn the lights on, but the lights should always be off between 23:00 and 07:00 (Or something like that)
I played with plcs at school 25 years ago, but didn't work in the subfield later. And I have never used Arduino, and there are quite a few models to choose from, so instead of buying the wrong main piece and shield(s), I thought it would best to start here.
And another thing to consider, I would like to add a few solar panels next to the solar collector and a few batteries for storing power for lights and pumps when there isn't enough sun. I will be able to charge the batteries and heat the water if needed from the house if needed, but that doesn't need to be automated. An alarm would be excellent, though.
So, is this an Arduino project, or should I find a plc to use? Or maybe there is a more or less finished Arduino project I could buy?
As I understand, most of what I want is just a few "if" "then", and maybe some "and", "or", "not". At least until I get to the alarm part of the system.