So im in the need to come up with some form of alerting/monitoring of my outside AC unit. We are dealing with the occasional unit freezing outside(even in this heat) and causing the inside unit from not blowing any air.. by the time we realize its not blowing or that its frozen, its already at a point where we have to turn it all off for hours to let it thaw out.. a little inconvenient when you work from home and in the heat..
And yes we know it needs to be replaced or repaired, but thousands of dollars right now is not possible, so we are trying to hold out until the winter when prices are lower and off season to replace the ac unit..
So in the mean time, i would like to setup a simple wifi sensor to monitor the unit so that once it starts to get to cold(ill figure out the proper threshold, once it gets to that range, we get notified so that we can turn off the unit then and only have to wait maybe an hour or so before turning it back on.. When its completely frozen, we have had to wait 4+hours for it to thaw where it would start working again..
So just trying to catch it early and cut down the time we have to wait..
Again, this is just until we can get the unit replaced and working properly this winter.
So looking for suggestions on what sensors i can consider using(mind you it will be outside) and also which board to consider using that will accomplish this for me..
Actually after posting, i was thinking.. that the alerting can be simply something inside the house that blinks or lights up so we know and can just turn off the unit, maybe place that blinking light next to the thermostat so its obvious
Suggest you decide exactly where to mount the temperature sensor and also decide how you are going to power both Arduinos. Then the devices can be better determined.
So since the sensor will be outside in the elements as well as the arduino, i would secure inside a weather proof enclosure and attached to the AC unit itself, the distance from the unit to inside where the thermostat is mounted is probably about 30 ft..
I was considering the uno with wifi since i have a few of those, but the sensor i would need some weather proof options and something that wont be impacted by the outdoor elements when it comes to the the correct temp.
I mean this is not some commercial application, i just want a little heads up things are MAYBE going wrong so i can catch it early enough
I was thinking placing a temp sensor on the line that freezes since thats where the freon goes, get some normal temp ranges when everything is ok, and write the logic to trigger the light once a certain threshold is exceeded.
We already know what is causing the issue, but the cost of repair right now is to much, so before it causes major damage, i wanted to set this up temporarily until winter time when costs of AC repairs is lower.. i have already had 2 techs out, both found the same cause of the problem, but the quoted prices are just to much, but only one of them was nice enough to say, if you can hold out until late oct or even mid november, repair costs would be less, so a small investment in some sensors and my time to write the logic is worth the wait.
That might work. I had good luck with the Dallas Temperature sensor: DS18B20. There are many sample programs to get you going and you can add code for what you are planning for.
Use a sample program to monitor the temperature and force your AC to freeze up and find a temperature that will work as a limit and code for that and add your warning.