I'm new to Arduino but not new to programming, I'm sure I can pick up the basics that I will need, but first I have a few questions and to see if what I want to do is possible.
What first brought me here is I want to be able to use a web browser to remotely open or close my garage door and a simple switch to tell me if the door is open or closed on the same site.
From there my idea's expanded to having a webpage that gives me control over other parts of my home, ie temperature outside and in specific rooms, which doors are open or closed, etc.
I figure this is something I can build overtime and could start with the simplest item and work my way up.
From what I have read so far simple things like temperature and door status should only require an ESP8266 and a switch or a sensor, is this correct?
I figure for the web host I could probably use an old Raspberry Pi i have sitting around.
I would really love some guidance and a point in the right direction on what to read and where to see examples of similar things.
Thanks in advance, I look forward to delving into a new project.
Asking for help this early in your thought process may be premature.
I believe this topic has been discussed at length in the past on this site.
At least, access to and from the web has been discussed before.
Also there has been threads and there is a library for X-10 (perhaps Insteon) consumer products.
First, maybe search for past threads on the topic.
Lots here will help out when you need specific answers to your hardware and software questions.
No need for the Pi.
My setup is an ESP8266 that's the webserver, and it has an RF transmitter module. That's it.
Wrote the html so any device connecting to the webserver gets an interface with image buttons.
Clicking a button makes my ESP8266 transmit an RF signal.
Devices around the home have RF receivers tied to relays (where appropriate) to detect and respond to particular detected messages.
You'll have to add a receiver to the ESP8266 if you want incoming sensor data, that's my next step. Just got sidetracked with a bunch of other projects.
All that being said, I would advise skipping the webserver model. If you're tying it to open your garage, look into a SQL polling approach, where your commands go into a private database on the cloud, your ESP8266 'reads' the database and changes its status accordingly. That takes out the risks of exposing your home network through a pinhole in your firewall in the basic webserver port-forwarding model.
And since you want sensor data like temperature, it's convenient for the sensor data to just be collected automatically in a database you can access anywhere instead of trying to dig into the ESP8266 eeprom or wherever limited space you might otherwise record data.