Yup! Its basically Home Assistant, mostly stock stuff… Raspberry pi, some ESP32 modules with sensors, and TP link switches 
Cameras are even ESP32 cams… Very affordable for the geek in me to assemble 
2 Likes
This is awesome! Do you have anything running on ESP32 relays? What actions do you automate if any? I’ve been looking around for different grow automation systems but leaning towards Home Assistant since it seems more open-ended and much easier to use.
1 Like
In the grow room not yet, but I also have a model RR that I block sections of track using them. I do have some ideas for operating a 120v valve that I recycled from my washer though, and the relays will work with 120v, just haven’t jumped into that yet. I setup an 8 channel relay for shits and giggles, just looking for ways to integrate it… I probably could have made an outlet box and controlled it with relays instead of buying the switches, but I wanted the simplicity of the Kasa / TP link enabled switches really…
Temp and / or humidity trigger the exhaust fans, humidifiers and dehumidifier. You can see in my screenshot above that I have a target and tolerances for humidity and temp. Working on a few YT tutorials I got the basics together, then found a few other snippets of code I liked. The colored graphs are an add-on (free), because the stock was boring looking. The rest of what you see is vanilla home advisor, nothing special.
I’m not a coder, so I gotta find code / reverse engineer for my needs, but if you know basic coding, it’ll probably be very easy. Perl, C and Java / JSON would be super helpful, but its not an absolute, as I know NONE of them…
Seeing as I can measure soil moisture, my next integration will likely use that washing machine valve, triggered, and feeding a drip system. Since I’ll have to add nutes separately, it will have to be dialed in to provide the absolute minimum, and thats what I am researching now… I know the relay will trigger the valve perfectly… It would also work with 24v valves / associated power supply should I chose to ditch the 120v ashig machine valve and go with sprinkler / low voltage stuff…
Definitely a powerful setup, and so far to me only limited by my imagination…
5 Likes
ok, so here’s the numbers…
Room adjacent to grow:
On floor 80%
2ft off floor 71%
5ft off floor 56%
Grow room
On floor 67%
2ft off floor 65%
5ft off floor 63%
Do note: the grow room has 5 oscillating fans, so its blending more. I only have the one dual fan in the drying room.
3 Likes
Thanks for the detailed breakdown. I am also a decent code copy-paster so this sounds like it could work for me.
If you have any questions along the way I’ll be happy to answer or point you to the solutions I used…
Really easy to integrate!
1 Like
shit, you should start selling that package, i know id buy one
Nice setup! I am running home assistant as well and its the best thing since sliced bread. I use Ruuvi tags for temp/humidity reading. They use the bosch BME280 that is popular and are in a waterproof plastic puck which is nice for humid grow tent environments like mine. There is a Ruvvi integration in HA and the Ruvvi tags don’t require bluetooth pairing which is nice. As long as you have an esp32 board already in play you just have to hard code the MAC addresses for the tags into your Yaml file and upload it to the esp32 board. So far they have been really good and the readings seem to be consistent.
I have a bunch of smart electric switches that I have my lights plugged into and I control the schedule using Node-Red automations. Same thing with a dehumidifier with triggers set based of the Ruuvi tag readings.
The shit is cool and the sky is the limit if you know some coding. I bet I am all in for less then $400 and I have a system that would have cost over $2000 off the shelf if I bought something like TrolMaster or a true PLC system.
What soil moisture sensor are you using? Automated irrigation is the next automation I want to add to HA.
Also if you are looking at power relays check out the Shelly relays. They are ESP8266 based and are made to be flashed with Tasmoda by having easy access to the pinouts of the board. They also have an integration into HA so alot of people don’t even bother with flashing Tasmoda since the built in firmware is pretty good. They are out of an Eastern European country so not Chinese made hardware like Sonoff. I want to move my lighting off the TP Link smart switches and tie the wifi enabled Shelly relay directly into the power line. I feel like this will be a cleaner connection for power.
I honestly thought about it. But it does require a fair amount of configuration at the end user. Then I remembered my time as a Dell tech, and how some people shouldn’t even own a computer, and had second thoughts… The problem is that the remote sensors, aka the ESP32 chips, need to be programmed with network access info, the switches need to be linked from a different app, change a switch name slightly and its broken. If there was a truly Plug N Play way I could, I’d consider it. To someone slightly tech savvy, a cut-n-paste programmer, or someone who’s built their own PC, it would be pretty easy to setup. To others, it would be all greek, and lots of people want it to “just work”.
I bought raw BME280 sensors for the ESP32. The Ruvvi are a nice option though. The BME280 sensors are only a few dollars for a multipack. The co2 sensor cost closer to $20.
I like the idea of one upload to an ESP32 board with the Ruvvi tags, that would solve some issues for a new user to setup, certainly make it a little easier.
All my automations / triggers for the lights and humidifier (and shortly adding the dehumidifier) are in Node-Red as well. Powerful piece of software there once you play a little and realize the flow of it all.
All in here, with all the sensors and switches, including the Pi4 / 4gb that runs it, maybe $150?? ESP32 modules are cheap, most sensors are cheap, the TP Link / Kasa switches weren’t even that expensive. The Pi was probably the most expensive thing… Sure, I can 3D print housings for my ESP32 stuff, thats a big advantage for sure… But even using Ruvvi tags its not cost prohibitive
Resistive sensors have lots of issues, notably deterioration / degradation of the actual sensor itself. Not worth it.
Nice Dashboard. I love how the charts put into perspective temp / humidity swings, how they interact with each other, with the co2 (for me). My cams are ESP32 cams, but I have Wyze Cam V2.0’s I will be swapping to (the 3.0’s dont have firmware that can be flashed for HA, the V2.0 does). I have a few 120/250v relays for raspberry pi / esp32 here that are simple as well… Assign the pinouts, connect to an ESP32, and I have an 8 channel relay capable of handling 120v no issues…
The sky and your imagination really are the limit here… The tools are there, just gotta make the best use of them, thinking outside the box at times…
2 Likes
make a walk through or a video.
1 Like
This playlist got me started… Save me the trouble of reinventing the wheel LOL…
(105) Automate Your Grow with Home Assistant! - YouTube
I am soil, so some of the parts don’t pertain to me, but the meat and potatoes is there… Light one up, and start watching… You can even do one project at a time and add to the system via the videos…
3 Likes
Appreciate it!
1 Like
Looks like we have a few people here using Home Assistant. I might have to start a thread to consolidate that knowledge…
If you have questions, certainly feel free to ask… If I can answer, or know where one is, I’ll share… I think the hive mind here could figure out most issues
I like to think of it as an electronic erector set for adults
3 Likes
Your dashboard looks sick man i havent really put any effort into mine yet 
1 Like
There is already a garden automation thread and I would love for people to start posting in there to give it life again. Home Assistant running on a Rasberry PI is such an amazing tool every gardener should be using it. I am shocked it doesn’t get more love on this site.
3 Likes
Thanks. The charts for me are worth their weight in gold. I love data points and this gives me amazing understanding of how events that happen in my garden effect the environmental variables. Once I get that understanding I can then take actions to control getting things into the range I want.
I would like to get my AC Infinity fan controlled using PWM with HA and MQTT. From what I have read on Ledgardener site its difficult because the newer gen fans have an EC motor instead of DC and that presents issues. I need to research it a bit more as I don’t full understand why its an issue.
Its SOOOOOO nice having all the information at your fingertips in HA. Add in smart switches, relays and sensors and man you can have total control over your garden.
LEDGardener even has his automation system measuring out and mixing his nutrient batches for him. Cool stuff.
2 Likes
Well you just saved me a lot of work! Thats awesome… Checking it out now… And I’m sure I’ll add my own things to it…
2 Likes
Please do! We are all working to a common goal with much of the same type of equipment. So if we can all collectively help each other work through the issues along the way it surely helps.
2 Likes